OpenTTD: Complete Beginner-to-Advanced Guide

Everything you need to go from your first coal train to a sprawling, profitable multimodal network in OpenTTD: money rules, station ratings, signals, cargo chains, and the settings that matter.

Researched September 2026 — current as of OpenTTD 15.3 stable (April 2026), with notes on the 16.0 beta series (beta4, 20 September 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Important: How to Get OpenTTD in 2026

• OpenTTD is still free and open source (GPL v2). You can always download it from the official website.
• On Steam, things changed on 16 March 2026. OpenTTD is no longer sold/offered standalone to new Steam users. New players get it on Steam through the Transport Tycoon Deluxe / OpenTTD bundle, which includes Atari's re-release of the original game. If you already had OpenTTD in your Steam library, nothing changes: it stays in your library and keeps updating.
• Stable vs beta: 15.x is the stable branch. To try 16.0 betas on Steam, right-click OpenTTD, Properties, Game Versions & Betas, and pick the testing branch. Betas can have bugs and desyncs (beta4 was a hotfix for a terraforming desync in beta3).

Quick Start

1. Start with coal or passengers between two big towns. Coal mine to power station by train is the classic first profit maker: power stations accept unlimited coal and pay well.
2. Distance and speed make money. Cargo pays more the farther it travels, but loses value the longer it takes. Medium distances with fast vehicles win.
3. Use "Full load" at the pickup station for industry cargo, so trains don't leave half empty.
4. Take the loan, then pay it back. Starting money is tiny; borrowing to build one strong route is normal. Pay it off once you're profitable to stop paying interest.
5. Use path signals. They are the simplest, safest signal for almost everything.
6. Service your vehicles. With breakdowns on, vehicles need depots on or near their routes. Old vehicles break down more.
7. Don't bulldoze the town. Local authority rating drops when you demolish town buildings or cut trees; with a bad rating the town won't let you build stations.
8. Hold Tab to fast-forward during quiet periods.
9. Check the Online Content button in the main menu for free vehicle sets, AIs, and scenarios.

Essential Hotkeys

Hotkeys can be changed in the hotkeys config file, and many toolbar buttons show their key in the tooltip.

Money: How You Actually Profit

• Income comes from delivering cargo. Pay depends on cargo type, distance (straight-line between stations), and transit time.
• Costs: vehicle purchase, running costs, track/road maintenance (if infrastructure maintenance is on), and loan interest.
• Rule of thumb: a vehicle should earn several times its running cost per year. Check the vehicle list sorted by profit and fix or sell the losers.
• Cargo aging: each cargo loses value over time. Mail and passengers lose value quickly; coal and ore are forgiving. The 16.0 beta adds a setting to scale cargo payment aging so slow vehicles on huge maps can still earn.
• Subsidies: the game offers bonus pay for connecting specific source/destination pairs. As of 16.0 betas they also work for cargo using CargoDist.

Stations and Ratings

The station rating decides how much of an industry's or town's production actually goes to you. It's affected by:

• How long since cargo was last picked up (have something loading all the time).
• Speed of the last vehicle that picked up cargo.
• How much cargo is waiting (lots waiting lowers the rating).
• Age of the vehicle loading.
• A company statue in the town (for town cargo).

Practical rules:

• Keep at least one train/bus loading at every pickup station with full load.
• Don't leave hundreds of units of cargo waiting; add vehicles.
• Newer, faster vehicles keep ratings high.
• Two companies at one industry split the cargo by rating.

Catchment: each station type has a catchment radius (the highlighted area when placing). Industries must be inside the catchment to supply or accept cargo; for towns, accepted cargo depends on the buildings covered.

Trains: The Core of OpenTTD

Building a basic line

1. Open the rail toolbar (Shift + F7), pick the track type.
2. Build a station (platforms long enough for your trains) at the source and destination.
3. Connect with track. Keep curves gentle and avoid steep slopes; hills slow heavy trains a lot.
4. Build a depot near the start, buy a locomotive plus wagons.
5. Give orders: source station Full load, destination station Unload (or default), and the train returns.
6. Add a servicing depot order or let trains visit depots automatically.

Signals (use path signals)

Double track tip: build two parallel tracks, one per direction, with one-way path signals every few tiles. Trains can follow each other closely and throughput rises dramatically.

Terminus tip: put path signals before the platforms so trains pick a free platform automatically.

Train sizing

• Match the locomotive's power to the wagon weight, especially on hilly maps.
• Longer trains carry more but need longer platforms and more power.
• Trains can drive backwards in the 16.0 betas (useful for some terminal and shunting layouts); in 15.x they reverse at dead ends/terminus stations.

Road, Water and Air

• Drive-through road stops handle traffic far better than bay stops. Put them on a side road so buses don't block each other.
• Oil rigs at sea need ships (or helicopters for passengers/mail).
• Airports: small airports are cheap but limited; bigger ones handle more planes. Watch crash risk settings and airport capacity.
• 15.0 added road waypoints, bridges over stations and road stops, and more building options.

Cargo Chains (Temperate Climate)

Goods go to towns that accept them (usually larger towns). Delivering to a secondary industry raises its production and can make it grow.

Other climates: Sub-arctic has towns above the snow line that need food to grow; Sub-tropical has desert towns that need water and food. Toyland has its own silly cargo set. Read the industry window (click an industry) for what it accepts and produces.

Towns and Growth

• Towns grow faster when you deliver passengers, mail and (in sub-arctic/sub-tropical) required cargo.
• Use the Local Authority window for actions like advertising, building a statue, or funding road reconstruction. A statue boosts station ratings in that town.
• Rating tips: avoid clear-cutting trees and demolishing buildings near towns; plant trees if your rating tanks.
• 15.0 added manual house placement in scenario-style building, and cargo history graphs for towns and industries.

CargoDist (Cargo Destinations)

With CargoDist enabled, passengers and cargo have destinations instead of going to "any" station.

• Manual distribution: classic behavior.
• Asymmetric: cargo flows are planned but return flows needn't match.
• Symmetric: return flows roughly match (common for passengers).

CargoDist rewards real networks with transfer stations, but it is harder to reason about. Turn it on after you're comfortable.

Settings Worth Knowing

• Breakdowns: off, reduced or normal. Off is fine while learning.
• Infrastructure maintenance: adds ongoing cost for big networks.
• Vehicle limits: 16.0 beta raises the maximum to 10,000 vehicles per type per company.
• Company joining: 15.0 removed company passwords; you invite players from the Online Players list. 16.0 beta adds an option to let anyone join a company without an invite.
• Map generation: map size up to 4096 by 4096 tiles, terrain type, sea level, rivers; 15.0 added island maps with infinite water.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Very long first route. You run out of money before it pays. Start with 30-80 tile routes.
• No full load at pickup. Trains leave empty and lose money.
• Steep hills with weak engines. Trains crawl and block the line.
• Single track with two-way traffic and no passing loops.
• Block signals at junctions causing jams. Use path signals.
• Ignoring old vehicles. Set up autoreplace/autorenew so fleets don't age into breakdowns.
• Trashing town ratings by clearing everything around a station.
• Forgetting depots for servicing on long routes.

Advanced Tips

• Feeder systems: trucks bring cargo from several small industries to a rail hub; use transfer orders so the main line earns the long-distance payment.
• Ro-Ro stations (drive-through platforms at both ends) let trains pass straight through, raising capacity.
• Timetables and separation keep evenly spaced trains on busy lines.
• Build for expansion: leave room around stations for more platforms and a second track.
• NewGRFs (via Online Content) add realistic vehicle sets, new industries and stations. Read each set's parameters; some change economy balance heavily.
• AIs and Game Scripts from Online Content give you opponents or goals.
• Screensaver mode (16.0 beta3, in the ? menu) follows random vehicles around your map.

FAQ

Is OpenTTD still free? Yes. The official website download is free. On Steam, new users need the Transport Tycoon Deluxe / OpenTTD bundle since March 2026; existing Steam owners keep it.

Do I need the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe files? No. OpenTTD ships with free replacement graphics, sounds and music. The original graphics are optional.

What's the best first route? Coal mine to power station by train, or passengers between two large nearby towns.

Which signals should I use? Path signals (and one-way path signals on one-direction lines).

Why won't the town let me build? Your local authority rating is too low. Stop removing trees/buildings, plant trees, or wait it out.

Can I play multiplayer? Yes. Host or join from the multiplayer menu. Since 15.0 companies use invites instead of passwords.

Should I use the 16.0 beta? Only if you want new features and don't mind occasional bugs. Stable 15.3 is the safe choice.

Sources

• OpenTTD Steam news feed (15.0–16.0-beta4 announcements, Steam distribution change)
• OpenTTD — Steam store page
• OpenTTD Wiki — Hotkeys
• OpenTTD Wiki — Signals
• OpenTTD official website