Contracts and service obligations

Each eligible route can receive an optional public-service contract offer. By default, accepting it provides stable support accrued minute by minute for 14 days. The offer itself shows the actual expiry used by the game.

The offer is optional. Decline it when you want freedom to change the route or when the fleet cannot reliably meet its terms.

• Frequency is at least as frequent as the contracted interval.
• The first train is no later than the required start.
• The last train is no earlier than the required finish.
• Allocated train capacity meets the minimum.
• The required percentage of scheduled services is delivered.
• Punctuality meets the required level.

The full support payment accrues while the contract is active. Failed checks create a proportional penalty, and the maximum daily penalty exposure is twice the daily support. At only 50% compliance the penalty can consume the full subsidy.

A route with no serviceable train still receives its compliance assessment. Removing every train is therefore not a way to avoid contractual consequences.

During disruption, compare the contract impact of each response. Continuing may protect delivery but damage punctuality; reducing frequency creates cancellations; suspension protects trains but can fail delivery completely.

There is no universally correct response. The right choice depends on incident duration, spare stock, passenger demand and penalty exposure.