So, a little bit unconventional of a suggestion as it's technically speaking not anything "new", but still I think this'd be a great idea. So, as far as German urban communter routes go, I've always felt Rheinstrecke Rhein-Ruhr probably had and maybe still has the most potential out of all German commuter routes. The Ruhr area is the largest urban area in all of Germany. As far as commuter routes go, it should be a golden opportunity, but I've always felt the route was a little bit lacking, and it's starting to show its age as well. What can we do? 1. Existing parts Of course, first of all, the existing content should get a good and thorough overhaul to make it look and feel as good as most modern content. Especially Essen Hbf has always felt very underwelming. There's not even a way to reach the north-eastern platforms without crossing the tracks. Even if they're unused for route, it just breaks any immersion. Overall though, the route and especially stations are much too clean and polished, which is actually a critique I have of most German content. I'd wish the same effort went into German routes as there is into British ones in making them feel authentic, by properly reflecting the wear and tear of regular day-to-day use. 2. Extensions Bochum has never felt like a truly appropriate termination point for the route. I would at the very least argue that the route should be extended from Bochum to Dortmund. After extending Bochum to Dortmund, you could also include the alternative route from Essen to Dortmund north through Gelsenkirchen and Herne, along with the path from Gelsenkirchen to Duisburg. Doing this would truly add justice to this being the largest urban area of Germany, making it a little bit of a maze navigating through it. Now if from here, you further extended towards Hamm, this would truly become the Ruh-Area map 3. Possible future merger (Duisburg-Köln) Now, if you'd really want to go all out with this, I would also advocate for a future route of Duisburg-Köln. This route would already be pretty good, but if they also added a branch from Düsseldorf to Wuppertal, this would create the possibility of a true route merger on every single end of the route, connecting on the north to Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr. On the south to Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen. And on the branch to Rhein-Ruhr Osten Wuppertal-Hagen, which itself already connects to Ruhr-Sieg Nord Hagen-Finnentrop (and hopefully in the future also Siegen). If you merged all these connecting points, and linked up Hagen with Dortmund (and also with that the 4km between Witten and Langendreer connecting Bochum to Hagen as well) you would truly have an interconnecting maze offering all kinds of services and allow for every single taste to flourish, and would, I think, truly captivate what Train Sim World is meant to be. I'm not saying it's entirely perfect, and this would still be missing the approximately 30km part connecting Essen to Düsseldorf, and apprx. 32km part of Essen-Steele to Wuppertal. Perhaps a way to solve that is by having all these small connecting bits, all too small to make a route on their own, but all vital to this large maze of connections, is to sell option to merge all these rounds as it's own DLC , which comes with these connecting bits, also as a way to compensate for the extra work that went into taking all these small parts of connecting route and traffic, which probably adds up to a workload nearing that of a full route on its own already. Your thoughts? I know this would be a lot of work, and to truly make it come to life, it would require one route overhaul for Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr on a scale somewhat similar to what DTG did for South Eastern High Speed, an additional full new route with a branchline, and a lot of work on small bits of connecting track. But I think this would truly be a great experience for everyone, and would also help to truly make TSW stand out if real competition starting knocking. Anyways, I know it's a bit of an unrealistic pipedream and would require tremendous amounts of work. But I just wanted to air my thoughts. I'm happy to hear all your thoughts
Unfortunately true, read my second to last line Though, only the last part of how to merge the routes is truly unrealistic I feel like. The overhaul, including extending to Dortmund, and have the additional northern part of the route, while a lot of work, I think is should be somewhat on par with the extension they did for SEHS regarding the amount of work. So while unlikely, I do think that part should be within the realm of somewhat reasonable possibilities. And a standalone route of Duisburg - Köln with a Wuppertal branchline is perfectly within reasonable lengths for a route.
It’s apparently really complicated for dtg to connect routes and create a new timetable for it or merge timetables as they mentioned multiple times so that seems like something that will never happen. They seem to really dislike branch lines too and just make everything A to B. And because preservation crew got abolished too it’s honestly a great dream to drive from Köln Hbf all the way to Siegen. 40 to 80km A to B routes with 4 to 8 bugs that will never get fixed is all we have for now. Unless the next roadmap update proves me wrong and the next projects are like some of the good suggestions I have seen. The older routes could definitely do with a TOD4 and timetable update. Or even an extension of 20 km. At least we have a beta version of the editor and a dedicated playerbase.
That's right, HRR is already showing signs of aging and can no longer keep up with newer route releases. But that also applies to RT. It's essentially a commuter route with other through traffic. I think there was a small preservation update in 2021, like all the older routes received, but that's it since then. At least there are plenty of layers for almost all German train DLC in TSW here. The 101 is also tied to HRR and does not work without the route, because the tutorial has not yet been adapted for the Training Center. There are even two new TSW4 bundles available now that include HRR. If you want to re-release older routes, you can think about extending them. Since SEHS was released as a new edition for TSW3 in 2022, it has repeatedly served as a prime example of how it can be done. The only question then is, if I expand, what additional new trains can I add to create an incentive to buy? The problem with the polished and clean stations certainly depends on the time required for modeling and the details. In addition, dirty train stations do not fit the image of the DB.
Well, if I'm not mistaken, the Abellio's Flirt 3's are a very common sight in the area. That'd certainly be a more than welcome addition for me. Timetable is definitely ripe for a revamp too, come to think of it. So many yards, yet they're completely empty and there's no empty stock moves. Also, no worries. Summer's getting closer. They can include the remastered HRR version as the German route of the TSW5 release this year Then next year, they'll have the Gilroy extension on Peninsula Corridor as the American route for TSW6 Other than some obvious brand things, like the Philips logo at Hamburg Hbf, and if I recall, also something on Cathcart Circle. Does anyone at all even have copyright on the use of a station? Certainly not DB. They're just the rolling stock operator and can only license liveries. Not even sure, but somebody may correct me on this, if DB is even the license holder on the trains themselves and only their name and livery, unless they do in-house research, design and production on their trains. But sure, even than. It doesn't have to be dirty, as long as it looks properly weathered and used, like (their) real stations do. I know it was meant jokingly, but sitll
It would be great to update the HRR to TSW4 (and beyond) standards....... although an extension/merge will be unlikely. They also missed the opportunity to partner with Rhein Ruhr Express to bring those Siemens Desiro HC / Stadler FLIRT (Already in-game with SBB).
Oh yeah, I forgot about those! I would LOVE an ACTUALLY new generation Dosto. It would give flavor, and it would feel like they're putting actual effort in their moden trains instead of only changing which loc they use with the dosto this time. As for the Stadler Flirt. Wasn't that Rivet? Though it wouldn't be the first time for a route to come out with a train that's basically the same hull as what's already in the game.
Yes, it was Rivet. The current Stadler Flirt formation/Liveries that its in the game is License-locked by SBB...
Same. I’d love to see all routes remastered. Wuppertal - Siegen would be amazing. Combining both routes and extending one. In TOD4 with the little iserlohn branch. Lovely. I hope preservation crew gets alive again someday
Excellent idea however my plans of expanding it are two routes one is towards the Netherlands Hollandstrecke Duisburg Oberhausen Emmerich am Rhein Zevenaar Arnhem Utrecht 202 km basically merging itself with HRR. 2nd option was HRR merger with RSN RRO via Hauptstrecke Bochum-Dortmund Hagen via (über) Witten
Pretty sure someone from DTG said, that they tried, but RRX didn't want to cooperate. So as long as RRX isn't interested, i doubt we'll ever have the Desiro HC.
