Line Roles (Auto Rename & Colors)

Give every line a role and get a clean, color-coded network, without lifting a finger. With full Auto Mode, every new line is classified, named and colored by itself, and its name follows when you add stops, vehicles or cargo. Don't like the colors? Just pick the ones you like and carry on from there: change the color of any role or vehicle type, or recolor a single line and it stays yours. Prefer to decide a role yourself? Pick it by hand, or switch Auto Mode Off at any time. Numbers or letters, the role in the name or not, colors by role, vehicle type or cargo: your network is named the way you want it.

Last updated: 2026-10-20 (v2.6.1)

New in v2.6: keep the game's line colors, and smaller role buttons. Color lines by > Game default leaves the color of a line as the game gave it, so you can use the mod for names only. The role buttons in the Line Role panel are smaller and sit in one row, so all eight fit the panel.

Naming Convention Settings

The line format you start with, chosen in the mod options when you start a new game (the same templates as on the Advanced page, where you can change it later). Shown for a local bus line, role LC, type B, number 01, from A to B, carrying passengers:

• Default: LC-B-01 | A - B | PAX — role, type and number first, then the route and the cargo.
• Code + cargo: LC-B-01 PAX | A - B — the cargo sits next to the code, the route comes last.

Examples

• LC-B-01 | New Rd. - Windsor Rd. | PAX — local bus line
• RG-TM-02 | Lyme Regis - Normanton | PAX — regional tram between two towns
• FR-T-01 | Penkridge St. S - Penkridge St. Br. | Clay — truck freight to an industry
• XF-S-01 | Penkridge Port - Wem Port | Fish, Bricks — ship transfer between warehouses
• DL-T-01 | Wem | Fish, Bricks — truck distribution into a town
• RG-B/TM-01 | Windsor Rd. | PAX — new bus or tram line with one stop, named by Auto Mode

Features

• Auto Mode: new lines get a role, a name and a color by themselves, and follow changes to stops, vehicles and cargo at once. It is On by default and can be switched Off on the Auto Mode page.
• Existing lines too: one button puts all your lines into Auto Mode at once (locked names and colors stay), another also resets the locks, after a warning.
• Your role always wins: eight roles for passengers and freight. A role you pick by hand is never changed by Auto Mode.
• One click, name and color: pick a role in the line window and the line gets a clear name and its color at once.
• Readable at a glance: every name shows role, transport type, number, route and cargo. With the role shown, lines of the same role sort together in every list.
• Your edits are safe: rename or recolor a line by hand and that part is locked automatically. Lock or unlock name and color with one click.
• Stays up to date: Auto Update (On by default) re-checks your role lines every 10, 30 or 60 s (default 10 s). Saving the settings updates all role lines at once, and "Refresh all now" does it on demand.
• Your numbers: the line number as numbers (01, 02) or letters (AA, AB), with a start width of 1 to 3; the width grows when it runs out. The role in the name can be turned Off (B-01 | ...); the number then counts per transport type.
• Name length: names are shortened step by step (St., Rd., PAX, town names) to fit 50 or 60 characters. Full (default) keeps the full name, shortened only by Abbreviations and Town suffixes.
• Your own format: write the name the way you want it with tags like {Role}, {Type}, {Metric}, {Route}, {Cargo}, {FromTown}, {ToTown}, {FromIndustry} and {ToIndustry}, for example {Type}-{Metric} | {Route}. Two ready-made templates (Default, Code + cargo) fill the field with one click (Advanced page). The wrong part is shown in red, and Save waits until it is fixed. Tags do not care about upper or lower case.
• Your own codes: replace the role codes (1 to 4 letters or digits, e.g. F instead of FR) and the vehicle type codes (1 to 5). Letters of any alphabet are allowed (Latin letters are shown as capitals); Chinese and Japanese characters need a game font that has them. Reset to default with one click.
• Town codes: give every town a code of 2 to 5 letters or digits (Prefix > Towns, with search). Use them as the route (ÅRS - KAL) or with the tags {FromTown} and {ToTown}. Towns that would get the same default code get different ones.
• Your numbers, only when needed: Show metric = Only if needed gives a line a number or letters only when another line would have the same name; Always (default) gives every line one.
• Start settings: the mod options shown when you start a new game let you choose how the mod begins: naming convention, route names, cargo lines, abbreviations, Auto Update interval, line colors, line metric, Show metric and the settings button. They are only starting values; the settings window works as before, and what you save there replaces them.
• Industry names: a freight line can be named after the industry or warehouse each end serves (Freight lines: By industry), also with the tags {FromIndustry} and {ToIndustry}. A stop with no industry keeps its stop name.
• Settings button: at the top left (default), in the status bar at the bottom, or both; chosen in the mod options when you start the game.
• Reset page: sets every setting on the page you are looking at back to the default; nothing changes until you press Save.
• Your style: the route by stop, by town, by town code or (freight lines) by industry, freight routes showing both ends or only the destination, a line within one town as stop names, town + stops (default) or the town name, abbreviations on or off, town suffixes kept or removed, and a town name at both ends kept or shown once.
• Your colors: color lines by role, by transport type or by cargo. A freight line in Cargo mode gets the color of its first cargo (the game's own cargo colors by default); passenger lines keep their role color. One Colors page follows your choice, with your own color for every role, transport type or cargo.
• Vehicle names: the vehicles of a line are named after it with a fixed number per line, by default LC-B-01 (#03) | 1990. Write your own vehicle format with {Code}, {No}, {Route}, {Line}, {Model} and {Year} (Vehicles page). A vehicle you rename yourself keeps its name. Can be switched Off.
• Vehicle colors: vehicles follow their line's color (default), get the color of their line's cargo, or keep the game's colors. A vehicle you recolor yourself keeps its color; models the game does not let you color are skipped.
• Live preview: see the result on lines from your own game before you save, with the saved and the new name side by side. A game with no role line yet shows examples.
• Works with the game's Auto-Rename: our proposal appears first in the popup.
• Safe to remove: names and colors stay; your roles come back when you enable the mod again.

How it works

• Open a line's window and pick a role in the Line Role panel:
  • LC Local, RG Regional, IC Intercity, EX Express, WK Workers (passengers; WK: a bus or tram line to an industry)
  • FR Freight to an industry, XF Transfer between warehouses, DL Distribution to a town
• Name format: ROLE-TYPE-NN | Route | Cargo (default; change the codes on the Prefix page and the format on the Advanced page)
  • TYPE: B bus, T truck, TM tram, R rail, S ship, A air, H helicopter (read from the line's stops and vehicles). A new bus or tram line without vehicles is B/TM until its first vehicle decides.
  • NN: numbered per role and type from 01 (or letters); a line keeps its number
  • Cargo: what the first stop loads (up to three goods, then +N)
  • A line with one stop shows the stop name once.
• Auto Mode picks the role from the stops and what the line loads:
  • Bus and tram: one town LC, two towns RG, three or more IC. A line with fewer than two stops starts as RG (tram: LC).
  • Rail and ships: IC. Planes and helicopters: EX, or IC with more than two stops.
  • Freight: FR. DL when the last stop serves town buildings; XF when both ends have a warehouse and they are two different ones.
• Settings: the Line Roles button in the toolbar.

Good to know

• Auto Mode handles new lines and lines it named itself. Lines that already exist when a save is first loaded are left alone until you use the "All lines" buttons on the Auto Mode page; a role you picked by hand is kept otherwise.
• Vehicle names and colors are not set back when you switch them Off or remove the mod.
• Names are shortened by characters, not bytes, so names with letters like æ, ø or Cyrillic are not cut earlier.
• With Auto Mode Off, lines without a role are not touched.
• The settings are saved with each save game.
• In role colors mode, a line gets a dark "Machine Grey" color when its role has no color for its transport type (for example the freight role on a bus line, with Freight colors set to By transport type).
• The game may cut a name longer than 50 characters if you edit it by hand.

Feedback

Found a bug or have an idea? Leave a comment here on mod.io.

Changelog

• 2.6.1
  • Vehicle colors > Game default now gives the vehicles the mod has colored the game's own color back (the Reset Color button of the vehicle window). It runs on Save, Refresh all now and Auto Update. A vehicle you recolored yourself keeps its color.
• 2.6
  • Color lines by: new choice Game default. The mod never sets a line color, new lines keep the color the game gave them; names and roles work as before. The role buttons are plain with it.
  • The role buttons in the Line Role panel are smaller (32 x 24) and in one row, so DL no longer sits outside the panel.
  • The Color lines by row fits the card, and the option buttons start further to the left.
• 2.5
  • Color themes (Colors > Themes): Default, Focus, Color wheel, Complementary, Soft, Vivid and Color blind safe. One click sets every role color; Save keeps it, Discard undoes it.
  • New role WK – Workers: Auto Mode gives a bus or tram line with an industry at its first or last stop, within one town, the role WK.
  • New Vehicles page: vehicle names, vehicle colors and the vehicle format in one place (was Advanced > Vehicles).
  • The setting Cargo lines show is now Freight route: Both ends or Destination only.
  • Settings that have no effect in your setup are greyed out, with the reason in the tooltip.
  • Number style and Width are two rows; Auto Update and its interval are one row.
  • Max name length is Full by default (new games).
  • Line within one town, Town + stops: the town in front and taken out of the stop names (Havnbjerg: Port - Commercial).
  • Freight route = Destination only also works on freight lines within one town.
  • Vehicle names work together with Improved Destination Displays.
  • Shorter tooltips.
• 2.4
  • Mod options when you start a new game: choose your start settings (naming convention, route names, cargo lines, abbreviations, Auto Update interval, line colors, line metric, Show metric, settings button).
  • Industry names as a route choice for freight lines, and the tags {FromIndustry} and {ToIndustry}.
  • Freight route: both ends, or the destination only.
  • Settings button: top left, in the status bar at the bottom, or both.
  • Number is now called Show metric (it also covers letters). The route choices are By stop, By town, By town code and By industry.
• 2.3
  • Line format templates: Default and Code + cargo (Advanced > Line format).
  • Town codes: your own code per town (Prefix > Towns), the tags {FromTown} and {ToTown}, and Town codes as a route choice (Naming).
  • Number: Always (default) or Only if needed (a number only for lines that would have the same name).
  • A line within one town: Stop names, Town + stops (default) or Town name.
  • Reset page: puts one settings page back to the defaults.
  • Auto Update rebuilds only the lines that changed.
  • Line and vehicle formats may be up to 100 characters.
• 2.2
  • Vehicle colors: by cargo (default), by role, or the game's colors (Advanced > Vehicles).
  • Role and vehicle type codes can use letters of any alphabet; Latin letters are shown as capitals.
  • Name length counts characters, not bytes.
  • Same town at both ends = Once keeps the town when only a station word would be left (e.g. Penkridge St.).
• 2.1
  • Vehicle names after their line, with your own vehicle format and the tags {Code}, {No}, {Route}, {Line}, {Model} and {Year} (Advanced > Vehicles).
  • Color lines by Cargo, with your own color per cargo type.
  • New Auto Mode page with buttons that put all existing lines into Auto Mode.
  • Formats: the wrong part is shown in red, Save waits until it is fixed, tags ignore upper and lower case.
• 2.0
  • Your own line format (Advanced page).
  • Your own role codes (1 to 4 characters) and vehicle type codes (1 to 5), with Reset to default (Prefix page).
  • New settings window: Naming, Colors, Prefix, Updates, Advanced and How to.
  • Same town at both ends: keep the town name twice, or show it once.
  • Preview shows saved and new names, and examples in a game with no role line yet.
  • New line numbers follow the order the lines were built.
• 1.9
  • Auto Mode: new lines get a role, name and color by themselves, and follow changes to stops, vehicles and cargo. On by default; switch it Off on the Updates page. A role you pick by hand is never changed.
  • Auto Update is On by default (every 10 s).
  • Line numbers as numbers or letters with a start width; the role in the name can be turned Off.
  • Max name length: 50, 60 or Full.
  • Color lines by role or by transport type, with one Colors page.
  • A line with one stop shows the stop name once.
• 1.3 – Option to turn the colored role buttons off (Colors page).
• 1.2 – Role buttons are colored with the role colors.
• 1.1 – Helicopter support (type H, FR-H color). Distribution (DL) color changed to #6b20b6.
• 1.0 – First public release.

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