OpenTTD – Tip: Wide Coverage Train Stations

Wide Coverage Train Stations (Vanilla)

There is probably a cheat code for this, or a mod. But for those playing vanilla, here’s a neat way of stretching a train station’s catchment area.

Say you have a few industries close to each other. You would like to build 1 train station to service them all, but they are a little too far apart for 1 station. Here’s what you can do…

Build a tiny station 1×1 close to one of the industries. Then build another 1×1 platform touching the first 1×1 you just built. The two platforms can touch each other side-by-side or diagonally. This 2nd platform does not create another train station, but will belong to the station of the 1st platform.

Keep adding more 1×1 platforms. As you do, they will all belong to that one station, expanding its catchment area. You can thus expand the station’s catchment area to cover multiple industries. You can then build the platform you want your trains to use anywhere within that area.

And there you have it… one station with extra wide coverage. I think the maximum distance is 16 tiles from one end of the station to the other, with the normal 4 tile radius of coverage for each 1×1 platform, making the station’s total area of coverage 24 tiles across (4 + 16 + 4).

If you build these 1×1 platforms in an “X” pattern and a “+” pattern within it, the station’s catchment area will cover 24 x 24 tiles. That gives you one huge train station! You can place the platforms your trains will use anywhere within that area.