Why is Las Venturas Train Station so small and faraway from downtown in comparison to Unity Station or Cranberry Station in LS or SF?

[mikelatham]

Why is Las Venturas Train Station so small and faraway from downtown in comparison to Unity Station or Cranberry Station in LS or SF?

The Railway Line in Las Venturas seams to avoid the city all together but the main station is in a suburb all the way in the north, even though theirs a second smaller station much closer it is still o the edge of the city.

[mikelatham]

Los Santos Station

https://imgur.com/a/M2GOttT

 

San Fierro Station

https://imgur.com/a/kFnJIGe

 

Las Venturas Station

https://imgur.com/a/rlXFcKy

 

[lil weasel]

http://en.wikigta.org/wiki/Train_station_locations_Las_Venturas_(GTA_San_Andreas)

Both are Sub-Urban stations for communters, the main travel in Los Venturas would be Automobile, thus the Highways.

Yellow Bell Station: One of two This is located in Prickle Pine to  the north of the city. ext to the Golf Course.  Primary game use is the "Green Goo" mission.

Linden Station located in Linden Side in the east of the city.  Similar to the sister station at Prickle Pine. Only used in the Brown Streak Missions.

 

[mikelatham]

1 minute ago, lil weasel said:

http://en.wikigta.org/wiki/Train_station_locations_Las_Venturas_(GTA_San_Andreas)

Both are Sub-Urban stations for communters, the main travel in Los Venturas would be Automobile, thus the Highways.

Yellow Bell Station: One of two This is located in Prickle Pine to  the north of the city. ext to the Golf Course.  Primary game use is the "Green Goo" mission.

Linden Station located in Linden Side in the east of the city.  Similar to the sister station at Prickle Pine. Only used in the Brown Streak Missions.

 

Yes but Las Venturas had trains before roads so there should be a station closer to the strip right?

[Official General]

5 minutes ago, lil weasel said:

http://en.wikigta.org/wiki/Train_station_locations_Las_Venturas_(GTA_San_Andreas)

Both are Sub-Urban stations for communters, the main travel in Los Venturas would be Automobile, thus the Highways.

Yellow Bell Station: One of two This is located in Prickle Pine to  the north of the city. ext to the Golf Course.  Primary game use is the "Green Goo" mission.

Linden Station located in Linden Side in the east of the city.  Similar to the sister station at Prickle Pine. Only used in the Brown Streak Missions.

 

This.

 

To add my own take and more, like the guy above said, train would not be the main form of travel for visiting Las Venturas. Going by the extensive networks of highways and freeways that connect LV to everywhere else in the state, it's clear to see that most people would be more likely to drive there rather than take the train. 

 

Furthermore, it's highly likely that the majority of people would travel to LV by plane. LV is in the middle of the desert and a flight would be an even better option of travel for those wishing to travel there, it would be much faster and more convenient. 

 

So taken all of this into consideration, I can only assume that with train being the least important method of travelling to LV, the city's local authorities would not have had much reason to invest in improving them and making them so grand. 

[mikelatham]

3 minutes ago, Official General said:

This.

 

To add my own take and more, like the guy above said, train would not be the main form of travel for visiting Las Venturas. Going by the extensive networks of highways and freeways that connect LV to everywhere else in the state, it's clear to see that most people would be more likely to drive there rather than take the train. 

 

Furthermore, it's highly likely that the majority of people would travel to LV by plane. LV is in the middle of the desert and a flight would be an even better option of travel for those wishing to travel there, it would be much faster and more convenient. 

 

So taken all of this into consideration, I can only assume that with train being the least important method of travelling to LV, the city's local authorities would not have had much reason to invest in improving them and making them so grand. 

So then what are the reasons for Los Santos and San Fieraro haveing such grand stations?

[Official General]

1 minute ago, mikelatham said:

So then what are the reasons for Los Santos and San Fieraro haveing such grand stations?

You do realise in America many cities are so different from each other that they can actually feel like they in completely different worlds apart from each other ? I've been to America many times, and some cities just have better things in certain areas than others, there is not always a given reason - it simply depends on decisions made by the people in charge of running and managing the city concerned. American city government works like this, "If we feel it's important and it will greatly benefit our city, then we will build it or improve it". But on the other hand, they may say, "If we don't think it's that important and it will not be of great benefit to our city, we won't bother doing anything". 

 

This is despite what the average person thinks, even if they think otherwise, for instance, like you !

[Evil empire]

Like the rest of San Andreas Las Venturas is a fictional place. The train stations are far from downtown because Rockstar decided to put them this way.

[lil weasel]

Look it up.

Las Vegas (the basis for Los Ventura) is "dead" to rails. No Passenger service in the last two decades.

The Metro-Monorail was not built unit 1995.

The Representation of the Rail System is more or less accurate for the time period.

Automobile was the way to go (or Air)

[Beg_Ultra]

11 hours ago, mikelatham said:

So then what are the reasons for Los Santos and San Fieraro haveing such grand stations?

If you take a closer look, you'll notice that it's pretty difficult to travel from LS to SF, and vice versa, by car (bus). Due to the terrain, the roads don't go straight at all and you waste a lot of time "going arround", you actually travel many more kilometers than the actual physical distance between SF and LS is. All the roads are very curved because they got to go arround many hills, mountains, water etc, and also you could say pretty dangerous, mostly going next to the water, next to steep downhills, or simply high in the mountains which is already dangerous enough. Tell me, when you're going from LS to SF (or vice versa) by car/bike, regardless of having 4 stars or not, how many times did you actually use the actual roads for an entire trip? Personally, I've never done it in my life. I mostly simply go beyond Helena's house, climb straight up, and if I'm on a bike I climb once more (from the railway to the upper road), then go into the tunel and "jump" to the airport, on the hangar next to NRG 500's location. Or if I'm in a car, after climbing up the hill behind Helena's house, I just turn left and follow the railway until SF.  When going from SF to LV, just the other way arround. So: 1.I don't use the actual roads, 2.I actually use the railway to drive to SF.

My point: LV and SF are very well connected by train (and also the area between SF and LS is made of very bad terrains so is not very suitable for travelling by car), and that might be one of the reasons why SF and LS Railway stations are in the actual cities.

Now moving to LV. When you're going to LV from LS by car/bike, which way do you go? Simple: Straight up. There is a perfect highway going directly from LS to LV, and even arriving near the Strip. Just turn right and drive 300-400 m, and you're in the Strip itself. While the railway is similar to LS-SF roads - going through the hills and mountains, almost all the way from LS to LV zigzag. So it takes a lot of time, LS-LV highway is much better option. Now SF-LS. Again there is very good highway. Just get to the bridge directly from SF, then turn right and follow the road and you'll arrive at LV. A little bit longer ride, but not complicated, pretty much all about just going straight. So, we can say that LS and LV are very well connected by highway, while SF and LV are "just" well connected by highway and road. Not as good as LS and LV, but for sure much better than LS and SF.

So, all in all, if you're going to/from LV, a train isn't very good option, as the roads seem to be much better option for both LS and SF. While from LS to SF and vice versa, traveling by train is much better option than the roads. So probably that's the reason why LV stations are at the city edges, while LS and SF stations are in the cities. In my opinion, the railway network is mostly used for people's transportation between SF and LS, and for goods/cargo transportation between LV and the other cities. If you take a closer look, you'll notice that all 3 cities have stations that are in/nearby industrial areas. Unity station is close to Ocean Docks, where most of LS factories and companies are, and you even have the additional railway tracks at the station where the trains can be loaded with the stuff. 100-200 m from the station you can find parked truck trailers, probably containing the goods ready to be loaded in the train and sent to SF/LV. You also have more additional railway tracks going away from the main tracks and deep into Ocean Docks, into some hangars where the goods are loaded on the trains (remember the place where Gray Imports happens? Arround that area, there are several places). Also, in SF, Cranberry station is near Easter Basin Docks, which is San Fierro's industrial area, mostly factories and companies, so it's pretty easy to load the trains with the goods. And again, you have an additional railway tracks that go directly to the docks, next to the place where the NRG-500 challenge is. In LV, the same thing, most of the factories are located on the north side of the city, thus Yellow Bell station is there as well. And there are some factories on the east, so Linden station is there. So, all 3 cities actually have the stations in their industrial areas, it just happens that LS and SF stations are in the city as well, probably because SF and LS are well connected by train, while the LV stations aren't directly in the city, probably because there was no need for that. Also, keep in mind that there is a desert as well next to LV, the desert can't be completely left out, so they decided to build a railway through the desert. There are oil plants out there, and the railway is going exactly that way, probably intentionally so the oil can be loaded on the trains. It also passes right next to Fort Carson etc.

And one more thing: Yellow Bell Station is not that far from the downtown at all. Basically 600-700 m from there, less than a kilometer, the north side of the Strip starts. Not much longer distance than Cranberry/Unity stations are away from SF/LS downtown.                                                           

[universetwisters]

Because people in Las Venturas hate the trains so much they decided to put the stations as far away from the city as possible

 

 

Sorry there isn't a train station right on the strip to appease your love for trains, but you know, realism kinda gets in the way.

[gts.]

10 hours ago, Beg_Ultra said:

Spoiler

 

If you take a closer look, you'll notice that it's pretty difficult to travel from LS to SF, and vice versa, by car (bus). Due to the terrain, the roads don't go straight at all and you waste a lot of time "going arround", you actually travel many more kilometers than the actual physical distance between SF and LS is. All the roads are very curved because they got to go arround many hills, mountains, water etc, and also you could say pretty dangerous, mostly going next to the water, next to steep downhills, or simply high in the mountains which is already dangerous enough. Tell me, when you're going from LS to SF (or vice versa) by car/bike, regardless of having 4 stars or not, how many times did you actually use the actual roads for an entire trip? Personally, I've never done it in my life. I mostly simply go beyond Helena's house, climb straight up, and if I'm on a bike I climb once more (from the railway to the upper road), then go into the tunel and "jump" to the airport, on the hangar next to NRG 500's location. Or if I'm in a car, after climbing up the hill behind Helena's house, I just turn left and follow the railway until SF.  When going from SF to LV, just the other way arround. So: 1.I don't use the actual roads, 2.I actually use the railway to drive to SF.

My point: LV and SF are very well connected by train (and also the area between SF and LS is made of very bad terrains so is not very suitable for travelling by car), and that might be one of the reasons why SF and LS Railway stations are in the actual cities.

Now moving to LV. When you're going to LV from LS by car/bike, which way do you go? Simple: Straight up. There is a perfect highway going directly from LS to LV, and even arriving near the Strip. Just turn right and drive 300-400 m, and you're in the Strip itself. While the railway is similar to LS-SF roads - going through the hills and mountains, almost all the way from LS to LV zigzag. So it takes a lot of time, LS-LV highway is much better option. Now SF-LS. Again there is very good highway. Just get to the bridge directly from SF, then turn right and follow the road and you'll arrive at LV. A little bit longer ride, but not complicated, pretty much all about just going straight. So, we can say that LS and LV are very well connected by highway, while SF and LV are "just" well connected by highway and road. Not as good as LS and LV, but for sure much better than LS and SF.

So, all in all, if you're going to/from LV, a train isn't very good option, as the roads seem to be much better option for both LS and SF. While from LS to SF and vice versa, traveling by train is much better option than the roads. So probably that's the reason why LV stations are at the city edges, while LS and SF stations are in the cities. In my opinion, the railway network is mostly used for people's transportation between SF and LS, and for goods/cargo transportation between LV and the other cities. If you take a closer look, you'll notice that all 3 cities have stations that are in/nearby industrial areas. Unity station is close to Ocean Docks, where most of LS factories and companies are, and you even have the additional railway tracks at the station where the trains can be loaded with the stuff. 100-200 m from the station you can find parked truck trailers, probably containing the goods ready to be loaded in the train and sent to SF/LV. You also have more additional railway tracks going away from the main tracks and deep into Ocean Docks, into some hangars where the goods are loaded on the trains (remember the place where Gray Imports happens? Arround that area, there are several places). Also, in SF, Cranberry station is near Easter Basin Docks, which is San Fierro's industrial area, mostly factories and companies, so it's pretty easy to load the trains with the goods. And again, you have an additional railway tracks that go directly to the docks, next to the place where the NRG-500 challenge is. In LV, the same thing, most of the factories are located on the north side of the city, thus Yellow Bell station is there as well. And there are some factories on the east, so Linden station is there. So, all 3 cities actually have the stations in their industrial areas, it just happens that LS and SF stations are in the city as well, probably because SF and LS are well connected by train, while the LV stations aren't directly in the city, probably because there was no need for that. Also, keep in mind that there is a desert as well next to LV, the desert can't be completely left out, so they decided to build a railway through the desert. There are oil plants out there, and the railway is going exactly that way, probably intentionally so the oil can be loaded on the trains. It also passes right next to Fort Carson etc.

And one more thing: Yellow Bell Station is not that far from the downtown at all. Basically 600-700 m from there, less than a kilometer, the north side of the Strip starts. Not much longer distance than Cranberry/Unity stations are away from SF/LS downtown.

 

                                                           

I didn't expect a full speech with such subject so studied about only trains and its stations around San Andreas, seriously.

 

For all people in topic:

Is just a game, realism and fiction are mixed, but it has more fiction than realism to be honest. What do you expect about a GTA game?

 

9 hours ago, universetwisters said:

Because people in Las Venturas hate the trains so much they decided to put the stations as far away from the city as possible.

Sorry there isn't a train station right on the strip to appease your love for trains, but you know, realism kinda gets in the way.

Haha, totally agree with this.

[D9fred95]

Isn't there a train platform next to Linden Station that just consists of the platform and nothing else? No pathways or parking lots, just a platform in the sand. It isn't a supply platform because peds spawn on it and there's ticket machines awkwardly placed on it. I know train travel isn't the main mode of transportation in Las Venturas but that still seems like a silly design choice for a station.

[Lioshenka]

This is an interesting question. I don't have a theory, but my home city (non-USA) had the station build a very long way out of town. In the nearby village, as a matter in fact. 200 years later the city grew and it's now not far from the centre, but there were no obvious reasons why they didn't build it in the centre originally.

 

I guess I'll agree with the other people, an alternative transportation was available and it probably wasn't financially viable to build the train tracks through the city.

[mikelatham]

On 11/27/2018 at 11:00 PM, Official General said:

This.

 

To add my own take and more, like the guy above said, train would not be the main form of travel for visiting Las Venturas. Going by the extensive networks of highways and freeways that connect LV to everywhere else in the state, it's clear to see that most people would be more likely to drive there rather than take the train. 

 

Furthermore, it's highly likely that the majority of people would travel to LV by plane. LV is in the middle of the desert and a flight would be an even better option of travel for those wishing to travel there, it would be much faster and more convenient. 

 

So taken all of this into consideration, I can only assume that with train being the least important method of travelling to LV, the city's local authorities would not have had much reason to invest in improving them and making them so grand. 

Yes but ether way trains came before cars and Las Vegas was a Railroad Town at the start so wouldn't the station be more central?

[lil weasel]

As said before, Las Vegas the basis for Los Venturas was Built around the Highway. It was never a popular train route.

The City grew up around the Cheap Land bordering the Road.

The two Railway stations (North, or East) serve suburban traffic, and that is presumed light. In the Real City of Los Vegas it is Nil, Zero, not worth mentioning because the Amtrac has not delivered passengers (tourists) in decades, nor do any passenger trans stop there, at all..

 

 

[Official General]

7 hours ago, mikelatham said:

Yes but ether way trains came before cars and Las Vegas was a Railroad Town at the start so wouldn't the station be more central?

Bro....

 

Las Venturas is fictional. Lets not forget and lose sight of this. It is not supposed to completely based on the real life Las Vegas. That really should solve the mystery. 

[Beg_Ultra]

On 11/29/2018 at 3:55 AM, gts. said:

didn't expect a full speech with such subject so studied about only trains and its stations around San Andreas, seriously.

Well, I love this game, and love discussing about it, so...

The topic simply made me analyze the railway network, because it was something new to discuss, not something that I've been discussing countless times already, so it was actually pretty interesting.

[Ballas King]

You forgot the Market Station in LS.