The West Coast Mainline is an arterial 400 mile railway line, it runs from london in the south east up to glasgow in the north west, with branches to manchester, liverpool, edinburgh, birmingham, chester, shewsbury, wolverhampton, manchester and stoke. The west coast mainline is one of the most requested routes in the forum and today i will be suggesting the west coast mainline from Rugby - Liverpool Lime St. Sitting at 17 stations with about 102 miles of track, this makes this section of the west coast mainline possible in train sim world and offers a plethora of services from Intercity, to Commuters and Regional services along with freight and special charters. Stations on the line include: Rugby Nuneaton Atherstone Polesworth Tamworth Lichfield Trent Valley Rugeley Trent Valley Stafford Crewe Winsford Hartford Acton Bridge Runcorn Liverpool South Parkway West Allerton Mossley Hill Edge Hill Liverpool Lime Street TRAINS to be used This route has a very big variety of rolling stock but the main ones for the base DLC Should be Class 390 Pendolino The Class 390, also known as the "Pendolino," is a type of electric high-speed train used in the United Kingdom. It was built by Alstom and is operated by Avanti on the West Coast Main Line. The Class 390 is characterized by its distinctive tilting technology, which allows it to navigate curves at high speeds, reducing journey times and improving passenger comfort. The train features modern interiors, air conditioning, and on-board amenities such as Wi-Fi and charging points. The Class 390 has been in service since 2002 and remains one of the most advanced and reliable high-speed trains in the UK. Class 350 “Desiro” The Class 350, also known as the Desiro, is a type of electric multiple unit (EMU) train used in the United Kingdom. It was built by Siemens and is used by a number of train operating companies, including LNWR and Trans Pennine Express. The Class 350 is primarily used on suburban and regional routes, providing a comfortable and reliable service for passengers. The train features air conditioning, overhead luggage racks, and on-board amenities such as power sockets and information displays. The Class 350 has been in service since 2004 and has proven to be a versatile and reliable workhorse of the UK rail network. Class 220/221 a DMU built by bombadier for intercity services on the west coast to non electrified areas built by siemens transportation and used on avanti west coast and cross country for their intercity services. They are to be soon replaced by the class 805/807 BEMU (see below) DLC Class 805 They are currently being built by Hitachi rail, they are BiMode multiple units, meaning they can run on diesel power where necessary and electric power where necessary. They are to enter service from this year and this i believe should be an adequate dlc with the 805 in 5 car variants and the 807 in 7 car variants, but being purely EMU Class 370 APT One of my personal favourites, the Intercity APT. a train built by BREL for the west coast mainline and one of the first uk built high speed trains, the predecessor to the Intercity 125, 225, proposed intercity 250 and the Class 390. One of the first high speed trains to be built in the world, the APT had a top operating speed of about 155mph, but only cleared to run at 125 mph due to signalling, which would’ve been upgraded had the project succeeded. The APT-P was a tilting electric multiple unit built for the west coast mainline, but failed due to issues with the APTs tilting system, a true gem of british engineering this would be lovely to drive around on Train sim World and the aforementioned route. SCENARIOS Avanti! Drive a Semi Fast service bound for Liverpool, Calling at Rugby, Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn and Lime Street Tilting Troubles! Drive a fast Class 390 bound for glasgow calling only at Crewe from rugby south junction. Winter Delays Due to heavy snow, drive a Class 390 bound for Liverpool Lime street from Rugby, Calling at Crewe and runcorn delayed and on the slower Lines Desiro Stopper Drive a Class 350 bound for Crewe, calling at all stops inbetween Rugby and Crewe EMU Express Drive a fast Class 350 Calling at Stafford, Crewe, Acton Bridge, Liverpool South Parkway, Runcorn and Lime Street Scouse Stopper Drive from rugby to Liverpool Calling at All stops The Welshman Drive a Holyhead bound service from rugby to crewe non stop The Scotsman Drive a Class 390 bound for Edinburgh from stafford to Crewe
Let me see what you did here was modernize the spirit of steam West Coast main line Liverpool Lime Street crewe and then add on the Trent Valley Line basically owners of the 1958 version get to use steam locomotives on this section of the line. Fun Part APT can go 155 mph under C-APT signalling
Trains from Euston to Liverpool Lime Street don't go to Litchfield or rugeley trent Valley they go via Birmingham New Street
This may argue that point: Realtime Trains | 1F35 1907 London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street | 21/02/2023 (this doesn't go via Birmingham, does it ), passes Lichfield TV at 20:13 and Rugeley TV at 20:17
I think in the time virgin trains ran the wcml Liverpool Lime Street services went via new street instead of the Trent Valley section
No that’s not correct, Liverpool services have always gone via the Trent Valley 1 train per hour, xx07 leaving Euston calling at Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street Since the new timetable in December 2022, the timetable has rejigged considerably. Still 1 train per hour but now xx43 leaving Euston calling at Milton Keynes Central, Crewe, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street —————————————————— With regards to the Chester/Holyhead services, in VT days it used to be 1 train per hour, xx10 leaving Euston calling at Milton Keynes Central, Crewe, Chester. For the past 3 years since COVID, there was no/very few direct services from London. They just did shuttle services starting from Crewe. Since the new December 2022 timetable, they only run 1 train every 2 hours, xx02 leaving Euston calling at Stafford, Crewe, Chester. So essentially the Chester and Liverpool services have swapped calling patterns. Chesters call at Stafford instead of Milton Keynes Central and the Liverpools call at Milton Keynes Central instead of Stafford (Of course, there are exceptions to both during the day or on weekends but the above is the the general rule)
I suspect they’re thinking of the LNWR services that used to run pre-COVID from Euston to Liverpool via Birmingham. Essentially, LNWR used to run a service from Euston to Birmingham and there was a separate service Birmingham to Liverpool. Then I think it was in 2019 where they decided to combine the 2 services so a service ran all the way from Euston to Liverpool via Birmingham. (Used to split/join at Birmingham). Of course that didn’t last long because it finished when COVID started and hasn’t restarted since. The only times VT/AWC run Liverpool via West Midlands is during engineering works where the Trent Valley is blocked. Happens on Sundays from time to time. It actually doesn’t go through Birmingham New Street and instead goes on the Grand Junction lines at Stechford -> Aston -> Bescot Stadium -> Bushbury Junction (bypassing Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton). The map on this suggestion will help you understand the Grand junction diversion: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...try-to-wolverhampton-additional-trains.62194/
Feel free to add to mine if you wish. Grand Junction lines would work very well with the Stour lines (Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Dudley Port) as they are interconnected in many ways and will fully utilise the New Steet - Aston which is already on BCC.
