Expand The Southern Network

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by kenusos, Aug 21, 2021.

?
  1. Yes

    57 vote(s)
    83.8%
  2. No

    11 vote(s)
    16.2%
  1. kenusos

    kenusos New Member

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    Hey there.

    Just curious if there's any plans of the Southern Network being expanded to accumulate the other stations Southern stop at. I am more aiming towards London Bridge/Victoria to Horsham, Bognor Regis, Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Central since my local train station(s) are on this route. I know there is the line that goes to Dorking and Mitcham but I don't know the route too well so I wouldn't know all the stops

    Also the addition for the West Coastway Line (Brighton to Bognor Regis via Littlehampton) on the class 313 as well as the 377 that Southern normally use.

    In addition can we have Thameslink in the sim as well since they use the line as well going through the Arun Line as well as the West Coastway Line (Not the whole line since normally they go from London to Horsham on the Arun Line and on Peak times from Littlehampton) in which they use the Class 700 trains.

    I know this has already been requested from what I've seen on Google Search but they haven't given any info etc etc.

    Arun Line stops from Three Bridges would be (Crawley, Ifield, Faygate, Littlehaven, Horsham, Christ Hospital, Billingshurst, Pulborough, Amberley and Arundel)

    West Coastway Line from Brighton would be (Hove, Aldrington, Portslade, Fishersgate, Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, East Worthing, Worthing, West Worthing, Durrington-on-Sea, Goring-by-Sea, Angmering, Littlehampton, Ford, Barnham, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Fishbourne, Bosham, Nutbourne, Emsworth, Warblington, Havant, Bedhampton, Hilsea, Fratton, Portsmouth & Southsea, Portsmouth Harbour, Cosham, Portchester, Swanwick, Bursledon, Hamble, Netley, Sholing, Woolston, Bitterne, St. Denys, Southampton Central, Eastleigh, Southampton Airport Parkway)

    Now I am not expecting all them stations from the West Coastway Line to be added since most of them stations are probably minor ones, but long as the main ones are there then i'll be happy, even if it was just up to Bognor Regis or Portsmouth then I'll be happy.

    Thank you for reading and any errors please let me know so I can rectify it :)

    EDIT:

    Just a quick clarification. There could be Multiple DLC that are available here. from the top of my head I can see 3 maybe 4 bit of DLC here available.

    1. Train Sim World® 2: Country Arun Line
    2. Train Sim World® 2: Coastal Line
    3. Train Sim World® 2: Portsmouth to London
    4. Train Sim World® 2: Southampton Extension
    5. Train Sim World® 2: School Rush Hour
    Names are bad I know but just shows how much there is available here and ready to go.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2021
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  2. Nei4024

    Nei4024 Active Member

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    I really like this suggestion, a little more information would help.
    I sincerely believe that the entire line from Brighton to Southampton can be recreated at TSW.
    It would be great.

    I have seen several suggestions for this route and none (that I remember) with complete information. It would be good to make ONE suggestion with all the necessary information.

    Greetings.
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2021
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  3. kenusos

    kenusos New Member

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    Thank you. Not too sure what more info you'd need. Unless you mean what are the timetables for the station etc etc
     
  4. Nei4024

    Nei4024 Active Member

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    Photos of rolling stock, line length, possible branches, photos of main stations, possible DLCs and expansions ...

    These are things that in my opinion add value to the suggestion and help you see what the route would be like.
    But certainly your suggestion is well made.

    Greetings.
     
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  5. kenusos

    kenusos New Member

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    Ok thank you for the suggestion. I'll do some research and find the route length and branches etc etc and add it into my original post.
     
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  6. AirbourneAlex

    AirbourneAlex Well-Known Member

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    More southern region routes would be beneficial only if route merging were a possibility, otherwise for variety it would be better to have more modern routes somewhere else in the UK for a while.
     
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  7. jackthelad258

    jackthelad258 Active Member

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    Good suggestion, I’d also go as far as extending the East Coastway to Hastings and Ore making reversals from Eastbourne possible and make it connect with the Brighton Main Line so we can have direct services to London Victoria but that is unlikely.
     
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  8. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Excellent idea based on your plan you're going to create a long distance rush hour route. Meaning a Bognor Regis London Victoria service gets delayed at Littlehampton due to a WCW Brighton Portsmouth service followed by Horsham a Mole Valley line train then three bridges where your service is combined by a Brighton London Victoria service the last 6-8 carriages first half Brighton London Victoria. 2nd half Bognor Regis London Victoria your train.
     
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  9. Tay95

    Tay95 Well-Known Member

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    I'm all down for any southern route (my area) :)
     
  10. supersimfan#2303

    supersimfan#2303 Well-Known Member

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    I love southern region routes but we already have two or three depending if you count southeastern in, but i think dovetail should focus on other places in the uk, not because thats what i want, i want more southern routes because they are my favourite but other people that want different uk routes to the current ones should get what they want too, its only fair. ps learning the Brighton mainline without the hud will keep me busy for the time being, i can drive the east coastway without the hud but still need more practice especially at some of the staitions on the line to seaford
     
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  11. kenusos

    kenusos New Member

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    Essentially yeah. Ideally I want to recreate the route I usually take when I head off on non peak times. So you have a 8 or 12 coach train going to Bognor Regis and Portsmouth Harbour, where the train gets split at Horsham Platform 3 (Or 4 now currently) and have the front 4 coaches go direct from Horsham to Barnham skipping all other stations, while then the other 4 - 8 coaches do all the other stops and then finishing at Bognor Regis skipping Littlehampton since the train doesn't stop there unless it's at peak times and all the college students are getting on to go to Chichester to head to College or even Uni. So then the train gets a little delayed as the driver needs to go to the other side of the train and does his startup procedure to then head off to Ford.

    You can even really do it the same time for the other way. One train departing from Portsmouth or Southampton and takes the direct route to Platform 2 to Horsham and has to wait 5-15 mins for the slower train departing from Bognor Regis to head to Horsham Plat 2 and connect the 2 together to then head straight to Crawley, Three Bridges and then the usual stops to London Bridge or London Victoria. It's not that bad really and with all the other routes that go there as well would be quite busy there as well. Especially if a Slower train from Three Bridges to Horsham is delayed so you in the fast train (From Crawley to Horsham direct) would have to basically go really slow due to the other train being delayed.

    I was going to add this on but I have no clue what or where the stops are. I've never been on this route myself irl so I wouldn't know. But yeah would be good.
     
  12. cloudyskies21

    cloudyskies21 Well-Known Member

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    If there is one route left that I would want in TSW 2 and that is West Coastway. For me, there is several reasons why:
    - It adds to what the OP said, it expands the network and with BML and ECW, it's nice to interact with AI traffic from the other routes and makes it feel more immersive.
    - Gives the opportunity for full-length services - even if it means switching routes - such as Littlehampton (pictured) to Victoria.
    - The 313 needs a fresh route to drive on, and considering it only operates on just the East and West Coastway, this seems logical and has some interesting service opportunities like Brighton-Hove, Bognor-Littlehampton.
    - Having an extra GWR layer in the timetable to drive to/from Brighton would be a nice, albeit limited drive.
    IMG_20210724_180257.jpg

    While West Coastway would be great, the Arun Valley would be my second choice thanks to the stunning scenery such as Arundel Castle. Additionally, Horsham is one of my favourite stations with lots of splitting/attaching of 377 services to/from Victoria to Bognor and/or Portsmouth and Southampton. Don't forget Southern metro services terminate at Horsham too (see picture) which could be extra AI on the route.
    IMG_20210710_174049.jpg
     
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  13. steamfan#1309

    steamfan#1309 Well-Known Member

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    I confused the UK Southern Railway for the American Southern Railroad. But I still like the idea
     
  14. kenusos

    kenusos New Member

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    I live in Horsham myself and there's so many trains that stop at Horsham throughout the day is quite a lot. Horsham is one of the main hubs where people transfer or get off at to go to work or home or wherever they want to go to. Platform's 2 and 3 are mainly for the AVL where the train stops at Horsham to either split from a 8 carriage to a 4 or the other way round from a 4 to a 8. Because there will be one service going from Portsmouth or Southampton Central to Victoria which goes from Barnham all the way to Horsham without stopping and a slower train from Bognor Regis to Victoria stopping at all the AVL stops with some skipping Christ Hospital. Plat 4 is from London Bridge to Horsham while Plat 1 is going to London via Dorking and Leatherhead etc etc so there's transitions to Guildford as well. There's so much AI Traffic opportunity here as well as what you said. It would be so brilliant if it were possible to get the AVL and WCL or even the ECL as well in the sim.
     
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  15. tardisgaming07

    tardisgaming07 Well-Known Member

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    I say no because Southern is almost exclusively 377s, which would be unbelievably dull imo. But I can see why people would want more.
     
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  16. cloudyskies21

    cloudyskies21 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for your detailed response - yeah Horsham is one of my favourite stations because of this. Indeed, having previously provided a detailed suggestion for the Arun Valley in the suggestions forums, the gameplay and traffic variety would be brilliant!

    Yeah, my favourite reason to have Horsham in TSW would be for the Arun Valley attach/divide services (those similar ones on London Commuter at Haywards Heath are awesome!) and would allow an Arun Valley route to have an extremely varied and non-linear timetable, with the fast and slow services you mentioned. Plus, the route south from Horsham down to at least Arundel is very beautiful scenery-wise and is quite a twisty route, plus, having been to Pulborough and Arundel recently, they are lovely, little stations along the route too.

    Regarding Horsham, what I also love about it to complement the Southern traffic is it being the terminus of Thameslink Class 700 services from Peterborough. Additionally, having Horsham on TSW too would also mean quite a few ECS moves with the plethora of sidings, plus the yard, which could have the existing Class 66 RHTT DLC already in-game. Finally, you could even have a couple of rail tours too included, as with real-life on the Arun Valley.

    I know there's some players who are not fans of third-rail/Electrostars, however there are a lot of us who do actually love these kind of routes, so I'd hope to see more Southern routes in the future to expand the network please DTG!

    Some pictures I took of the Arun Valley Line:

    A 377 service having terminated at Horsham All photos taken by me
    IMG_20211109_105343.jpg

    Seen from a pedestrian footbridge to the south of Horsham, this 4-car 377 heads north and will eventually attach to form either an 8- or 12-car service and continue onto Victoria
    IMG_20211109_133253.jpg

    This Thameslink Class 700 is seen at Horsham having just terminated after a long journey from Peterborough
    IMG_20211106_101148.jpg

    An 8-car 377 service has just departed Pulborough (on the Arun Valley Line) heading north. With this stopping at all stations to Horsham, a separate 4-car service then followed this about 5-10 mins later which is a fast service (thus doesn't stop here) but eventually joins the aforementioned 8-car service at Horsham before continuing to Victoria as a 12-car
    IMG_20211127_121914.jpg
     
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  17. cloudyskies21

    cloudyskies21 Well-Known Member

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    I respect your opinion, but there's always going to be routes/locos that everyone likes and dislikes. With the 377 being my local rolling stock, they are actually my favourite, so I don't, and I expect others too, wouldn't find these to be dull at all. I'm all for different routes and rolling stock to come to TSW, but I'd also like to see existing routes we have in-game already further expanded to have more of a network - thus more Southern routes would be welcomed by me.
     
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  18. realhfb

    realhfb New Member

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    I am from Horsham too and would love to see Horsham added to TSW.
     
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  19. cloudyskies21

    cloudyskies21 Well-Known Member

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    I really hope we have another modern UK route in London and the South East of England again soon thanks to the plethora of existing rolling stock already in TSW which means some more epic timetables like that of London Commuter:

    Hastings: All pictures taken by myself
    IMG_20210828_125626.jpg

    Bexhill/St Leonards:
    Bexhill 1.jpg

    Charing Cross:
    IMG_20210807_140414.jpg

    Cannon Street:
    376 at CS.jpg

    London Bridge:
    700 and 465 at LB.jpg
     
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  20. darkwarrior#2896

    darkwarrior#2896 Well-Known Member

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    If I would ask DTG for more southern routes first, I would want them to be individual routes and then they would build towards merging them
     
  21. darkwarrior#2896

    darkwarrior#2896 Well-Known Member

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    I think DTG would have to improve/Fix all the issues of London commuter before expanding upon
     
  22. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    When it comes to St Leonards Bexhill and Hastings these are part of the East Coastway Line with the missing segment being Eastbourne Bexhill. For DTG they might do it as East Coastway Extended Brighton Eastbourne Hastings via St Leonards with Seaford Branch.
     
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