Upcoming Release Master The West Midlands!

I guess there will be a class 66 layer for freight on the Lickey incline, but new street will be like a ghost town with only the 323s, and the line south of Birmingham will lack cross country traffic.

 

I echo what a lot of people are saying here. The route really needs more than one train. No doubt they'll add the Class 66, but I'm talking about another passenger train. Birmingham New Street is going to look awfully quiet. I want to see some variety when going up and down the line.

 

I've suggested before, but DTG needs to start building *outwards* WRT new UK routes: build where there is already stock available, so you can layer that in. With the German routes we're quite spoiled because there are 9 other trains that can layer in along with the new one that comes with each new route.

 

Each to their own, I live half a mile from Selly Oak station so the massive hospital is viewable from my garden lol. Looking forward to this!!

 

I am happy we have this route but in all honesty, a Class 172 would have been a nice inclusion, though i'm not gonna complain as the 323 and Cross city line have been requested a fair bit and i have wanted to see this line in TSW

 

I agree ,needs more traffic ,the incline there is a mix and with only this unit it will seem dead,also new street needs more if only static or ai trains.

 

ItS a CaSh GrAb

 

I'm guessing we will have the Class 66 doing the occasional freight service as well as the RHTT doing some work on the line. Just hope they turn around and say they are working on a second passenger train for the route, or worst case scenario that the Class 150 or HST are being given new liveries.

 

Despite the concerns about traffic, I'm so excited to have the Class 323 in TSW. Sounds are going to make or break this route, so fingers crossed those are right. Roll on launch day.

 

It’s sarcasm at the forums princess’s that blatantly moan on here and the social media, seems it goes over peoples heads

 

My bad, deleted it

 

Well that's a bit of a downer. Even Cathcart included the line out to Corkerhill for ECS moves. Appreciate you're not personally in charge of this but whoever drew up the specification for this route needs a kick up the proverbial for such a glaring omission. Can just about accept the fact we are not getting a West Midlands network and more than one train but it could have gone the extra distance compared to the TSC route. Most TSW routes to my knowledge include the lines to and from the depot(s) serving the area otherwise how else are you going to get ECS moves into the timetable and Journey mode, etc.

I may now join others above and scrub the idea of a Day 1 purchase and wait for it to go on sale at Easter next year.

 

No worries, I’m actually looking forward to this release as it’s a route I’m not familiar with

 

Empty from Longbridge, Four Oaks and the middle tracks of New Street

 

Exactly and they store ECS at New streets platforms overnight in some cases

 

I’m just going to keep an open mind though I am curious what Rivet are delivering into the uk.

 

Hyped for the 323 mate! Will some layers for example freight with Class 66 come?

 

Very cool! We‘re finally outside of London and not getting another Electrostar. Train and scenery both look really detailed, and having the option of two different endpoints in the south instead of simply A to B is always welcome. Let’s hope the layers prevent this from becoming another Cathcart Circle (great route, but lacking replayability because of low rolling stock variety). I sure hope some sort of depot is included, having empty stock moves greatly increases the immersion.

 

Its the internet, people are entitled to express an opinion which differs to your own. You and I may think its not a cash grab, you can look forward to it, others can share the opposite view.

 

I hope the new train will be spotted hanging around the Training Center in service mode with all its friends.

 

Two!!!

 

24 new stations including one of the largest in the country, 33 miles of "virgin track" and joining up with the WCML at the top end isn't enough for you?

I'm sure people want blood nowadays

 

OOOOO A New UK Route. It actually looks really good, What's this only 60 KM(37 Miles) Moneyball has happened again. But I have faith at least in this route. Really well done so far. Just hope the sounds are actually good at least

 

100%, we need either brum to wolvo or brum to Worcester with a dmu aswell I reckon

 

I hope that’s humour, many up here don’t even dare count Manchester as near the north

 

I want a different experience to what we've had. Something to stand out and scream at me to open my wallet and buy, because its different to what I already own.

Lets look at all the DTG UK modern day routes.

London Commuter - EMU commuter route - with 2 trainsets, a 2 service freight layer if you owned the Class 66
Cartcart - EMU commuter route - with 1 trainset
Southeastern Highspeed - EMU commuter route with a splash of HS running, originally 2 trainsets, later extended to have a semi decent(ish) freight service as an after thought (although only with the 66), an extra EMU (which many already purchased extra prior anyway) and a bit more high speed running, although its not actually highspeed (139mph is not high speed by todays standards).
East Coastway - yet another EMU commuter route, with about 5 (perhaps its 6) miles of freight running, behind yes you've guessed it the Class 66.
GWE - Basically yet another commuter route with a 2/3 station hop express service, with (and you wont actually believe this, so please sit down) a class 66 on a rudimentary freight timetable. Although this stands out because the motive power isnt actually electric based.
Bakerloo - oh another EMU commuter route.

I mean how long do we need to wait for for DTG to release a different modern freight train in the game? Or even a diesel passenger train? We've precisely 1 freight train, 1 DMU (2 if you count Rivets 150), the HST, yet now we have 6 EMU's and the Javelin.

Why cant we see a class 60 based route, or a class 90 on a container flow. I mean its clearly too much to expect DTG to go out and get a Freightliner license so we could get a class 70.

 

All I can say is for this release in particular, the class 60 is barely (if at all used), the 66 would be vital at the RHTT depot at Kings Norton as I've been past everyday last week and 2 freightliner 66's + 2 rail adventure class 43's and the RHTT wagons were there so that will be useful. The class 66 would also be apt for the Corby- Margam steel, the Daventry- Wentloog tesco service, even as far as the Margam to Tees yard banked service. I don't even think the class 70 runs this route anymore because the Rugeley- Stoke Gifford runs have ceased since Rugeley- power station was demolished or shut down and Colas have rarely used the line since they were cleared to haul stock up the Lickey to cover closure on the Welsh Marches line.
It needs to include HST's, class 170/172/220 and even a class 150/1 to be running this line. Possibly even a ROG Class 37 with some dead 313's to go to Long Marston, or a 31/37 test train with some yellow carriages mk2 would be good for AI.

It all depends on the period they are setting it which in this case looks to be within the past 2-3 years based on it being WMT liveried.

 

The Class 323 looks great in the screenshots and the Cross City Line looks well done. Looking forward to it.

 

Still not the same as going on and off the actual TMD that serves the route. All I can think of is maybe the operator decided for security reasons or whatever they didn't want the depot included, though TBA that is a poor excuse and more likely the route builders simply CBA to add another 3 miles of route, mostly in tunnel to round things out a bit.

If this is really selling for the "new" price of £29.99 rather than the standard £24.99 with 10% off for a pre-order, then I will be even less inclined to patronise it on Day 1. Looking like a copy and paste of the TSC effort which also means I want to hear what the 323 sounds like first.

 

What will be the price for the route

 

TBC but as it's being billed as a "Starter Pack" these were going for £29.99, though there ought to be a lower price for existing TSW3 owners. In truth though I would say given the limited route, not even a depot and one train this should be going for £19.99, no more.

 

I wasnt particularly referring to this route, which based on the sales blurb on steam offers nothing new such as a HST. No doubt we'll get a RHTT layer to encourage sales of this pack and a perhaps a DB liveried 66 if you already own it (and lets be honest how many of us dont already own a version of the 66)?

I was really hopeful for something different given we've waited over 14 months since the last DTG modern UK route, but sadly its not to be. Quite frankly its a massive let down and will be a major immersion lacking route with yet another empty major rail hub with nothing of note to do which I cant do already. The best we can hope for is a decent freight layer up the Lickey incline, but thats certainly not enough to get my wallet open.

Dont get me wrong I love Cartcart, I love the London based EMU routes, but for me its been done to overkill and the game desperately needs something different in the UK to keep me enticed.

Really hoping the Rivet route offers something different although I expect this to be another EMU commuter route based on the little we know and the sort of routes they've already released. If I am right in my assumption then looks like DTG will be waiting longer for any further revenue from me.

 

Sounds great! Finally a relatively modern uk emu that’s not an electrostar

One thing though - it needs more than one train

 

By the way, this is a relatively short route set in a new area of the UK, featuring just one EMU, a type that hasn’t been in the game yet. Sounds quite familiar, a lot like a certain other “CCL”. I wonder how well received that one was?

 

Well received actually, big attention to detail and quite fun to traverse the different routes on the CCL.

 

Agree I enjoy CCL, but just like I enjoy a nice ribeye steak, doesnt mean I want Ribeye every night.

 

Course not but that leads to me saying that you don't need to purchase it if you don't wish to eat it, likewise with this DLC. (Just don't eat it)

 

I'm also originally from Selly Oak, and look forward to this too. Traveled on this line many times as a child. I can just about remember the old DMUs

 

IF it turns out to be just 323s and little else and new street is quiet then I think I'd wait for a sale too tbh. I really want this route but £25 for what might be a damp sqiub is a hard sell

 

I have to say this pretty much sums up my view aswell. Whilst the route and 323 look great I am concerned that, due to lack of services, we will once again end up with an all green light A-B run significantly lacking in immersion and replay value.

Whilst no one can reasonably expect New Street to be as busy as it is in real life, it will be dead with only a 323, certain sections of the route (such as the fast lines between Longbridge and Kings Norton) will also be empty.

DTG got it spot on with the recent TSW3 SEHS and before that BML (unfortunately SoS suffered from the same quiet timetable and lack of immersion).

I understand that DTG maybe don’t have the budget or resource to include additional trains (and if they did would need to recoup their costs through increased prices) but maybe considering the choice of route more carefully would avoid these issues. E.g Birmingham Moor Street to Stratford with a 172 would be much more realistic as, for much of the route from Tyseley South Junction, all the services are in the hands of 172s (with the exception of the Bearley branch).

 

Not sure what your point is . I found out quite a bit from that video and I’m sure many others did as well

 

You are ofcourse correct, but (to keep with the food analogy) right now when it comes to UK content TSW feels like going to a all you can eat pizza restaurant and finding that the only option is deep pan margarita or thin crust margarita when you are craving pepperoni.

 

Would've been nice to have it set in the past in one respect because they could've maybe incorporated Longbridge stock moves...

 

Well seeing as we already knew from the Steam Database that the new route was BCC and a 423, Im not sure what you exactly learnt? it cant be the sounds as it was a 20 sec clip with music over the top. Yes it looks nice but then its TSW so it darn well should look nice so again nothing learnt.

 

100% agree and they already had the beginnings of such around London with GWE, BML, ECW, and SEHS. But, the "no more SE/London/Electrostar" brigade has gotten very loud lately.

As a non-Brit it's frustrating because i'd prefer a more cohesive and busier network- the location of which isn't super important to me personally.

 

What the loco looks like , what the route looks like , the cab ect

 

Heck yeah!

 

Overpriced whatever the price….if you can wait a while a buy it in a sale and save yourself some money!

 

It looks like a 323, what did you expect it to look like? A virgin Pendo perhaps? And again it a 20 second clip with about 3 seconds worth of scenery. Yeah can see how you learnt a lot about what the route looks like from that.........

 

But does one want to look at Birmingham?