🎯 What Is Scenario Mode?
A hands-on mode in which trouble strikes at set times. Within a limited window from the start time to the end time, you aim to meet the objectives shown in advance.
The dispatching controls themselves are the same as in Sandbox. For how to use routes, levers, and rescheduling, see Dispatching. This page covers only the screens and mechanics specific to Scenario mode.
📋 Choosing a Scenario
Choose "Scenario" on the title screen to see a list on the left and details on the right. The details show the following.
- Difficulty (★1–★5) and start–end time
- A description of the situation
- A list of objectives
Scenarios you have cleared get a gold "Cleared" badge in the list. This record is kept separately from save data, so it isn't lost even if you delete your saves.
✅ The Objectives Window
You can check what you need to achieve at any time in the Objectives window. Open it with the "Objectives" button just to the right of the top menu bar (it also opens once automatically when the scenario starts).
It is a full-screen modal, and time stops while it is open. From top to bottom, it shows:
- The scenario title and the time of the final rating
- An overview of the situation
- Rows of objectives, divided into groups — on the left, … (not yet rated) / ✓ (achieved) / ✕ (not achieved); on the right, "current value / target value". Achieved objectives are dimmed and struck through
- Overall — "in progress (n / N achieved)", "Cleared! All objectives achieved", or "not achieved (✕ N)"
To close it, use "Close (Esc)" at the top right or the Esc key.
Types of Objectives
| Objective | Details |
|---|---|
| No stops outside station | You fail if, during the set time window, any train stops somewhere other than a station for a certain number of seconds or more. Trains that have failed are excluded. The result is settled the moment you violate it. How many seconds count as a stop outside station is shown on the objective's row in the Objectives window as "A N s stop between stations is a violation." |
| Keep departure intervals | You fail if the interval between departures at the target station and track exceeds the set time. The result is settled the moment you violate it. The time since the last departure is shown down to the second, such as "4 min 59 s / 5 min." |
| Limit maximum delay | You clear it if, at the end, the delay of the most-delayed train is within the limit. Rated at the end. |
| Limit total delay | You clear it if, at the end, the total delay of all trains is within the limit. Rated at the end. |
| Secure the number of departures | You clear it if, during the set time window, at least the required number of trains depart from the target station and track. If the count falls short when the time window ends, the failure is settled at that moment. |
For objectives "rated at the end," the current value updates live while you play, so you can dispatch while watching whether you have room to spare or are cutting it close.
When You Can No Longer Clear
When any objective is settled as not achieved, a warning sound plays and a red banner saying "Objective “...” has failed" appears at the top of the screen. "Restart from Beginning" lets you start the scenario over. You can also press "Continue" to close the banner and keep dispatching.
If you want to start over partway through, you can do the same from "System → Restart Scenario from Beginning" in the top menu.
💬 Dispatch Help
When trouble occurs during a scenario, the Dispatch Help window opens automatically, and time stops at the same moment. It describes the situation and how to approach it.
In many scenarios, an advance-notice help message appears a few minutes before the trouble itself. You have time to read and prepare, so stay calm and decide on your plan. Help may appear again when recovery comes into sight.
When you have finished reading, press "Close". Resume with Space or a speed key. At this point the game always resumes at normal speed (×1) (so that you don't rush into the situation at high speed and miss it).
🏁 The Results Screen
When the end time is reached, time stops and the Results appear full-screen. The contents are fixed at the values at the end, and they don't change even if you look at them again later.
Rating
- Cleared! (green band) — All objectives achieved
- Not achieved (red band) — Some objectives were not achieved
- Scenario Over (gray band) — A scenario with no objectives
Below that are the result for each objective (with the reason on rows not achieved) and the Service Record.
- Total delay (how many minutes, how many trains)
- Max delay (how many minutes, which train)
- Hold orders (how many you issued)
- Incidents (how many, and how many remain uncleared)
- Terminated short (how many trains you terminated at an intermediate station). Terminations you canceled are not counted
Buttons
- Play Again — Starts the same scenario from the beginning
- Back to Title (Esc) — The main action. Esc does the same
- Close & Continue — Lets you keep watching the service afterward. Resume with Space. You can reopen the results with the "Results" button in the top bar
🚉 Included Scenarios
Scenarios are listed by line, in order of difficulty (solutions are not discussed, to avoid spoilers).
Sendai Regional Railway (5 scenarios)
| Scenario | Difficulty | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| Five Minutes in the Morning Mist | ★☆☆☆☆ 08:00–08:30 |
A train failure in the middle of the morning rush. Recovery takes only five minutes, but on a dense timetable the following trains quickly back up. Your first step in rescheduling. |
| Curtain of Rain | ★★☆☆☆ 13:30–14:30 |
Speed restrictions due to heavy rain. Slow running upsets the spacing between trains and the connections between express and local trains, spreading across the whole line. |
| The Locked Loop | ★★★☆☆ 18:00–18:50 |
A passing loop becomes unusable during the evening rush. At a station where trains can't give way, rearrange the order of trains and the chain of services. |
| North Wind Cuts the Line | ★★★★☆ 12:00–12:50 |
Strong winds suspend service on a section. With no prospect of recovery, keep trains running on both sides of the divided line. |
| The Rapid That Won't Move | ★★★★★ 07:00–08:00 |
A rapid train is stranded on a single-track section in the early morning. Rebuild the service with the limited track you have. |
Uchibo Electric Railway (5 scenarios)
| Scenario | Difficulty | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| A Kite on the Line | ★★☆☆☆ 10:00–11:10 |
A kite gets tangled in the overhead wires, and one section of the Yokota Line has service suspended for 30 minutes. Your task is to protect the main line with turnbacks, then return the timetable to normal after recovery. |
| First Trains, Trapped in the Depot | ★★☆☆☆ 05:10–06:10 |
Before dawn, an out-of-service train leaving the depot is stranded at the depot exit, making Hatsudensho-mae completely unusable. Trains from the Chiba side turn back at Dentetsu-Kisarazu, and you keep up the number of Chiba-bound trains while absorbing some cancellations. |
| The Anegasaki Divide | ★★★☆☆ 10:00–10:50 |
A train failure between stations on the main line, with no prospect of recovery. Turn back trains at Dentetsu-Anegasaki on both the main line and the Yokota Line, and keep service running on the southern part of the line. |
| Kamatori: The Switch Won't Move | ★★★☆☆ 17:35–18:15 |
At the start of the evening rush, a switch at Dentetsu-Kamatori stops working, and the passing loop for outbound trains can't be used. Move the overtaking station to neighboring Ichihara, and protect both the faster trains and the flow of outbound trains. |
| Kazusa-Murakami: Ten Minutes of Red | ★★★★★ 07:45–08:30 |
During the morning rush, a train emergency stop device is activated at Kazusa-Murakami, and both tracks are closed to entry for 10 minutes. After service resumes, simply sending trains through in order causes a jam. Use delayed departures to restore the intervals between trains. |
Yokohama New Urban Railway Line 3 (5 scenarios)
| Scenario | Difficulty | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| Tsurumi: Losing the North | ★☆☆☆☆ 11:00–11:40 |
A switch at Hiyoshi station fails, and trains can neither enter nor leave Hiyoshi. Turn back the trains that can no longer go north on the middle track at Tsurumi, and keep up the number of trains toward Yokohama. Your job is done when the north side is back on the original timetable after recovery. |
| Sakuragicho: A Twenty-Minute Gap | ★★☆☆☆ 17:00–17:40 |
At dusk downtown, service between Shin-Tobe and Sakuragicho is suspended for 20 minutes. Set up turnbacks at Yokohama on the Tsurumi side and at Kannai on the Kamiooka side, and keep service running on both sides of this high-frequency line. |
| Kamiooka: An Evening Without a Turnback | ★★★☆☆ 17:30–18:00 |
During the evening rush, with trains every four minutes, a switch at Kamiooka won't move. The exit toward Futamatagawa is blocked, and service beyond Negishi is effectively suspended. Protect the number of trains toward Hiyoshi with limited turnback facilities. |
| Yokohama: The Thirteen-Minute Door | ★★★★☆ 07:30–08:50 |
During the morning rush at Yokohama, a local toward Futamatagawa is stuck with a door failure. For the 13 minutes of the temporary fix, hold the following trains at stations, then release them at proper intervals once it is fixed. |
| Two and a Half Minutes Apart | ★★★★★ 07:20–09:00 |
Morning rush, with trains at Yokohama every two and a half minutes. An emergency stop button, a sick passenger, an object on the track: small disruptions occur one after another. Smooth out the intervals with delayed departures and clear the delay before the next one. |
New Chitose Airport Access Line (5 scenarios)
| Scenario | Difficulty | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| Suimeikyo: No Place to Pass | ★☆☆☆☆ 09:50–11:30 |
On the single track to Lake Shikotsu Onsen, a switch failure takes out one track at Suimeikyo, where trains pass each other. There is no telling when it will be fixed. Get every train through on the one remaining track, Track 1, without stopping the Limited Express or the locals. |
| Kiyota: Losing the Outer Track | ★★☆☆☆ 10:00–11:00 |
On the quadruple track from Kenkyujo-mae to Kitahiroshima, a track circuit failure at Kiyota closes the express track toward New Chitose Airport. Forty-five minutes of weaving trains of different speeds onto the local track while protecting the number of trains and the timings. |
| Sapporo (Subway): A Morning Without a Crossover | ★★★☆☆ 07:30–08:35 |
During the morning rush, the double crossover inside Sapporo (Subway) fails, and the subway terminus is blocked. Divert the trains that can't enter the subway onto the main line, and protect capacity into central Sapporo. |
| Beer Garden: A Shadow in the Dark | ★★★★☆ 18:03–19:10 |
Evening rush. The Limited Express Chitose bound for Sapporo hits an animal just before Beer Garden. Clearing it takes a long time, and service beyond Kitahiroshima toward the airport is effectively suspended. One hour where everything rides on the order of departures. |
| Tsukisamu: A Morning Emergency | ★★★★★ 07:53–08:50 |
Weekday morning rush. A passenger is taken ill on a train standing at Tsukisamu. During those nine minutes, minor trouble piles up at other stations one after another. Watch the whole line and don't let delays linger. |
Japan Sea Shinkansen (2 scenarios)
| Scenario | Difficulty | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| Sakata: Blackout at Dawn | ★☆☆☆☆ 05:45–09:20 |
At the time of the first trains, a substation between Sakata and Ugo-Honjo fails, and service is blocked in both directions. Power returns at 8:50. Rework the services, using the spare trains in the depots too, and run everything outside the affected section as normally as you can. |
| Two Hours of Wind on the Sea of Japan | ★★☆☆☆ 10:00–13:00 |
Strong winds on the coast between Kanazawa and Joetsu bring a 130 km/h speed restriction for two hours, and delays pile up on a scale far beyond any conventional line. In the one hour from the lifting at 12:00 until 13:00, rebuild the timetable. |
🎓 About the Tutorials
Before taking on scenarios, we recommend going through the tutorials (5 in all) to get familiar with the controls. Instructions appear on screen and the relevant spot lights up with a red frame, so you won't get lost. The tutorials are played on the Sendai Regional Railway map.
- Reading the Screen and the Clock — The clock, speed, pause, and map controls
- Hold and Resume Service — When a train failure occurs, stop trains first
- Delay Departure, Extra Stop, Skip Stop — Three orders to protect connections and recover delays
- Terminate Short and Turn Back — When a section is blocked, terminate trains short of it and set up turnbacks
- Station Control (Manual Routes) — Turn off automatic route setting and handle trains yourself with levers