Train Sim World 3 Service Not Completable, Bro, Ice 776 Frankfurt(main) To Oldenburg, Starting At 20:50

Environment:

• TSW 3
• DLCs: Hauptstrecke Bremen-Oldenburg, Tharandter Rampe and Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Würzburg
• PC platform
• Software bought on Steam

Description: This affects a timetable service on BRO which is available if the ICE1 from SKW is installed. Specifically the service ICE 776 Frankfurt(Main)Hbf to Oldenburg(Oldb)Hbf starting at 20:50 in Bremen Hbf. This service is not completable on PC. To the best of my knowledge I have all updates installed.

The service starts just fine, but the player ends up getting held at signal "16" (km 12.6, roughly halfway between Hude and Wüsting) for an indefininte amount of time.

Looking at the route map (using the 9 key), it becomes evident that there are two trains occupying the two blocks in front of the player. One service (a DB BR 612) is being held at the entry signal to Wüsting (signal "F", km 9.3). Another service is standing at km 8.3. I took the time to walk up to it to check what the matter is.

It is a DB BR 110 with n-Wagens. The locomotive is next to the platform and the n-Wagens are behind it and outside of the station. It somehow happened that the AI train spawned like this (see screenshot). In this situation, it is unable to move (see root cause description)

Root cause: AI trains hauling n-Wagens which spawn within station bounds in such a way that:

1. the locomotive is adjacent to the platform, and
   
2. none of the n-Wagens are adjacent to the platform,

can never advance and will block traffic forever. This is due to the following:

1. all AI trains spawn with a speed of 0 km/h,
   
2. the STOP IN LOCATION goal is completed automatically with only the locomotive inside station bounds and
   
3. n-Wagens require a platform to be adjacent in order to open any of their doors (this was mentioned in one of the streams).

Note: I am assuming here that AI trains try to fulfill the same goals (STOP IN LOCATION, GO VIA LOCATION, LOAD PASSENGERS etc.) as human drivers do. If an AI train gets a STOP IN LOCATION goal and the locomotive is within station bounds, the goal will be marked as completed, just like it would be for a human driver.

From my observation, what happens is that the AI train is stopped at the station with the locomotive only and the AI driver repeatedly activates the door open button. The n-Wagen doors do not open since they are not detecting adjacency to a platform. No passengers can load/unload, so the LOAD PASSENGERS goal can never be completed. The AI service will never advance.

Another assumption: In order to figure out (when starting a timetable service) which AI trains must spawn where, I guess you run a full-day simulation once at build time and record the positions of all trains for the beginning of each minute. Either this record does not contain any speed information or power/brake settings, or such information is later discarded.

I am seeing three fixes:
1. The generic one: Do not mark the STOP IN LOCATION goal (on routes with n-Wagens) complete on this route if it is not guaranteed that at least one set of doors will open, allowing LOAD PASSENGERS to finish. This should fix all issues of this kind on the route, also for other timetable services with a similar issue, if any.
2. The really generic, nice-to-have one (for TSW4 lol): Record speed and power/brake settings of AI trains during the full-day simulation in order to be able to spawn AI trains in motion.
3. The "dirty hack": Start the ICE service at 20:49 instead of 20:50. The offending AI service will be further away from Wüsting and most likely continue without an issue. This should fix only this single instance of the problem.

Steps to reproduce:

• Install TSW plus the DLCs Hauptstrecke Bremen-Oldenburg, Tharandter Rampe and Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Würzburg
  
• Boot TSW3
• Select route BRO
• Select train ICE1 from SKW
• Start timetable service ICE 776 Frankfurt(Main)Hbf - Oldenburg(Oldb)Hbf at 20:50
• Keep going until the red signal at kilometer post 12.6
• Exit the cab and walk to Wüsting (takes approx. 10 minutes when running)
• Enter the cab of the parked DB BR 110
• Notice the AI driver trying to open the doors but not succeeding
• (opt. take over the service to clear the line)

Actual result: Player is being held at a red signal forever.

Expected result: Player should not be held (or at least not forever).

The attached screenshot shows more or less how I found the AI DB BR 110 which was blocking traffic (after entering the cab and accelerating for a second or two. I forgot to take the screenshot earlier).

 

I tried to reproduce the issue this morning but it did not occur this time. Can probably be closed.