Expert mode is a much better mode because it allows you to drive realistic shifts with changing of the cabs. I suggest to play mostly in this mode. You will need to know how to program the IBIS anyway to bypass the "red light" bug, so why not play expert from the start?

Manual gives as some information on how standard operations on the route look like:


We can either be driving the:

Inner circle - here blue, starting at Wandsbek-Gartenstadt, going through Barmbek, then the whole inner circle and terminating at Barmbek, where cabs should be change back to drive on the outer circle.

Outer circle - here green, starting at Barmbek, driving the whole outer circle back to Barmbek, where we divert onto the branch to Wandsbek-Gertenstadt, where we change cabs back.

In expert mode we can start on any selectable station although it is advised to start just on the terminus, either Barmbek or Wandsbek-Gertenstadt. It is important to pick the right platform. For the outer circle this would usually be platform 1, for the inner circle platform 2 or 3, 4 (if there are more than 2 platforms).

Startup procedure is simple and described in the manual. First we open doors with double pressing E, next we enter the cab, close the door with E and we can sit down with E again.

Next with insert and turn the key:

Then we take over:

Finally we need to program the IBIS:

IBIS is simple to code and it is crucial to understand how it works because we will need to use it later on too. All the information is presented on the wall of the cab:


Outer route is described on the left part of the table (top to bottom), while inner route on the right (bottom to top). Let's say we want to travel the whole outer route from Barmbek to Wandsbek. In that case our departure station would be 67, while our final station would be 86.

First we need to make a train number. It consists of departure station and time of departure. If we started at say 09:00 and want to depart at 09:05, our train number would be: 670905 and this is what we type into the first line. The second line is just destination code, here 86. The last line is individual driver number, we can put any number here.

Once we are done we need to register with the green button and we are done. All junctions should be setup.

Unfortunately in current stage the IBIS is bugged. There are two kinds of bugs:
- red light
- wrong routing

Red light

Sometimes red light can be caused by other traffic. This is natural. But unfortunately most often a red light is a result of a bug. It seems that thig bug happens more rarely if you close the doors with 4 only instead of 5 but I'm not sure about it. Fortunately we can easily bypass this bug. Whenever you encounter a red light that doesn't want to go green after some time, do the following:

On the right screen press the FIS button:

Now press the H button:

Now find your current station on the announcement panel:

On this screen it's BA which means Barmbek. Sometimes you might need to use the up/down arrows. For now just remember the station.

Next on the IBIS panel press the green key:

This should re-register your route again and if successful, you should get a green light. Unfortunately it will change your current station in the announcement panel, therefore now you need to select back the station you are at (the one you checked earlier) and press the takeover button:
.
If for some reason you were not successful in registering the route, you need to reregister it again manually. Press this button:

Check the code of your current station on the wall. Hopefully it is there. Create your new train number (using current station code and current time). And put it again into the IBIS, then register with green. If your station is not on the wall, you'll need to try finding a closest station which you already passed that can be found on the wall and make up a train number out of that.

Finally you should be able to get a green light.

Wrong routing

Unfortunately the dispatcher doesn't setup the route correctly in many cases. I'll give you two scenarios here:

Outer circle

When driving the outer circle, at the very end when arriving for the second time at Barmbek, the junction may not be setup for the branch at Wandsbek. You can see that by speed restriction on the signal (4 = 40 km/h with a light K sign is for the circle, 5 = 50 km/h with a light W sign is for the branch). If this is the case, just re-register your train from Barmbek to Wandbek (85 to 86) and you should get the correct signal.


<--- Outer Circle from Barmbek into the circle


/|\ Outer Circle from Barmbek into the Wandsbek branch

Inner circle

This routing bug happens at the very end of the route, when you arrive at final station of Barmbek. Unfortunately for some unknown reason you are being put by the dispatcher onto rightmost platform, which doesn't allow reversing. You can only continue from here on the inner circle, while in reality you should change cabs and go back.

In order to fix this you need to be cautionous to re-register your train just one station before Barmbek which is Saarlandstrasse. When stationed there, register again (68 to 67) and the dispatcher will place you on the middle platform and even allow you to the reversing siding, where you can register for an outer circle ride.

Hopefully these bugs will be fixed with furthure updates but they presist as for now (July 2023)

HUD can be disabled with the G key. Driving hudless is the best form to enjoy the game, because you actually need to pay attention to what is happening outside and get to know the route a little.

Route speed

There are no markings for maximum route speed but as I understand they can be read from the wall.

Barmbek to Saarlandstasse max speed is 80 km/h
Saarlandstrasse to Schlump max speed is 70 km/h
Schlump to Mundsburg max speed is 60 km/h (most of the route including tunnels)
Mundsburg to Barmbek and on Wandsbeck branch max speed is 80 km/h

This might be a bit hard to remember at first but there are actually only 3 places where you change the speed both directions. It's best if you try to memorize the places. On the outer circle you can start at 70 km/h up to Schlump which is a very characteristic station where train for the first time enters tunnels. This is where you change from 70 km/h to 60 km/h max speed and continue with this maximum speed for the most time. 80 km/h appears for the first time when you see a big yellow crane and is later done mostly on the branch to Wandsbek.

Speed restrictions

Speed restrictions are marked with the yellow signs.

Triangle with a number is advance signal showing an upcomming restriction in tenths of kilometers per hour (here 5 = 50 km/h). The "A" sign marks the place where the restriction actually begins. On this picture it begins at the same place as the advance signal but on several places you get the warining first and the actual limit only after few hundreds of meters.

Restriction ends either with a new restriction or with green E sign. Be sure that the whole train passes this sign before accelerating to the maximum route speed.

You should be fine following these signs although I believe there is one E sign missing. This happens on the inner circle in a tunnel with 30 km/h restriction. We should follow it for two stations and then HUD says we can accelerate to route speed.

Red signals

You need to follow the signals strictly, as passing a red light immediately ends the simulation. Without a HUD this might be a problem at first, but generally you should just carefully watch the advance signals. These are two smaller lights:


If you encounter two yellows like this instead of two greens, it means that next signal will be red. You should start breaking immediately down to about 20-30 km/h and drive this speed until you can see the actual aspect on the signal.

















Signal restrictions

Sometimes you will encounter a speed restriction enforced by a signal. In that case maintain the speed up to a value shown on the signal (here 5 = 50 km/h) until your whole train passes all junctions protected by this signal. You can then accelerate to either maximum route speed or other restriction enforced by the signs.

Shunting signal

A signal like this means that you are allowed to drive into a reverse siding. Do not exceed 20 km/h of speed and be ready to stop at the siding. You can then disable the cabin (take out the key) and startup from the other side to continue your journey back.