Other Tips
  Vehicle Usage

With the wide variety of vehicles in TTD, it can sometimes be quite hard to decide which type of vehicle to use. This guide should help you make your mind up.

Road Vehicles
Road vehicles are not the best for transporting large amounts of cargo over long distances because of their small capacity and speed. I only use road vehicles for passengers and mail between two close cities, and sometimes valuables, due to the limited production. They can also be quite effective when set to go between opposite ends of a large city. If you can't fit a rail line to an industry, even after landscaping, you could use road vehicles as a feeder (piglet) to the nearest rail station. Generally though, road vehicles are best left to cover passenger routes.

Ships
I only use ships for oil rigs and in isolated areas. They are extremely slow and their large capacity and improved station ratings don't compensate enough to compete with a rail line. The new ships by Michael Blunck in TTDPatch 1.9 and higher are a lot better than the default TTD ones, and a passenger liner between seaside towns can be very profitable. If you have industries near the coast, you could link them up using ships, or you could even create canals, but you cannot expect the same sort of profit levels as you would get with trains.

Aircraft
Aircraft are good for passengers over long distances, but not much more. Their speed is great for across-map trips. Their capacity is too limited for cargo. I rarely use helicopters because they must stop at an airport to be serviced - I only use them to service oil rigs. Due to their speed, they take forever to land at busy airports as faster aircraft zip in front of them. In addition, helicopters disappear completely after 2020 or so, unless you use the enginespersist patch in TTDPatch.

Trains
Trains are unarguably the best form of transport in TTD. They have a high capacity and high speed. Their only disadvantage is a large amount of infrastructure is needed for a train line, and the hassle of upgrading from rail to monorail, and then to maglev (unless you use the TTDPatch sign cheats). Design tips can be found in the rail section.

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