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Methods

Formula

Where two adjacent hubs are within less than 30 minutes journey time of each other along the inter-town route connecting them, ConnectedCities assigns the stations along the route to one or other of the hub towns according to a formula.

The formula states that a station will be in ConnectedCity A if:

tA:tB < √pA:√pB

where:

tA = journey time in minutes from the hub of ConnectedCity A
tB = journey time from the hub of ConnectedCity B
pA = population of the hub town of ConnectedCity A 
pB = population of the hub town of ConnectedCity B.

This formula usually assigns those stations that are some distance from either hub to the larger of the two hub towns. Using time alone, a place might well find itself attached to a small hub town of which it makes little use rather than to a larger, more useful hub town somewhat further away.
Journey Times

To ascertain the journey time from the hub station of a ConnectedCity to any station on one of its inter-town routes.
  1. Using the railway timetable, find the first few trains departing from the hub for that station at or after 12 noon on an ordinary weekday;
  2. Read off or calculate the journey time to the station by each of these trains. If it varies, take the journey time by the first train that calls at all the intermediate stations;
  3. Check that the journey time of this train is the same as that of other similar trains, i.e. is not affected by any special factors, and adjust if necessary.