I think it would be an amazing feature to have rail replacement buses playable in tsw in the future as here in Australia it is common when a line shuts down for maintenance that we have rail replacement buses. I'm not sure how it works in other countries but if it exists in countries already in tsw, this would be a great feature to add in the future or as a seperate game.
I think you want "Bus Simulator" which is already a thing. In fact I think there are a few games now that combine them all on the same map. SIMT Simulator, City Transport Simulator, etc. I'd suggest trying those if that's your thing.
Would make a great April fools for a short trip round a station, maybe as an Easter egg like the infamous milk float from TSC days. But otherwise, it would probably work better in OMSI or similar.
I would be happy if it was possible to have a separate Sunday timetable and the option to have random closures for engineering work. It would certainly allow for a different experience. But I doubt it's possible or would be universally popular. As for buses. Fine if there's a fleet of them outside the station waiting to whisk passengers away, but driving one. No thanks. If all that work is being put into a new feature, I'd prefer it to be shift work option within the Timetable where you sign-on at either your home station or depot, check the service notices then walk to the siding or platform to take your train out.
I can see the novelty value but to be brutally honest, I’m just waiting for the bus and coach add on for ETS2 to arrive (probably 2029 the speed SCS work at ). There are also practical issues, the road network in TSW is there for scenic purposes and not complete to provide a through network. It would also need the current crude car spawner system reworked from the ground up to provide for proper traffic behaviour. Essentially DTG would need to make a complete road transport simulation. Not going to happen. I do agree with the view that alternate Sunday timetables with a different service pattern and the restrictions imposed by engineering work would be interesting. Slow/fast line closures, reversible or even single line working.
I don’t think we have dynamic routing yet, such as Zusi does. Trains still follow the predefined path and platform allocation at stations. And being late allowing a service that should follow you out in front, already happened in earlier versions. I remember doing a DLOGW DMU run up the relief line and, being about 7’ late approaching West Ealing found the Greenford service had gone in front, delaying me further. Thought that rather cool, actually.
It would be very funny if they added an easter egg where if you play on the first of april, one of the possible "random faults" is that upon loading a service it just drops you into a small emulation of the game "Desert Bus". Complete with the steering that always slides off to the right.
Or as an Easter Egg for 1st April you load up the timetable and there's just nothing there apart from a notice that says "Due to industrial action there are no services today". Click the screen again and all the services reappear. I assume some would have flown off the handle before that last stage though.
I can see them doing "spoof" liveries for fun since they're cheap and don't require any additional effort on the trains or routes themselves. April 1st "gag" joke theme Halloween "spooky" theme Christmas "Festive/Winter" theme Maybe a "history of rails" heritage one etc As they're all optional they wouldn't really be objectionable either since they won't show for other people. Just like the other livery packs in game. I know yes we have the community liveries, but these would be "official", available on the stores like the livery packs in game. They've already started the idea anyway with the many different livery packs and the "holiday trains" for the Jubilee and F125, etc.
