Let me start by saying that I like just about everything about the game, from the audio to the great graphics, the UI and mechanics, the types of trains and the events, it's all splendidly done, however... I'm a few months into the game, and I'm not really getting the feeling of getting ahead. I'm not really making progress the way I want to. Sure, my trains are getting upgraded but the Jobs are getting more demanding along with them!

Currently 2 out of 3 of the Event jobs require me to ship more than 275 items. Even when I would send 6 trains all between 45 and 50, then I still wouldn't complete a single job that turn. In fact, where I was able to complete Jobs in the previous Event by manufacturing the items on demand, this time around I often need to manufacture 2, 3 or even 4 batches of the same item to fulfill a Job order. - Ain't nobody got time for that!

Where is the upgrade that gives my train magic loading capacity? Where is the buff that I get from collecting a full 'set' of trains? What I'm asking is: How do I get ahead and get the feeling my hard work is paying of?

I understand that most level-up games have to balance things out, but there HAS to be noticeable growth, there HAS to be progression other than just nicer looking (longer) trains, otherwise one could even argue that upgrading trains only makes the Jobs harder to complete.

I hope you can find such an element to add to the game even though it probably means players would progress faster. I personally think that's a good thing. The majority of players are not spending any real money, but they DO watch a lot of advertisements, and the longer they stick around, the more ads they watch. 😉

Thank you.

-edit. A suggestion for such a 'progression element' could be a mechanic to win 'Golden Tickets' that allows players to upgrade the Speed of a certain train. A ticket could, for example, nibble 10% of the travel time from a train, with a max of 50%. (Just spitballing here).
A mechanic to earn those tickets could be tied to the daily ship-trades. Players would need to complete a ship trade each day of that week (not affected by gems) to eventually be rewarded with a much desired Golden Ticket.