Research, bonds and acquiring competitors in Railway Empire Railway Empire Guide & Walkthrough

Research is one of the most important areas of activity, which has a huge impact on your company. You get a certain number of innovation points every month, but you can increase this number. All you need to do is to construct a university in a city that has 60,000 inhabitants and a free slot for a special building. Sometimes you can also hire a scientist who, for a one-time fee, will grant you a certain number of innovation points (there is also an employee who redeems innovation points).

You will find several types of technologies in the research tree:

Main and secondary train research. The main trains are needed to unlock new technologies, but you must first unlock a number of smaller inventions in order to acquire them. Main trains are usually better than their side counterparts, and are suitable for most tasks. However, trains from the secondary research paths are often more specialized, e.g. they offer a more comfortable ride when transporting passengers.

Inventions that affect the performance of trains. They usually shorten repair time or extend the time between repairs. Thanks to this, your trains will operate longer and spend less time at supply towers and repair stations. Some technologies will also unlock special railcars, but not in all scenarios.

Technologies which increase profits. These are improvements that provide additional income from specific goods (e.g. passengers or mail) or groups of goods (e.g. food). Some inventions are designed to attract more passengers or mail, which also translates into higher profits.

Bonds and shares

In the company tab, you can find information about your company and its rivals (1). In addition to the value of their companies, the length of the track and the number of stations, there is also a button to buy shares if you wish to eventually absorb them into your company (2). In the banking activity section, you can check the prices of stocks and acquire them (3). You also have the option of issuing bonds, which will give you a large cash injection (4). You have to pay the money back after some time.

How to acquire an opponent's company? (1,2) For this purpose, you must purchase 100% of shares in the rival company. Only then can you connect the companies and take over all of the assets of a given company. This way, you will get rid of your competitor and earn the profits from the sale of trains and infrastructure. It is best to buy shares as soon as possible, otherwise the company's value will increase, just like the share price. You can also sell shares at any time and earn money this way.

Stocks (3). These are distinctive shares in various areas of the economy. You can buy some of the stocks and sell them at any point. The price of products is affected by the players, and so is the price of stocks, they both depend on the usage and transport of goods and resources. The more of, e.g. food you transport, the more factories you build and the more products you deliver to cities, the higher the price of the stocks will be. It is worth buying stocks in a given branch of the economy in the beginning of the mission, before you start investing in said branch, or when you start dealing with large-scale transport.

Bonds (4). This is the only way to gain extra money in a timely fashion, bonds are in some ways similar to loans. You can issue a bond, which reflects a percentage of your company's value. This way, you will receive a lot of money, but you will have to pay the investors a small sum of money every month. After a set period you will have to pay the entire sum. You can do it earlier, but only if you pay an extra sum of money.