About Railways

In a default, un-modded game of OpenTTD, new track types and their matching locomotives become available in specific in-game years:

Vanilla Track Availability Years

• Electric Rail: Available starting in 1965. (Note: Electric engines are natively available in the Temperate climate; other vanilla climates require a NewGRF to activate them).
• Monorail: Available starting in 1999.
• Maglev: Available starting in 2021 (some map seeds introduce locomotives between 2020–2022).

Tube / Vacuum Tube Trains

Vacuum tube trains (Vactrains) do not exist in vanilla OpenTTD. They are custom additions that can only be introduced by downloading a NewGRF mod pack (such as the popular Vacuum Tube Train Set).

• Introduction Year: Most Vactrain NewGRF sets introduce these futuristic tracks and hyper-fast engines starting in 2022 or 2050, acting as the ultimate upgrade tier after Maglev infrastructure.

Quick Upgrade Tip

If you are transitioning your network to Monorail or Maglev, the base game requires you to send all old trains to a depot, sell them, convert the tracks using the Convert Rail tool, and then buy the new trains from scratch. To make this seamless, look for NewGRF mods like the Progressive Rail Set v2 or Universal Rail Type 2.0.1, which let you use the automated engine replacement tool across different track tiers.

Note: Universal Rail Type cannot handle Tube trains.

The Universal Rail Type NewGRF was coded strictly around OpenTTD’s four hard coded vanilla rail types: Standard Rail, Electric Rail, Monorail, and MagLev. Because it does not recognize custom track IDs added by third-party mods, Vacuum Tube trains cannot enter Universal Depots or run on Universal Tracks.

Alternative: Progressive Rail Set v2

If you want to seamlessly bridge your network all the way to Vacuum Tube trains, you should use the Progressive Rail Set v2 instead.

• How it works: Unlike Universal Rail (which creates a single “catch-all” track), the Progressive Rail Set makes each consecutive tier of rail backwards-compatible with the one before it.
• The Progression: It natively programs a logic loop of Normal → Electric → Monorail → Maglev → Vacuum Tube.
• The Benefit: An engine can run un-powered on the track generation right before it, and fully powered on its own track and the next generation up. This allows you to mix MagLev wagons and Vactrain engines in the same depot to execute your standard Autoreplace commands without breaking the game.

How to execute a Tube upgrade safely:

Because you cannot use a magic universal track for Vactrains, you must use the standard “Depot Hop” strategy to upgrade your lines:

• Ensure your chosen Tube mod (like Emperor Jake’s Vactrain Set 1.0.1) is active.
• Set your global Vehicle Autoreplace rules to swap your Maglev models for the new Vacuum Tube models.
• Force all your active Maglev trains to go to their nearest depots for maintenance.
• Use the Convert Rail tool to mass-drag and upgrade your physical tracks, bridges, and depots from Maglev to Tube.
• Release the trains; they will automatically convert to Tube variants inside the newly upgraded depots as they leave.

Vactrain Track and Trains Bundled

When you download a vacuum tube mod through the OpenTTD in-game content downloader, the author packages both the new Tube track layout and the high-speed Tube locomotives/wagons into one single .grf file.

How the standard Vactrain mod works

If you install the primary community standard—The Vactrain Set (by Emperor Jake)—activating it instantly provides:

• The Track infrastructure: A fifth rail-construction menu option called Vacuum Tube Rails. It automatically adds unique tube-enclosed tracks, matching covered tube bridges, and tube-shielded train depots.
• The Vehicles: Multiple generations of hyper-fast engines (like the Airliner-killer or Euroliner) and vacuum-sealed cargo/passenger wagons available directly inside those custom tube depots.

When would you need a second NewGRF?

You only need to look for additional “companion” or “add-on” NewGRFs in a few specific scenarios:

• Cargo compatibility: If you play with highly complex industry mods like FIRS or ECS, you may want to download the Vactrain Companion NewGRF. This second mod adds specialized, high-capacity cargo wagons to the tube set so they can haul custom modded freight.
• Advanced Track Sets: If you use a massive, standalone track overhaul mod (like NuTracks), it might intentionally provide only the physical tube tracks. In that rare case, you would need to download a separate train set to find engines configured to run on those track IDs.

For a standard game, simply search for “Vac” or “Vactrain” in the OpenTTD Online Content menu, grab the core set, and it will handle both the rails and the trains flawlessly.

Monorail Expansion Sets

Monorail expansion sets usually require two separate NewGRFs working together.

While the vanilla game bundles basic monorail tracks and trains together, the custom urban monorail mods (like suspended monorails or straddle monorails) split the tracks and the vehicles into independent packages.

Why Urban Monorails Are Separated

OpenTTD handles custom track aesthetics through a system called OpenTTD TrackSet (OTTS). Because urban monorails require unique infrastructure—like tracks built over city streets, elevated concrete pillars, or suspended girders—mod authors separate the files so players can mix and match their favorite train graphics with their preferred track styles.

The Standard Two-Mod Setup

If you want to build an urban monorail system, you will typically need to activate a pair of mods:

• The Infrastructure Mod (Tracks Only):
  • Examples: Umpire’s Urban Infrastructure, Total Bridge Renewal, or Elevated Trackways.
    (Note: Total Bridge Renewal is available in game Online Downloads, the other two are not.)
  • What it does: This creates the physical look of the rails. It allows you to build monorails over roads, floating above city buildings, or attached to concrete pylons.
• The Vehicle Mod (Trains Only):
  • Examples: Monorail Infrastructure Conversion Set (MICS)(The Urban Transit / Infrastructure Set), JP+ Suspended Monorails (The Tokyo Monorail Set), or Modern Tram and Monorail Set (M3S).
  • What it does: This populates your depots with high-capacity urban commuters, airport shuttles, and light-rail monorail cars.

The “Track ID” Rule

For this two-mod system to work, both NewGRFs must share the same Track ID. When downloading them from the OpenTTD Online Content menu, look at the description tags. Make sure your chosen vehicle set states that it is compatible with standard Monorail track slots or specific track infrastructure NewGRFs.

Rail Transit Modes Continuum

Something I personally have wanted to explore more in my games is the various Urban Rail modes or as some call it the Rail Transit Continuum.

You can easily turn your monorail network into a high-utility urban transit system. Suspension monorails are particularly excellent for cities because they let you route high-speed commuters directly over crowded downtown grids.

The Top Suspended & Urban Monorail Choices

When you open the in-game Check Online Content menu, search for these exact names to find the absolute best community sets:

• Suspended Monorail Track Set (SMTS): This is the gold standard for your physical tracks. It replaces the default chunky monorail graphics with sleek, overhead steel girders and concrete supports. It lets you run tracks cleanly through tight city spaces.
• Tokyo Monorail Set: This vehicle set pairs flawlessly with urban tracks. It provides high-capacity, quick-acceleration straddle and suspended trains based on real-world Japanese airport shuttles. They are perfect for moving massive crowds over short distances.
• Generic Tram Set (Heavily Modded) or Modern Maglev & Monorail (M3S): A massive pack of futuristic, light-rail commuter trains. It includes short, articulated hanging cars that can handle sharp, 90-degree city corners without slowing down significantly.

How to Build Through Cities Without Getting Blocked

If you try to plow a new monorail through a metropolis, the local city authority will quickly get angry about demolition and ban you from building. Use these three settings and tricks to bypass them entirely:

• Enable “Bridges over Roads”: Go to your advanced settings menu and search for “Allow building bridges over roads and tracks”. Turn this On. This allows your suspended monorail to glide right over existing city streets without destroying any houses.
• Build on City Slopes: Local authorities do not mind if you terraform or build on tiles that are already sloped. Use elevated concrete foundations along the edges of city borders to bypass town centers.
• The Tree-Planting Bribe: If your local rating drops to “Appalling” and you are banned from building, select the Place Trees tool. Spam-click hundreds of trees inside the city limits. The local authority rating will instantly shoot back up to “Outstanding,” allowing you to resume construction.

Start Date for Monorail

If you launch a completely standard, unmodded game, the “X2001” Monorail engine and its matching tracks will unlock exactly in 1999. [1, 2, 3]

However, if you want to play a game focused entirely on Monorails from start to finish, you do not have to wait until 1999 to begin building your empire. You can bypass this constraint using two methods:

Option 1: Use the In-Game Cheat Menu (Fastest)

You can force OpenTTD to give you Monorails at any time—even if you choose a starting year like 1950.

• Press Ctrl + Alt + C on your keyboard to open the secret Cheat Menu.
• Click the date button and change your game year to 1999.
• Click out of the menu. The game will now announce that Monorail technology has been invented.
• Open the console with the tilde key (~), type reset_engines, and press Enter. (This ensures the trains appear in your depots immediately).
• Open the Cheat Menu (Sandbox) again and change the year back to your original starting year. The Monorail tracks and trains will remain fully unlocked and ready to use.

Option 2: Use the “Monorail/MagLev Replacement Set”

If you want a natural progression that starts much earlier in history without using cheats, download a NewGRF called *OpenGFX+ Trains or the Monolev Replacement Set from the online content menu.

• How it works: These mods feature a setting that rewrites the vehicle timeline.
• The Result: They convert steam, diesel, and electric locomotives into early-generation, slower monorails. This allows you to start a map in 1920 or 1950 with primitive, low-speed industrial monorails, which you can naturally upgrade to high-speed and urban suspended variants as the decades roll by.

UPDATE: There is a way to use MagLev trains on Vactrain lines with the advent of the Vactrain Set 1.1.FORK 1.1.3 modified from Emperor Jake’s Vactrain Set with the collaboration of WORD559. [1]
Also read more on my Vactrain Setup page.