When we got the Brighton Main Line in London Commuter, it really seemed like a crown jewel for TSW2, especially with the extensive timetables and traffic. To that end, I'd love to see it expanded - not to cover the entirety of Southern's network, but a few parts that should add a massive amount of extra playability, and some interesting operations. It's a reasonably ambitious plan set in 3 phases, and while I'm sure DTG will never do it, one can always hope! Phase 1: Bridging the Gap (total of 12 new stations plus the 14 existing from ECW) Merge in East Coastway, adding the connecting branch from Wivelsfield to Lewes. This adds not only longer routes (such as taking the Littlehampton & Ore service past Wivelsfield all the way to Eastbourne), but adds in some "split" operations, where we can take down the Seaford & Ore trains to Lewes, then split the train and continue the journey either to Seaford, or take the Ore service as far as Eastbourne. Add the line from East Croydon to London Bridge, via Norwood Junction and New Cross Gate. As part of this, extend very, very slightly west from Gloucester Road Junction to add in West Croydon station. This doesn't give us longer routes as such, but adds a whole new section of track and would let us run a greater portion of the Southern timetable - I think this adds a great variety. Adding in West Croydon also means we can run a station further on a few of the services, like those to/from Epsom/Epsom Downs/Sutton etc. If the SouthEastern 375 diversion timetable sticks around, we could also run that service past East Croydon to London Bridge! Add in the Class 700. This is effectively tied in with the branch to London Bridge. I understand there could still be some licensing issues with "Thameslink" so we can take an unbranded 700 here to get some great new traction. Not only this, adding in the 700 should also mean we finally get some stopping options at Earlswood and Salfords on the Redhill Lines, as well as the option of ECS services from the Three Bridges depot. Some great new patterns to be learned here! Phase 2: Branching Out (total of 28 new stations) Add in the Caterham and Tattenham Corner branches. This ties in nicely with Phase 1. We will now be able to run the full London Bridge - Caterham & Tattenham Corner services, rather than just the East Croydon to Purely section, as well as completing the London Victoria - Caterham & Tattenham Corner services we can currently run to Purley. This also means some further "split" operations, as some trains from London Bridge split at Purley, giving us the option to run either of the new services to Caterham or Tattenham. Add in the Oxted lines. This would let us run the full service from Victoria to East Grinstead, rather than stopping at East Croydon. These are nice services as they start off in a semi-express way, and then become a stopping service just after East Croydon. As we would now have London Bridge from Phase 1, we could also run the full service from London Bridge to Uckfield. However, the line past Hurst Green isn't electrified, so... Add in the Class 171. This traction is needed to run down the Uckfield branch. This would give us a great variety of services, as we'd have the long runs between London Bridge and Uckfield, and also be able to run the smaller shuttle services that just go back and forth between Uckfield and Oxted. It also represents a nice little break away from the Electrostars which otherwise dominate these lines. Phase 3: Join the dots (total of 13 new stations) "Fill in" the area north of Northwood Junction. This adds in the line from London Bridge to Streatham Common via Tulse Hill. From Tulse Hill, we will also run the line all the way east to Beckenham Junction (which also has connections to the Norwood Junction to London Bridge section from Phase 1), and the line joining Tulse Hill to Balham via Streatham Hill. This expansion serves mainly to complete a lot of the services we can partially run in the current setup. This would include the London Victoria <-> London Bridge services, the London Victoria <-> West Croydon services, as well as the London Bridge <-> Caterham runs via Tulse Hill. Add in the rest of the 377 types. Currently we only have the /4, but Southern also run the /1, /2, /3, /6, and /7. This would give us a hugely expanded fleet, as well as the 3 and 5-car setups that these variants run. This is a hugely ambitious and complex expansion, spanning some 53 new stations and 2 new train types, but I feel like London Commuter could be the flagship route of TSW. I tried to whittle down each phase to be more realistic while still ambitious, and worked hard to ensure the scope of new track added didn't become excessive, while still adding a lot of new miles and service options. Obviously we'd all love the complete Southern network, including the branches to Tonbridge and Epsom Downs, the two lines to Horsham, and all of the East and West Coastways in their entirety, but that will - realistically - never happen. I know a lot of the comments will be about missed branches, other opportunities etc. but this is the plan I feel could be done with a little deliberation, although I know it'd be at the cost of development of other routes. Anyway, let me know what you think! To Matt/JD/any other DTG staff looking - sorry for the heart attack!
Add Ore and Marshlink, as well as Hove. We have Ashford International and under your plan a 171 anyhow.
Of those 377/2 377/7 run the East Croydon to Milton Keynes trips. You can introduce them on BML or a TSC Classic route that needs to be in TSW 3 WCML South Birmingham New Street London Euston 112 mi (180 km) shorter than the 115 mi (186 km) SFS Hannover Kassel Wurzburg route.
If they did that it would be awesome, especially if they remaster the entire route to be completely compatible with TSW3. Hell you could probably eventually have the line extend to Blackfriars and St. Pancras stations. St. Pancras operates services to Gatwick Airport and Brighton with the Class 700 EMU via Blackfriars station.
At this point, I'd be happy if DTG just added the line to London Bridge and added in the 700. That'd be ace. Oh, and fix all the annoying "gapping" that plagues all the third rail routes.
