All Aboard! A Deep Dive into the Fleet Management Screen
Hello, Tycoons!
Welcome back to the dev blog. We’ve seen you all busy bidding on franchises and building your empires across the UK. Today, we want to pull back the curtain on one of the most crucial screens in UK Railway Tycoon: the Fleet Management screen. This is your central hub for controlling every locomotive and carriage you own, and mastering it is the key to running a profitable and popular service.
Let’s break down what you can do here.
Understanding Your Assets
When you navigate to Fleet Management, you’ll see a card for every single train in your company. Think of these as the personnel files for your rolling stock.
Here’s what you’re looking at on each card:
- Train Name & Class: The name you’ve given your train and its official model, like a “Class 800”.
- Basic Info: Key stats like the number of carriages and the year it was built. An older train might need more attention!
- Condition Bar: This is vital. A train’s condition drops as it’s used on routes. The lower the condition, the less happy your passengers will be. If it gets too low (orange or red), it’s time for a service!
- Leased Badge: If you’re leasing a train, you’ll see a badge here. Leased trains can’t be sold, and their maintenance is covered by the leasing company, so the “Maintenance” button will be disabled.
Getting Your Trains on the Rails
A train sitting in the depot isn’t earning you any money. Here’s how you put it to work.
Assigning to a Route
Using the “Assign to Route” dropdown, you can instantly assign a train to any franchise you currently own. This immediately adds its capacity to that route, allowing you to carry more passengers.
Pro Tip: 💡 Keep an eye on passenger demand for a route. If a route is constantly overcrowded, your satisfaction will plummet. Assigning another train, or a bigger one, can solve this problem and boost your income.
Assigning and Training Drivers
You can’t run a service without a driver! A train assigned to a route without a qualified driver becomes a “ghost train,” which your passengers really don’t like.
Using the “Assign Driver” dropdown, you can assign any of your hired, available drivers to a train. Pay close attention to the emoji next to their name:
- ✅ (Green Tick): This driver is fully trained and qualified to operate this class of train.
- ❌ (Red Cross): This driver is not trained for this class. You can still assign them, but you’ll need to train them before they can run the service properly.
If you’ve assigned an untrained driver, the “Retrain” button will become active. For a fee of £50,000, you can instantly qualify that driver for the new train class. It’s a necessary investment to keep your services running!
Maintenance and Disposal
Your fleet is a collection of complex machines, and they need care and attention to perform at their best.
Performing Maintenance
When a train’s condition starts to drop, it’s time to call in the engineers. Clicking the “Maintenance” button will instantly service the train, restoring its condition to 100%.
IMPORTANT: You can only perform maintenance if you have at least one Engineer on your staff! The higher your best engineer’s “Technical Skill” stat, the cheaper your maintenance costs will be. Hiring skilled engineers is a fantastic way to save a lot of money in the long run.
Selling Old Trains
Sometimes, a train has served its purpose. It might be too old, too unreliable, or you might just need a quick cash injection. The “Auction” button allows you to sell any train you own (but not leased ones).
When you click this, the train is removed from your fleet and placed on the second-hand market for a 3-day auction. You’ll receive the money from the sale after those three days are up. This is a great way to get rid of older stock to make way for newer, more efficient models.
That’s the grand tour of the Fleet Management screen! It’s the beating heart of your daily operations. A well-managed fleet is reliable, keeps passengers happy, and ultimately, makes you a lot of money.
Now get out there and get those wheels turning!
