Afternoon everyone! I’ve been enjoying the current West Coast Main Line South in Train Sim World — the stretch from London Euston to Milton Keynes is great for high-speed running, but if I’m honest, it feels a little limited in terms of playable services and variety. That's why I'm suggesting a possible expansion between London Euston - Birmingham New St / Crewe. This adds to the variety of playable services across the network - adding to the realistic experience of driving services across a vast network. Allowing players to traverse local loops (i.e. via Northampton) and Direct Express Services enhances the network and allows for a more unique experience. I strongly feel that if DTG implemented this route, it would become a player favourite within terms of variety of services, termini and brand new stations - including linking with current DLC. There will be multiple different services including some of the currently implemented services such as: London Euston - Milton Keynes London Euston - Rugby (Stopper)[via Northampton] London Euston - Birmingham New St (Stopper)[via Northampton] London Euston - Birmingham New St (Express) London Euston - Stafford London Euston - Crewe The new stations in question would be dependent on the branches implemented: Stopping Services (Euston - Rugby): Wembley Central Harrow & Wealdstone Bushey Watford Junction Kings Langley Apsley Hemel Hempstead Berkhamstead Tring Cheddington Leighton Buzzard Bletchley Milton Keynes Wolverton Northampton Long Buckby Fast Services (Euston - Rugby): Watford Junction Hemel Hempstead Milton Keynes Central Wolverton BIRMINGHAM NEW ST (From Rugby): Coventry Canley Tile Hill Berkswell Hampton-in-Arden Birmingham International Marston Green Lea Hall Stechford Birmingham New St CREWE (From Rugby): Nuneaton Atherstone Polesworth Tamworth Lichfield Trent Valley (route-hop to Cross City Line) Rugeley Trent Valley Stafford Crewe Pros: - Licensing already in place for the majority of the rolling stock — Class 390 Pendolino and Class 350 Desiro are already part of TSW. - The only new licenses required would be for West Midlands Railway Class 730 Aventras and Class 196 DMUs. - Large operational variety means strong replay value for all player types (express, commuter, freight). The standard cost of this route would be £32.99. Covering the large scale of the map, 3 route-hops to linked DLC (Bakerloo Line / Birmingham Cross City / Mildmay Line).
I agree that while it's a major project - and will probably take many months (even years) to come to a decision it will be a perfect addition to see more variety in game. Most routes feel a little short and definitely would add something unique that most railway sims would never be able to offer I suppose!
Love the idea, would be over the moon if DTG said it is coming out with TSW 6, but the chance are very slim. As for a DLC, I like the price, but you can't say what the price is till DTG build it and only then will they know what it would actually cost, probably more than yoir guess I would guess
Thank you! And I fully agree about pricing - nobody would know unless it was built. Granted it's a hefty route so it would probably come with a pretty hefty price tag I'm sure haha. On the other hand with regards to TSW6 I wouldn't say it would be implemented then since that's next-to-impossible within such a short span of the release date: though it doesn't rule it out for TSW7 or TSW8?
Probably not a great thing at the moment since they still haven’t fully fixed the original, it seems decent but still think if they are going to do more of the west coast it should be set in the 1980s to truly get a great experience and new rolling stock
Whilst I agree they haven't fixed the original - a remaster would allow them to tweak any issues with the pre-existing map without going overboard in changes and could massively cut down on the development time. A 1980s variant would be good - but I feel some heritage railways should get that love more (e.g Bluebell Railway, Swanage Steam Railway & Blaenau Ffestiniog Railways). Or even on a more modern variant, a special run of well known locomotives (e.g Flying Scotsman) to make an appearance on the route as a exclusive service.
A third party is currently making the NYMR route as we speak, though it'll likely be a while before it surfaces again on a roadmap. Personally, I want vintage traction in it's prime rather than preservation era where they're kept pristine and mostly limited to 25mph outside of railtours. Take WCML Preston to Carlisle, it is currently the best UK route in TSW. I'd certainly welcome more of that! A BR era ECML with the Deltics taking the spotlight? Yes please!
I think it more likely we get a second DLC of Milton Keynes to Birmingham (with hopefully Northampton included) and a third of the Trent Valley section over one big route. I'd love to see more of the WCML though.
MIght wanna flesh it out more, (rolling stock, routes, landmarks, etc) but it's a decent idea. It works as a "stepping stone" to fleshing out the WCML and it's reasonable length. It won't be that cheap, but $40 is possible. Would fit in nice with the 60 mile bit from Birmingham to Crewe and Birmingham makes a nice hub to other areas. It also can reuse a lot of existing WCML assets. The question will come up... what else do you well WITH it? What new rolling stock will it feature (since people seem to think that every new route NEEDS at least 2 new pieces of rolling stock or it's a "scam")? What goes on it that doesn't go on WCMLS? Again, landmarks to see? Anything else unique about it to catch someone's fancy, or is it just "connecting two cities?"
I can see an extension to Birmingham happening some time and I'd be very happy with that. Could come with an official version of the 805/807 and an all-new Class 730. Hopefully it would include a new layer on the existing section that matches-up to the new one or, even better, it becomes one route so you don't have to route-hop at Milton Keynes.
You probably won't see that 150+ mile route in TSW. That's been stated repeatedly by the devs. Well... by DTG anyway. Third parties are free to create what they want. However, it was Matt I think that said that it introduced severe performance issues the way the game is designed, so the longer the route the worse the performance hit overall. That and most people the've found don't play long routes so you're not gaining anything useful in the tradeoff. People tend to play 45-60 minute routes and shorter routes perform better. Honestly, I don't quite understand why anyone driving commuter runs (which is 95+% of the traffic in TSW on UK routes) wouldn't just route hop. You're making stops continually anyway where you have to wait, so you don't "lose" anything by route hopping. You'd have to stop at a station anyway and then you are starting from the same station. It'd be no different than a train/crew change in real life. Even "high speed" routes need to stop to pick up and drop off passengers. Freight routes that are non-stop might be another issue, but those are honestly rare and mostly on US routes. Thinking of it... how many miles of non-WCML track would be required for Birmingham? If the whole network around Birmingham were to be done, that'd increase the amount of trackage considerably. If you don't do the bits that aren't strictly WCML... then does that limit the rolling stock additions? Do the 730 or 807 go regularly on the mainline or just the side branches?
I agree that a 150+mile route in TSW is unlikely at this time but Euston to Birmingham is actually only 101 miles. I also don't think we should rule out further enhancements to the TSW platform over the coming years so that longer, larger routes are possible. While a drive from Euston to Birmingham in a Class 350 stopping service may not appeal, a fast service in a Class 390 can take as little as 77 minutes which is not far beyond the 45/60 minute trips you mention. Some services on WCML over-shap take longer to drive and I'd be fascinated to know what the average Timetable service is in TSW at the moment, probably 45-65 minutes. I believe in the phrase, build it and they will come. Thrashing a 390 through the curves at 125mph between London and Birmingham in not much more than an hour would be a very appealing drive for many. But I do feel TSW needs further optimisation before it can happen. And what did DTG say recently? "Expect the unexpected". Keep the faith.
The original post says to go to Crewe. That's why I did the mileage to Crewe. It also made sense you said that because Crewe "connects" (more or less) with the existing DLC to Crewe (if you forgive the time travel) If you meant a headboard going to Crewe but STOPPING in Birmingham, then that's something different. And honestly that would leave a gap of another 50 miles between Birmingham and Crewe to then do separately. As I said though, 100 miles is still a LOT of track when most are around 50 and the longer ones are either super simple repetition (like Kassel) or done by a third party (WCMLOS) which is still only 90 miles and doesn't have huge stations like London or Birmingham. That is why I asked... how much are you including around Birmingham? Because if you start getting into that local track network (Midlands I think?) then that quickly balloons out into way more than the straight line distance.
The EMUs chosen are solid, would layer onto existing routes (Blackpool and Shap) and lead into offshoots from Birmingham for further development in a Cardiff style network.
But you directly quoted my post suggesting an extension to Birmingham, which is why I corrected you and said that Euston to Birmingham is 101 miles.
Perhaps make it a little more clear and ensure your quotes and/or response provides clear context. Sometimes I muck-up, I own it and move on.
Great idea ,However I don't see it happening for one it's very long for a tsw route,yes it could be extended from Milton Keynes what already exists, but correct me if Iam wrong but doesn't it need to be redone and another timetable made from the ground up,as in the past I believe Matt said you just can't stick two routes together ,as for the timetable (they messed that up first time round) after being told in real life it has a behemoth of a traffic pattern,also Crewe is to far ,rugby is a bit more realistic ,but would they then model the both loop routes after roade cutting to make full use of the 350 and 390 ,as the 390 hardly never uses the Northampton loop only in diversion instances etc ,Birmingham new Street would be the logical start,end, which has already been suggested.To make it detailed and with a proper timetable first time round would be an undertaking ,but I think would be a route DTG know would sell ,I just don't see this scope happening,but prove me wrong...
A very good point - even with the current route hopping technology we currently see in game, it could work as an expansion to the network as a separate DLC to avoid redoing the whole map. Alongside that I suppose it'd also help with the performance as the length of the route (which I admit is quite large) being a separate addition rather than a merged route as per my original suggestion would affect gameplay experience if done as a whole route with a drop in FPS. Though that's based on DTG actually considering it - which most probably won't be likely.
In my original suggestion it was more of a link to Birmingham New St and Crewe as in the Crewe section bypasses Central Birmingham and uses the outer lines via WCMLTV towards Stafford & Crewe rather than via New St.
