One of the main novelties of the multiplayer mode of this polish railway simulation is the possibility for the player to put himself in the shoes of a traffic regulator in one of the many signal boxes along the 500 kilometers of lines modeled between the Austrian border and Warsaw.
If the role of driver is playable both in multiplayer and solo, this is not the case for that of the regulator. You will therefore have to take your first steps directly on one of the multiplayer servers (preferably French-speaking for voice). This guide will allow you to have some useful references to be as efficient as possible while making the life of player drivers more pleasant.
Taking up a position and the tools at your disposal
When you arrive at a control station, you will invariably find the following tools that are essential to master:
- A phone : to communicate with stations around you, by voice or with recorded texts.
- A referral station : computerized for modern stations or in the form of an electromechanical control panel for less recent ones.
- A computer : to consult train schedules and guide all your decisions.
For players with multiple screens and/or playing windowed
You can get the full job schedules by going to a dedicated URL that uses the Developers API. You just need to change the last letters of it by the code of your server. In the list below, it is "fr1", but if you are on the FR2 server, modify the url with "fr2". Alternatively, we strongly recommend the regulation screen developed by members of the French-speaking SimRail.fr community available at the following address: https://edr.simrail.fr/
Some rules and conventions
To be an effective and appreciated regulator, there are a few conventions (all inspired by the real world of railways) that you can apply in the simulation:
- Passenger transport will always be a priority on the transport of goods (freight)
- Clearly, if you see a passenger transport following a freight transport, it is up to you to temporarily switch the freight to a siding in order to make the passenger train pass first.
- Take into account the running speed of the trains
- In the game, several trains will rub shoulders with commercial speeds ranging from 85 to 200 Km/h. It will be up to you to give priority to high-speed trains (the ED250 Pendolino, the pride of Polish rail) so as not to block them behind freight traveling at 85 km/h.
- It exists a reference table commercial speeds if you want to know more.
- Pay attention to the stops at the platform
- Some passenger trains will require a platform stop at your station while others will only pass through. Check your Dispatch screen to find out which platform and line to steer trains to. The platform will be indicated in Roman numerals and the track in Arabic numerals.
- Communicate with your colleagues from other positions
- The phone will allow you to either send standard messages to your colleagues (both AI and humans) or start a voice conversation. This step is essential, for example, if you want to change the direction of a traffic lane between your two posts. Thus, you can be the initiator of the change of direction request but if the other dispatcher does not accept it, it will not succeed.
- Also make their life easier if you send them trains that are already late or that are poorly positioned between them (freight in front of passengers for example) so that they can anticipate as well as possible.
- Use the “Push to Talk” Command Wisely
- This command (to be defined in your keyboard shortcuts) allows you to switch to voice for all players within 20 km. Needless to say that it is therefore to be reserved for very specific uses, such as contacting a driver in distress or a regulator who would be lost in his manipulations. Do not forget that to discuss between regulator, the telephone allows a private conversation.
To discuss with a driver, it will be necessary to be on the same channel as him to start a dedicated communication.
- This command (to be defined in your keyboard shortcuts) allows you to switch to voice for all players within 20 km. Needless to say that it is therefore to be reserved for very specific uses, such as contacting a driver in distress or a regulator who would be lost in his manipulations. Do not forget that to discuss between regulator, the telephone allows a private conversation.
- Do not send a train onto a siding without the consent of its driver
- Indeed, if the human driver leaves the game and is replaced by an AI, you will not be able to push it back (backtrack). The track will thus be blocked until the next restart of the server or until the train eventually disappears.
computerized station
Here we will cover the basics to understand the important functions of your signal station.
Draw a Route
- Select the first signal to open (circled in yellow), the possible exit points will appear in blue.
- Select the exit point of the route and check the different possible options at the top of the buttons. Don't forget to click on intermediate points which would be blocking (circled in blue) along the route.
- Validate then confirm the creation of the route using the white button of the same name then wait for the route to be displayed in green on the screen. This may take some time depending on the turnouts and signals to be changed. If there is an unclosed level crossing or obstacles on the tracks, the route creation will fail. It will be up to you to check for yourself the blocking elements. Remember that you won't be able to plot a route right after another passing train because there wouldn't be enough safe distance between them. The famous cantonment (the small numbered segments are cantons).
Cancel a Route
- Select the signal at the start of the route, all related signals will be highlighted.
- Select the exit point of the route, optionally including intermediate points that would remain highlighted (circled) along the route.
- Use one of the two possible cancellation commands: ZD (delayed with track occupancy control) and ZW (immediate cancellation but which will require forcing confirmation a second time with the ZWP command)
Control a signal
To control a signal, simply click on it and choose the commands from those available at the top of the screen. You can also leave notes that can help you in your work, such as a note on a track to remind you that 244XXX trains stop on a specific platform.
Track circuit management
The track circuit is a device that detects the presence of a train on the track. From your control screen, by selecting a track you will have several options available such as closing a track, opening it or resetting the track circuit if you are certain that there is no longer a train but that the sensor remained in its former state.
Choosing the direction of an engagement
Interlocking is used to define the direction of the tracks between your station and the following ones. In general, we arrange to have an incoming lane and an outgoing lane on each side. Sometimes, however, to accommodate an increase in traffic, you want to establish multiple outbound routes. In this case, there will be a command which will automatically ask the other station to accept a change of direction. He will have to accept it on his post otherwise the change will not be validated.
Don't forget that when you are the initiator of a change of direction request, you can only propose an OUTGOING direction from your set to the other set. So be careful to agree with the other station because once you have switched your channels to OUTGOING mode, only if the other station makes a request to you will you be able to have them again. IN mode.
Electromechanical station
For this guide, we'll rely on the very detailed guide posted on the SimRail forum detailing the three most common types of Polish line blocks. At launch, the game will feature the stations of Będzin and Łazy Łc equipped with electromechanical tables.
Draw a Route
To trace a route with this equipment, you must start from the starting point and then manually follow the route you want the train to take. Manipulate possible switches along the route, switch possible signals to green and return to the first starting signal. Now open it up to turn it green and watch the path unfold with white segments to the exit point.
In the example above, if a train comes in front of signal B and you activate it with a left click, it will follow the white path that will be created until the next signal.
Cancel a Route
Refer to our video ou to the official guide
Control a signal
Refer to our video ou to the official guide
Reset a track circuit
Refer to our video ou to the official guide
Choosing the direction of an engagement
Refer to our video ou to the official guide
Community tools
There is a French-speaking community strongly invested in this simulator which offers very practical additional tools for regulators. They all use the developers' API but are faster and even more ergonomic.
The real-time GPS map
Usable both as a driver (a left click on your train will automatically center the window on it and follow it) and as a regulator, the GPS map is a valuable aid for viewing trains in circulation and approaching stations.
The advanced control screen (EDR)
Another essential from the Simrail.fr community, this interface is intended to replace the one available via the in-game computer and will allow regulators to directly make good decisions at first glance. The features are excellent and the interface clearer than the original one of the game, judge for yourself:
- Different color depending on whether it is Freight or Traveler (priority)
- Display of the running speed of the train and that currently observed
- Management of updated schedules (late or early)
- Filtering of trains present on the line
- Automatic centering on the current schedule
- Management of bifurcations
To learn more
- Le official forum Game
- The page Steam by SimRail
- Le discord of the French-speaking community Simrail.fr
- Le regulator guide / switcher extracted from the stream and translated by the community
- La signal list (for drivers)
- walking speeds of each train category
- Le real job instructions (in polish in the text but translatable via google trad)