Riviera Route & Xc Class 220 Voyager Announced

For the first time this year I've not gone for the early access. I think I'll opt for just the free upgrade, and then the Riveria Line + 220 on the 30th.

I'm happy to see some really positive things about this route, but I'll still be watching the previews very closely. I want to know more about the 220 as I feel the other units such as the 802 and 150 have more information about them available and what to expect from them in the game. But the 220 not alot has been shared about just yet, particularly the sounds.

 

Quite busy yeah, certainly if you have layers:

Current hourly timetable in each direction:
1x GWR IET (Plymouth
1x XC Voyager (Plymouth)
A few additionals per day of both of these to Paignton
2x GWR local (Paignton, 150/166) - it might be only 1 per hour in the timetable period represented
0.5x GWR semi-fast (Plymouth, 166/HST)
Some freight (Plymouth)
Railtours (either)
RHTT (either)
ECS from Laira and Exeter depots

AI steam at Totnes and Paignton
Lots of AI including the MML 158 at Exeter
1.5x GWR AI starting at Plymouth and heading west

 

Do the freight run the whole length of the route.

 

Yeah, most of it at least would start at Exeter (or further north) and continue into Cornwall. Some would come from the Heathfield branch at Newton Abbot.

 

On that note actually, is Riverside Yard north of Exeter St Davids included?

 

I was wondering about this as well as the sidings at Paignton/Goodrington. I hope they are both in, they are only a tiny bit up from each station respectively.

 

Id hope so. Be the natural end point for northbound freight and RHTT.
Pretty sure Goodrington was mentioned in the reveal. As Exeter riverside is for freight. Goodrington is pivotal to the Paignton passenger services.

 

Would have thought the line would extend to just beyond Cowley Bridge on not the main line and Barnstaple branches. As regards Paignton, well these AI steam trains will need to reach an out of sight portal so again a little bit of the heritage railway will need to be in place.

 

It is indeed.

 

got to say i wasn't a fan of this route. until yesterday i had only been down it once back in 97 as a child on a HST to Newquay, but having just got back from a 16 hour epic trip yesterday from birmingham behind clunk castle and bahamas, its sort of lifted ones interest in it, that and already having BCC for DLC, i may invest a bit more into that as well.

 

Yeah I’m on the beta team for Xbox.

 

How's it performing so far.

 

We dont have a class 57 in the game do we otherwise we could have e a sleeper service on this service

 

We don’t have any Mark 3 sleepers either. If it’s in the timetable, will probably be subbed by an 802. Which is what tends to happen every other day when the Body Snatcher blows up anyway.

 

Basicly everything will be AI generated in 5-10 years time, the way things are looking currently.

 

I hope SDO is implemented into the new routes where necessary. I know it won't but they really should take the 5min it takes to implement it

 

I hope the sea has a more defined horizon. On the Fife route the sea and the sky merge too much and it looks weird.

 

Will 802 and voyager-AI only layer on the GWE remaster ?

 

Yes, although in the case of 802 it's a couple of test runs

 

Jesus, imagine the bed you booked being replaced by an ironing board...

 

And harsh non dimmable strip lighting. I presume as a minimum GWR refund the berth fee.

 

Which are ironically better (I'm told) than the seats in the actual GWR Mark 3 sleepers anyway.

 

I remember spending large amounts of time escaping to this neck of the woods and would stay awake to the clanking of trains through the night. 47’s on cross country services, 50’s and HST to Paddington’s or Scotland & 37’s thrashing goods and clay etc those were the good days.

 

Good grief. What do they make you sit on in the Mk3 sleeper sets? A spike?

 

They're more comfortable than spikes, but from what I've read their comfortable-looking design is combined with very hard padding and (I presume) an unpleasant seating position. The sleeper Mark 3s have been used on day services in the past but I've never been on one, and I'm not prepared to go to Penzance to test the seats for myself.

 

The seats while not being good are better than sitting on an iron bar as you do in an IET now that what little padding there was has gone.

 

To be honest I haven't experienced that on my time one GWR's IETs. They're still the worst of the AT300s though. The best (by far) are the 805s and 807s.

 

I don't know if this image has been posted yet?

The preserved line AI certainly looks lively!

 

It’s starting to look silly with just the 4 same steam locos used everywhere. Time for DTG to pull their fingers out on steam and give us more.

 

Yes and no...

Whilst I do see your point, I find that the steam locomotives featured are better then nothing at all being present as AI. I would like to see more steam locomotives/tank engines, but as far as I know that won't happen for the foreseeable future, so this is the best we will get for now. And for just being AI, to fill in something that would otherwise be an empty gap on the route, I'm quite happy with it. The 08 and diesal AI on the preserved section of the route is quite a nice touch too.

 

As someone who works round the Class 220 what i wonder most is if the Train Manager/Conductor will gvie the driver an 1-2 buzzer to close the doors and then give the driver 2 buzz to depart.

My only complaint would be the fact that we arent getting the Class 221 super voyager but hopefully that would come at a later stage.

 

I travelled on one on Saturday and can vouch for trying to find a comfortable position with that bar in the way.

 

The original seats on the GWR 800’s/802’s were even worse, those creamy canvas looking ones. The replacement dark grey ones are better and just about okay for a run from Swindon to Reading, Gloucester or Bristol but I think my backside would be seriously challenged going any further.

 

Of course, I agree, it’s better than nothing, but by now we could have had a pannier tank or a prairie to look the part but it’s almost as if there is no existence of steam at all and never will be again on TSW which is terribly depressing.

 

I did Paddington to Didcot and back so about 45 mins each way, but it was enough! And back in May I did Paddington to Bristol Parkway and Swindon to Paddington, but don't recall them being as bad and when I travelled on IET's in 2019 they felt more comfortable.

That being said I'm used to the hard seating on Thameslink Class 700's going to and from London.

 

Good god people are dramatic about IET seats...

I don't remember the seats on the FGW Mk 3s being much better. Sure the padding was probably better but I hated how upright they were. And don't get me started on that stupid headrest they had...

It all just feels like an excuse to bash the IETs even more than they already are. I've had countless journeys between London and Cardiff that are perfectly comfortable, and most people I've spoken to feel the same.

It only seems to be enthusiasts who hate anything modern that moan about them in my experience.

 

They do have a point though. The DfT specified IET seats are pretty horrendous for InterCity work. Was never a fan of the FGW overhaul of the MK3 sets, but the LNER example HSTs had absolutely lovely seating (started with GNER) compared to the 800/801s. I travelled 1st Class between London Kings Cross and Perth on a Mk3 HST set and the seating was luxurious... I done the same in a 800... Yeah the quality is not the same.

Anyway the 802 in the game won't affect us physically so that's something!

 

It's going to be a real immersion killer!