How do I optimize my high-throughput train station that has lots of exits and depots?

Question

On big maps with lots of resources, I end up with so much traffic that the following high-throughput station doesn't work that well (from manual). Only two trains can leave at the same time, resulting in the following picture. Here I have 6 trains ready to go, but they are waiting for free path state.

Since on a big map, trains travel very long distances — very often they require maintenance when exiting a station. My goal was to come up with a station design that satisfies these criteria:

1. More trains can leave at the same time.
2. Trains that don't require maintenance can quickly speed up.
3. Trains efficiently merge into a 2-track main line.
4. Every exit line from the station has a dedicated train depot.
5. Depot lines merge efficiently into a 2-track main line.

Here is my initial attempt:

1. 6 exits from the station
2. 2 exits merge into one line, resulting in 3 high-speed lines.
3. 3 to 2 fail-safe merger
4. Every exit has a dedicated line with the train depot.
5. 6 exit depot lines merge into 2 exit lines.
6. Every 2 exit depot lines merge into the main track using a 3 to 2 fail-safe merger (not shown).

Is this station too overdesigned? Is there a way to achieve somewhat similar results with a smaller footprint? Do I need to worry about depots in the first place? Is it possible to tweak the original design to achieve something similar?

Answer 1

The obvious solution might be to have 4 tracks leading in/out of the station instead of 2.

And don't overcomplicate the route in/out, trains try to find a free path not reserved for another train. If every platform in the station is routed to every entrance/exit, then you can in theory have trains from platform 1-2 leaving through exit 1, trains from platform 3-4 leaving through exit 2 and so on, all simultaneously. So around 4 trains moving simultaneously most of the time.

You can have the 4 tracks merge into 2 further down the line, away from the station bottleneck.