Timetable Rules

This is an overview of all the rules. Detail of what they do can be found via further links.

Also look at existing timetables (especially 1985 ones) to see practical use of rules.

General points

Rules are restrictive, that is they prevent T from moving for at least the time specified but the movement will not occur before the booked time in the timetable. Other factors may also influence the entry or departure time. The minutes interval is thus a *minimum* time, not an absolute time.
X minutes can be set as 0, the rule will work but will allow T to move as soon as the event occurs.
A half minute needs to be expressed as 0H (not simply H)

Variables used

T	Train that the rule applies to.
X	Minutes the rule will be applied for.
Y	The Train that triggers the rule.
Z	The location Y has to be at to trigger the rule. Note: Z is not used in all rules.

Trains can be referenced using either their normal train description or their UID. In the latter case, the UID needs to be prefixed with a "$", i.e. a train with an UID of "A12345" needs to entered as "$A12345" when using the UID.

Laws of precedence

To use some of the timetable rules it is important to understand the "laws of precedence" specifically when you wish to make one train's running conditional on the entry of another.

The primary precedence is the entry time; that is a train (T1) that is timed to enter before another (T2) will set the precedent as to what happens with T2. In deciding which is first any delay needs to be added or subtracted from the timetabled entry time.

For example 6A01 is timed to enter at 01:30 and 7B00 at 01:35 so T1 is 6A01 and T2 is 7B00. However if 6A01 has a delay of 4 minutes and 7B00 is 10 early then T1 will be 7B00 and T2 6A01

However, in the event that the 2 trains have the same entry time (say 01:28) the train that alpha-numerically comes first will be T1; in this case 6A01.

For example take the pairs 6A10A and 6A10B or 7A12-1 and 7A12-2: here 6A10A and 7A12-1 will be the respective T1s of each pair

Available Rules

T must appear X mins after Y arrives or passes Z.	AppAfterArr
T must appear X mins after Y has finished dividing at Z.	AppAfterDiv
T must appear X mins after Y enters the area.	AppAfterEnt
T must appear X mins after Y has been formed at Z.	AppAfterForm
T must appear X mins after Y has finished joining at Z.	AppAfterJoin
T must appear X mins after Y leaves the area.	AppAfterLve
T must not depart Z until X mins after Y arrives Z.	DepAfterArr
T must not depart Z until X mins after Y has finished dividing.	DepAfterDiv
T Must not depart Z until X mins after Y enters the area	DepAfterEnt
T must not depart Z until X mins after Y has been formed.	DepAfterForm
T must not depart Z until X mins after Y leaves the area.	DepAfterLve
T must not depart Z until X mins after Y has finished joining.	DepAfterJoin
Are mutually exclusive.	MutExc
T must not run if Y runs.	NotIf
Are alternatives.	Alternatives

Again, "X mins" is a minimum time and may be extended by other factors.

Train Management

On the Train details page of each train's timetable there are a number of fields available to tweak the behaviour of the train. These can be hard coded into the timetable by setting the parameter and then saving the timetable. They may also be set randomly during the running of the timetable depending on the scenario set up and pre-determined characteristics of the Sim as set by the developer. In some cases the Sim may overwrite pre-set data and in others it may have a cumulative effect, for example the delay field.

How each works is loosely categorised into the following sub-sections. Note that in some instances there will be an interaction with the rule (above) which needs to be considered and will be explained further.

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Last edited by postal on 05/05/2022 at 06:56