So, I enjoy this route, particularly the Javelin... I've done a couple of the timetable routes so far, but today decided to try a St. Pancras to Faversham run. All these timetabled runs are a similar length time wise although this one appears to be the shortest, but I found myself continually falling behind the schedule after the stop at Ebbsfleet despite (in my view obviously) keeping to the speed limits as well as I could, accelerating pretty aggressively and braking pretty aggressively too (although none of the stops were jarring). Still, I was 5 minutes behind schedule by the time I got to Faversham, only good enough for a silver, and I think this is the only run where I've failed to get gold on any route - I do play easy mode I suspect, no safety systems and so on, so not bragging, just wondering whether there might be some timetable runs such as this one which simply cannot be done on time. Or is there something else that has kept my score down? I've uploaded screenshots of the performance evaluation. The stop accuracy isn't wonderful, but not that bad... Spoiler: Screenshots
The way dtg constructed the timetable meant that it was impossible to stick to it. They imputted the start and end Times and let the a'i do the rest. This means occasionally you would have to accelerate at breakneck speeds and defy the laws of physics. London commuter is one of the only timetables i know with slack built into it. Gwe is another
I believe the 395 is simulated as if it were using overhead all the way (faster acceleration). So you are going to be short on time at some point in the journey.
The 395 is currently the only dual mode train in the game, but unfortunately the timing system doesn't allow for this so all timings are done using the OHLE power mode, meaning when you switch to third rail at Ebbsfleet and the power drops by a third it's hard to keep to the time That's not to say that you can't get gold however as the points are not based on that specifically so I would imagine you're losing points elsewhere, maybe in trying to keep to time, so I would drive normally with normal acceleration, braking, stopping in the right places etc
The load passenger tasks are based on time - 500 points for being on time which decreases the later you are.
You also get points for stopping in the right place, driving under the speed limit and so on. I've got quite a few golds just by "driving normally"
Thanks for the replies. The swapping from overhead to third rail seems to explain it as that's where it starts going south (after Ebbsfleet). I'm certainly keeping to the speed limits - might have blipped a couple early on as it seems the game uses the in train limits up to Ebbsfleet and not the ones listed in the HUD, but was basically decelerating according to the in cab settings and just didn't get to the lower limit quite on time. But you can see from the images in the spoiler that it wasn't much. Likewise, I didn't think the stop accuracy was awful. A couple a bit out (8 and 7 yards, but the majority a yard or two maybe). I'm pretty sure I've managed gold on all the other runs from that timetable that I've tried. Not a biggie, and where I say I was accelerating and braking 'aggressively', I don't really mean not normally, just meaning that I was trying to get up to the speed limit as quick as possible, and not braking from a mile out, more like 0.6 of a mile, and I don't think any were jarring stops. Just was not possible to keep to the timetable after Ebbsfleet.
Just redid the run as only had silver myself. Not drive the 395 in a while so had to redo the tutorial just to get it moving (didn't close the MCB first try Did the run driving as I normally would (so probably braking a bit shallower than some others) and got 16063...
Congrats! I've just tried another, and there's no way I can get there in the time yours shows (I've got gold going the other way), the train simply doesn't accelerate fast enough. I don't slam it straight into (throttle) 4, but I don't take long to get there, and I'm losing time pretty much from the get go. *Shrug* And losing it big time after Ebbsfleet. When I finally get to the speed limit, I tend to hover a mile an hour or so under, just to avoid exceeding it, and maybe that's enough to add two or three minutes to the journey. Anyway, despite all that, it's a fun train to drive, and a nice long route with plenty of variety, so it's all good.
3 from a standing start then 4, bringing it down from 4 about 5mph before line max so not quite "driving like a madman" I spose
Well, that must have made a difference (as in faster acceleration), and I'll confess to braking slightly later and harder. Got to say it felt more like a race than driving a train, still answers my question that it can be done.
From what I've seen of cab rides and drivers talking about how they drive, especially on commuter routes "slapping it in high" is fairly common
