Wrong penalty for path has a disabled station.

[DeckerCHAN@gmail.com]

I remember there is an update regarding train routing. When train making decision between 2 routes have exact length, extra penalty will apply for route has more stations than others.

However, I suspect it does not take station status into consideration. Which means stations have wither enabled or disabled have same penalty value.

I have conducted an experiment. The train been set lopping between A to D. If I remove one of B or C form loop. The train will certainly go this route.

But this does not change if I disabled one of station by signal.

[Loewchen]

Even if true, the penalty exist to prevent trains from using stations as a bypass, the status has no relevancy to prevent that behaviour.

[DeckerCHAN@gmail.com]

Even if true, the penalty exist to prevent trains from using stations as a bypass, the status has no relevancy to prevent that behaviour.

But why not remove penalty for disabled station because it does nothing.

[quyxkh]

With a bypass route through your station removing the pathing penalty to disabled stops looks as wrong as keeping the penalty without a bypass route, and if you're dealing with potential through traffic and conditionally-enabled stops you want a bypass route.

[DeckerCHAN@gmail.com]

With a bypass route through your station removing the pathing penalty to disabled stops looks as wrong as keeping the penalty without a bypass route, and if you're dealing with potential through traffic and conditionally-enabled stops you want a bypass route.

I have some small stations for maintenance purpose, those stations are signal controlled and disabling for 99% of time. However, the regular traffic will refuse to step into those segments and end up with a route with 3x more longer distance.

[Zavian]

Well the cause of them taking a long detour is really how you have laid out your rail network. It can be easily fixed by adding an alternative route that bypasses the station.

[quyxkh]

With a bypass route through your station removing the pathing penalty to disabled stops looks as wrong as keeping the penalty without a bypass route, and if you're dealing with potential through traffic and conditionally-enabled stops you want a bypass route.

I have some small stations for maintenance purpose, those stations are signal controlled and disabling for 99% of time. However, the regular traffic will refuse to step into those segments and end up with a route with 3x more longer distance.

It's the nature of judgement calls, there's downsides every direction.

You've hit a downside of the keep-the-penalties choice, disabled stops don't turn into bypass/through routes even if you want them to. The workaround for it, the cost of that choice, is in some cases you need to lay track for a short-bypass route -- here, for instance, just lay a straight track from A to D.

What's your workaround for the downside of the drop-the-penalties choice where disabled stops look like through routes even when you don't want that?

[Aeternus]

Even if true, the penalty exist to prevent trains from using stations as a bypass, the status has no relevancy to prevent that behaviour.

But why not remove penalty for disabled station because it does nothing.

Because players will sometimes disable a station to force trains to go to a second station with the same name - and you still do not want other trains to use the disabled station as a bypass rail. At most I'd get behind the pathing penalty to be slightly lower for a disabled station, but trains should still be discouraged from pathing through a disabled station. Especially if that same station has a bypass rail for that very purpose.

I have some small stations for maintenance purpose, those stations are signal controlled and disabling for 99% of time. However, the regular traffic will refuse to step into those segments and end up with a route with 3x more longer distance.

Unusual setup, but just add a permanently disabled station on the "longer" route and you solve that problem.

[DeckerCHAN@gmail.com]

I hope there is any way we can control this "penalty" instead left it as default forever.

[Zavian]

It is moddable, (see https://mods.factorio.com/mod/trainpath-tweaker) and I think you can probably access it with commands.