So I've been thinking about what routes I would like to see in the game that I (personally at least) haven't seen suggested very often and I have settled on Manchester to Preston. This is a route I have travelled a fair few times with Preston being a good place to spot not too far from Manchester. Now the route could both Manchester Victoria and Piccadilly as both serve the route, with the lines from the two stations joining just before Salford Crescent, services would be between around 40 minutes to an hour for the full length depending on the specific service. Potentially to Piccadilly 'side' of the route could extend all the way to Manchester Airport, however, I will not be going into those services specifically. This list will list the driveable section of the route as the main heading with the appropriate real-life services listed below each one. Services included: Manchester Victoria to Preston Manchester Victoria to Preston (Northern Trains Class 319/Northern Trains Class 331) Manchester Piccadilly to Preston Hazel Grove to Blackpool North (Northern Trains Class 331) Manchester Airport to Blackpool North (Northern Trains Class 331) Manchester Airport to Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverly (Transpennine Express Class 397/Class185) Manchester Victoria to Bolton Blackburn to Rochdale (Northern Trains Sprinter: Class 150/153/156/158) Clitheroe to Rochdale (Northern Trains Sprinter: Class 150/153/156/158) Manchester Oxford Road to Preston Manchester Oxford Road to Preston Empty Coaching Stock (Northern Trains Sprinter: Class 150/153/156/158) Freight Services could also be possible but they would barely be longer than 10 minutes so probably not worth it. In terms of the rolling stock, I would recommend the following as being included with the route Northern Trains Class 331 Transpennine Express Class 397 As a loco add-on, I would recommend the Northern Trains Class 319 And finally, I would recommend the Northern Sprinters being included as extra layers from other potential routes in which they would be the main attraction as Northern has multiple lines where Sprinters provide almost all of the traction. Plus, there would be limited opportunities to run the full Manchester to Preston via Bolton route for the Sprinters anyway, so probably not worth it as a specific loco add-on.
