Transport network

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File:Transport-belt-intro-3.jpg
Transport belts being used to move iron ore from a mining drill to an inserter, which is then placing the ore into a furnace

The Transport network consists of

It includes also the concept Storage, which is used for example in Railway network/Train station and there is a high relation to the Logistic network.

The Belt transport system is used to direct and control the flow of items around your factory. They are one of the core elements in Factorio! Inserters place or remove items from belts, chests and production facilities. Chests can be used to store completed items or as a buffer in your production line.

In most of the cases inserters must be used to place or remove things from the transport belts. However Mining drills place items they produce directly on to the transport belt - as you can see in the example on the right.



Belt transport system

The Belt transport system contain three different types, namely

which differs only in their speeds:

Speed (tiles/second) Transport belts Underground belts Splitters Needed research
~1.8 Basic transport belt Basic underground belt Basic splitter none
~3.6 Fast transport belt Fast underground belt Fast splitter Logistics 2
~5.6 Express transport belt Express underground belt Express splitter Logistics 3

Learn more about the simulated physics of the belts, or how to optimize the flow of items.

Inserters

Inserters will always place items on the far side of a belt, and will prefer to take items from the closest side.

Item Max power Description
Burner inserter 180 W (burner) Most basic inserter, needs burning fuel.
Inserter.png
Inserter
13 W Basic electric inserter.
Long handed inserter 18 W Basic inserter able to grab Items from 2 tiles distance.
Fast inserter 30 W Inserter working at double speed.
Smart-inserter.png
Smart inserter
40 W Inserter able to connect to Circuit network and specify work conditions.

Chests

File:Transport-Belt-Storage.jpg
Inserters storing extra iron ore in wooden chests.

Chests are used to store items. Chests contain stacks, which compress the inserted items (in computer memory and so also in the game):

Item Max stacks Description
Wooden chest 16 Basic storage chest.
Iron chest 32 Larger basic chest.
Steel chest 48 Basic chest with maximum capacity of 48 stacks.
Smart-chest.png
Smart chest
48 Connectable to Circuit network.
Provider chest 48 Used for Logistic network, Circuit network.
Storage chest 48 Used for Logistic network, Circuit network.
Requester chest 48 Used for Logistic network, Circuit network.

Other entities with stacks

As said, stacks are needed to store items. Entities with stacks are

Storage

Storage is a concept, about storing enormous masses of items. Some of the concepts work only together with Logistic network. Most used for:

See also