The Berks and Hants Railway line is a 104 mile railway line that runs from Reading General in Berkshire all the way through to Taunton in Somerset, it is served by rolling hills and countryside. It is part of a larger great western mainline, which is essentially a 305 mile high speed mainline that runs from London to Swansea, with branches to Penzance, Carmarthen, Hereford, Portsmouth, Bristol and etc… The Berks and Hants line is also known in Train Sim Classic as the south western expressways, the railway is partially electrified in-between Reading and Newbury for the first 17 miles before running diesel all the way down to Taunton. There is a plethora of rolling stock on this route already in the game, so it makes a lot of sense to add in to the game, as it’s primarily one operator that works the larger part of this route. Rolling Stock Class 158 GWR Class 166 GWR Class 387 GWR Class 66 RHTT Class 43 “Castle” (A shortened version of the GWE HST) Class 800/802 IET These are bimodal units built by hitachi rail under the Intercity Express Programme, they can run on both their own power and overhead electric lines, they have a top speed of 140mph, but are limited to 125 due to signalling issues in the UK, they are the new stock being added in along with the route Map of the route Major stations on the Line Reading - Located in Berkshire, this will be the origin point of the route, and is a major station for the GWML, with links to the South West, Wales, Cheltenham, Bristol and Hereford as well as links to Basingstoke, Gatwick Airport and the South Western Mainline to Waterloo, along with the Elizabeth line, as this route is already present in Train Sim World, all that is required is overhead line installation Newbury - This is a station located in Berkshire, and the first stop for most intercity Trains after reading, it has 3 platforms with two through tracks, and is a major town in Berkshire Westbury - A town located in Wiltshire, this is where the line is joined by the South Western Mainline from Waterloo via Salisbury, and has a direct rail connection to the Bristol line from Swindon, Fast trains skip through the station on the Westbury Avoider lines Castle Cary - This is the last major stop before Taunton, and is located in Somerset, not far from the Wiltshire - Somerset border, This station is notable for the very famous Glastonbury festival, a very big music festival in the UK, it is also where the south western mainline and the line to Weymouth branch off southward. Taunton - This is the final stop on this line, it is served by Great Western Railway and Cross country services from Bristol and the north, it is a very major station on the mainline and is a staggering 106 miles away from Reading, our first stop. altogether there’s 17 stations on the line, but the above stations are the major stations. Scenarios Class 800 Introduction - Learn how to operate and start up the class 800, and learn the basics of power changing, the TMS and the speed set Cornish Super Express (Class 800 IET) Drive a fast 08:30 Class 800 bound for Penzance from Reading non-stop to Taunton Somerset Stopper (Class 166) Drive a stopper bound for Bristol Temple Meads from Newbury to Westbury stopping at all stations on the Line Electrostars in Berkshire (Class 387) drive a slow class 387 from Reading to Newbury, calling at all stations, be careful, you are stuck behind a delayed class 800 from London - Taunton These could be some of the scenarios used in this route here is a TSC example of the route
Brilliant suggestion mate, would be a great way to use existing rolling stock and add a new piece of rolling stock all without touching the SE. Maybe on the long side but still a brilliant suggestion and would be great to have the 80xs in game as they can be used again in the future. As I have said ample times, brilliant suggestion mate.
Yep, and I would love another western region route, as well as an eastern region to be honest, as they are both underrepresented
The WR has three routes and the old Eastern Region only has one. Would love to see this route though.
Southwestern Expressways is an absolute Don of a route. Would love that to come to TSW but I think its wishful thinking
You never know, it might prompt DTG to do a GWE rebuild with all the necessary improvements such as finally giving us a version with all the branch lines I have mentioned a thousand times as well as some proper dlc such as Class 57, 59, 60, 165 and 180. Wishful thinking I guess. I'll just keep on keyboard bashing until it finally happens or I fade away.
Should of said, as of next year, I believe Grand Central are running trains from Paddington to Cardiff/Swansea. They've said they're using class 91s which would be awesome
91's were the original plan, but that's been changed and I believe new IET's are planned instead. 91's can't run west of Cardiff as the lines aren't electrified. I also believe they will use the Swansea District line to avoid Swansea itself and go on to Carmarthen. As a pre-emptive strike, GWR are now running extra trains to Carmarthen.
More details on Grand Union (rather than Central) here. http://www.granduniontrains.co.uk/carmarthen-to-london/
