FLEET SIZE & HEADWAY CALCULATOR
Transport Fever 3 line planner
Turn a measured round trip into a fleet plan. Calculate how many vehicles you need, their evenly spaced headway and the capacity your line can move.
Your line
Use the same time basis throughout. Target units/hour must match the minutes used for your round trip; do not enter game-year demand as hourly demand.
YOUR FLEET PLAN
Vehicles needed
2 more vehicles than your current fleet.
- Evenly spaced headway
- 6 min
- Planned line capacity
- 800 units/hour
- Current fleet capacity
- 400 units/hour
- Expected delivered units/cycle
- 80
Vehicles are rounded up to meet the target with the load percentage you entered.
Planning estimate: one loaded delivery per loop, identical vehicles and a stable cycle. Track queues and loading delays can change the real result.
How to measure your line
- Follow one vehicle from departure until it returns to the same stop ready to depart again. Include stops and waiting; keep game speed consistent.
- Use capacity for the passengers or cargo you are planning. Choose a load percentage based on observations, rather than assuming every trip is full.
- Enter a target measured on the same time basis, or choose a departure interval. Compare the plan, then check the line again after changing the fleet.
Calculation method & assumptions
Expected units per cycle = vehicle capacity × expected load / 100. One vehicle’s hourly capacity = expected units per cycle × 60 / round-trip minutes.
Demand mode: vehicles = target hourly throughput / one vehicle’s hourly capacity, rounded up. Zero target demand gives zero required vehicles.
Headway mode: vehicles = round-trip minutes / target headway minutes, rounded up. Planned headway = round-trip minutes / vehicles.
Line capacity = vehicles × one vehicle’s hourly capacity. Current fleet capacity uses the same cycle and expected load, so you can compare the two plans.
This is planning arithmetic, not a revenue or traffic simulation. Count one loaded delivery per cycle and plan opposite directions separately. It does not convert game years into real hours, infer vehicle stats or predict how adding vehicles changes congestion.
Research references checked on 11 October 2026: Fleet Size & Headway ↗ · Line and Vehicle Planner ↗
Line planner questions
Does this work for trains, buses and cargo trucks?
Yes, if the vehicles have compatible capacity and similar measured cycles. Use the full train’s capacity. For mixed vehicles, multiple deliveries per loop or changing queues, calculate each comparable service separately and verify in-game.
Why can actual throughput be lower?
Vehicles may bunch together, wait at signals or leave below the load you entered. The headway calculator assumes evenly spaced departures and a stable cycle. Re-measure after changing vehicles or the route.
Use the Transport Fever 3 line planner to size a working fleet
The Transport Fever 3 line planner connects your timetable to the amount a route can actually move. Measure a complete round trip, including return travel, stops and queueing. Enter vehicle capacity and a realistic load factor, then size the fleet either for hourly transport demand or for a chosen headway. The line planner is useful for a bus connection, truck feeder or rail service when the observed cycle is reasonably stable. Repeat the calculation after changing terminals or adding stops, because the old cycle may no longer represent the route.
How to use this Transport Fever 3 calculator
- Observe a vehicle from one departure until its next equivalent departure. Use that complete cycle in minutes, rather than one-way travel time. Enter capacity and expected loading for the same cargo or passenger task.
- Select demand mode to serve a known units-per-hour target, or headway mode to keep a chosen departure interval. The Transport Fever 3 line planner checks only the input relevant to the selected mode.
- Compare required vehicles with your current fleet. Check both proposed throughput and the change in fleet count, then observe another complete cycle after applying the plan in your save.
A worked planning example
A 24-minute round trip, 100-unit capacity and 80% loading give 200 units per vehicle-hour. A target of 800 needs four vehicles, with an average six-minute interval. Two existing vehicles provide 400 units per hour, so the plan adds two. A target of 1600 needs eight vehicles. At full loading, four vehicles would carry 1000 units per hour; load factor is why capacity and actual throughput differ.
What to do with the result
A Transport Fever 3 line planner result is a capacity plan, not proof of passenger or cargo demand. Vehicles will not fill simply because the timetable has room. Check coverage, compatible cargo and destination acceptance. If vehicles bunch up, replace the average cycle with an observation from a representative period. Use the distance fleet calculator before a route exists, and the cargo line planner when several transfer legs must work together.
Calculator questions
Can this Transport Fever 3 line planner convert game years into hours?
It uses the minutes and hourly demand you enter. Keep those on one clock basis. An annual production number needs a verified conversion before it can be treated as hourly demand.
Why does the line planner round the vehicle count up?
The fleet must use whole vehicles. Rounding down would leave a capacity gap or a longer departure interval. The result does not guarantee evenly spaced departures when traffic or loading varies.