Step 2: Create Hubs to divide local/international traffic

This is something I picked up from scouring the steam forums (and am willing to attribute to them if I find them again). This accounts for commandment #4 above by leveraging #5, and the AI smart enough to use it. It also completely solves trains backing up outside of the map. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe this also creates “caches” at the stations leading to higher loads per train and lower overall numbers of trains. I have noticed that trucks entering cargo stations don’t always create trains, and aren’t always headed to the same station.The recommendation is NOT to connect this to your road network at all, to keep the traffic on the highway loop as clean as possible. If you do connect it, the correct placement of districts with the “Heavy Traffic Ban” policy might prevent local cargo from using the hub. However you will need to connect police, fire, and garbage. How do those policemen, firemen, and garbage men actually get to work when the hub is isolated? Your guess is as good as mine, but the game never has a problem with it.