I absolutely love the cross-city tote, however, I constantly feel like it's missing a lot by omitting the Cross country and WMR Diesel services. With this extension, I would hope to remedy both of these problems as well as almost doubling the route length. The first item of this would be an entirely new unit in the turbostar class 170: These units are some of the most prolific units in the uk, allowing DTG to rake in some extra cash by adding them as DLC to other routes for a lower cost. I would want two variants of this, one being the Cross country version, and the other being the WMR version. the only real difference between these is textures and the lack of a center coach on the WMR version with the Cross country 170 traveling from New street to Worcestershire parkway, and the WMR version to Malvern link. These units will enable the rest of the route extension to operate. The other unit (as an additional Loco DLC) I would liek to see to enhance this route is the Class 220/221 This unit would exclusively operate on the cross-country section of the extension allowing for a slightly different flavor to the cross-country section of the extension. They could also be reused for a potential future WCML route as well as be slotted into timetables like MML. The extension would include two branches, the first being the 14 miles long Droitwich Spa bypass line to Worcestershire Parkway. Theres only one station on this part of the line that being Worcestershire parkway: Worcestershire Parkway is a very new and modern station much like Bromsgrove is. It would allow us to really open up the 170 and potentially Voyagers and be almost completely different to the rest of the route as it would be the longest stretch of the route without a station, it also cuts through some very pretty landscapes on the way to Worcestershire parkway. most 170 services stop here, and i believe at least some voyager services do as well. The other slightly longer section of the extension would be the Bromsgrove - Malvern WMR route. This section of the route would bring another signaling type onto the route in the form of GWR lower quadrant signals, as well as another city onto the route in the form of Worcester, as well as the Worcester viaduct: (shame about all the cars) and would terminate with the Beautiful (hopefully) Malvern hills as your backdrop. Malvern hills: This section of the extension would have 6 new stations on it. The first being Droitwich spa: which has a very similar vibe to msot of the rest of the route. Following on fro mthat would be tunnel junction and worcester itself, ironically this would finally add a depot to the route proper at worcester, there are two stations in worcester, on being Worcester shrub hill: always quite a pretty station looking a lot better since renovations after this picture was taken. From this point on you could also add in GWR 165 services to follow the rest of the route, and along the previous section of track to Droitwich, you could add another freight service or two. The other station in Worcester has very unusual running, in that it has two bi-directional platforms at Worcretser Foregate street: After Foregate Street you would move onto the Worcester viaduct and through the south of beautiful Worcestershire, with your next stop being malvern link, a rather pretty station if I do say so: at this point, you should be able to see the Malvern hills as you make your way to the final stop on the route, that is Great malvern: I really think this extension would add significantly to the route and would be an opportunity for DTG to show off their scenic skills. it could be a bit intense but i really think this could bring a whole new vibe to the route going from the more claustrophobic track in Birmingham to the much more open track to the south towards Bromsgrove. This would really make my day to see in TSW, so let me know what you guys think? I'll try to update with more ideas as time goes by
Yeah, turbostars being so prolific on the modern network it feels weird they're not in TSW really. I would love to see the 172s as well, but they're only present on this route so would be less of a cash cow for DTG when they can just make the 170 and keep it going for a long time.
Yeah that would be a problem, i have no issues with it just being the Bromsgrove - Malvern line as thats really the main part of all this.
XC looks unlikely, but I'd take the Malvern extension with the 170. Better still, how about a pack with the 170 and 196 which is just about to replace it? The 196 has started running the Shrewsbury services already, so will add more traffic to New Street (I saw one there yesterday), and are due to be running services on the Hereford line through Malvern this year - would mix things up to have both active during the transition period.
Yeah, adding the 196 as well would be sweet, they have actually now started on the route as well a couple of days ago. though that would then jump the route forward a few months.
Do you mean Arriva company who owns XC? However they're part of the Deutsche Bahn group for DTG they can ask DB to include subsidiaries like Arriva under DBAG license. Hint Arriva also operates Trains in the Netherlands and former Czechoslovakia. Keep in mind XC 220/221 170 if made will share achievements as their Scotrail and Avanti West Coast versions.
I would disagree!. The company Arriva UK Trains that owns cross country also owns the licensing rights to Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.[1] Chiltern Railways The Chiltern Railway Company Limited If the community wanted the Chiltern Main Line in TSW-3 by Arriva
Malverns would be great and with a bit of licence on time period could layer in the Class 166 and HST from GWE, between Shrub Hill and Hereford.
The HST would be nice, but unfortunately BCC is 2019+ and HSTs stopped.running there in about 2018 I think?
Yes, DB do own Arriva. However, DB has been trying to offload and sell Arriva for the last 2 or 3 years.
good suggestion but I feel like this should come as a seperate route as we already have the full Cross City line
Possibly but then the problem is you just reuse the entire south part of BCC I'm not entirely opposed to this idea as it could mean a new timeframe and more attention to detail on the new areas.
I'd prefer a BCC extension to be a new route, i.e Birmingham New Street - Hereford with Class 170,172,196 (IETS if possible as well) as well as 323,RHTT,165,HST layers for those who own the DLCs. However, if a Cross Country Licence was obtained. It would be a no brainer to do a Birmingham - Bristol / Bristol - Worcester (or if DTG were to be very lazy, Gloucester/Cheltenham Spa) Route with Class 165,220,170 (XC and TFW),60,158 (+323,RHTT,HST layers)
