We could have a new locos for the Great Western Express route due to not having many add-ons. We could potentially have 2 new locomotives. The Hitachi Class 800 and the Bombardier Class 387/1. These locos could bring more services to GWE or potentially new services. The class 800 would be 9 cars long and feature the Staff area with the 800s and the Class 387 could come in 4 car sets with some new services and more.
While this would be great and all: GWE is set in 2015, before either the 800 or 387 had entered service on the Great Western Main Line, plus, it lacks electrification beyond Hayes and Harlington, which would be an Immersion Killer for the 800 - Having to Use Diesel Power at reading, which by the time they entered service, were operating electricly at reading - and the 387 would not work at all due to having Electric Only
They could do something similar like they have done with the Great Diesel Legends of the Great Western (though it would requite electrification of the line).
They'd have to rebuild the line and complete the electrification. It was always a tricky thing making GWE specific to that few years when it was an either or. Better to have built it completely electrified or completely not so we could either go forward into 800s and 387s or backwards to steam
GWE will have be completely rebuilt from scratch for the Class 800 and 387 to be in game. I don’t think DTG would like to rebuild a route that is set in 2015 to bring it into 2018 - 2020
This will require GWML London Paddington to reading DLC to get same treatment as Rapid Transit a 2021 Timetable. Option 2 is do do it like Great Western Express diesel Legends but electrified to Reading with Class 800 doing HST Runs Class 387/1 commuter services. Summer of 2021 Route had BML Class 387/2s because of Class 800 problems which required them to be sent North Newton aycliffe Hitachi rail facility.
Unfortunately the track itself is not set to electrified, so the wires are decorative rather than active. The trains themselves "look for the overhead wires" to raise the pantographs, so this wouldn't function on the route, therefore no electric trains All sounds overly complex, but that's how DTG have built the various systems
I'll add my support for a class 800 - I think it's a popular request anyway but no harm in bolstering with an additional vote! With the 387 coming with London Commuter I hope this means that a GWE version may one day surface somewhere.. I wonder - if GWE was set in that particular time period so as to use the GWR livery, it does seem to have somewhat restricted what content can be added in? Any earlier - ie pre-OHLE - and we're getting into the FGW days and thus pre-class 800, and any later (ie post-OHLE) and the HST's had mostly gone, or were certainly much-declined in number.. Perhaps in the days when GWE first appeared there was a different mindset towards DLC (not a judgement or criticism - just pondering!) and therefore it wasn't at the forefront of the mind when building the route. I'm hoping one day the class 800 will appear in some form, and then those clever folk who are good with the livery designer can then make a lot of people happy with a reskin. My estimate is that by the end of this week the GatEx 387 will have been repainted and posted up...
I feel like they should add the 800s and let us put down the pantograph when we reach the end of Hayes and harlington. Also it was meant to be for the time FGW just rebranded to GWR as first group originally wanted it to be the first great western and great western era mixed! But last minute first group declined that’s why we have the 43s and 166s in the green livery I wish 800s were in the game would make it so much more realistic
I don't think it would. Granted, the 800s could lower the pantograph at Hayes, however they didn't do that in real life at them time - they didn't run on GWR, at all, at the time. That would be an immersion killer for me, knowing that the 800s waited until this line got OHLE.