I just have to say the south eastern high speed with the Class 395, Class 375, Class 465 that whole route is just awesome. When we get a new UK route I wouldn't mind seeing them add on to this route. Its honestly one of the best in the game.
All routes should be added onto where possible in my view, I doubt anything more will go on SEHS though, at least for a while. Maybe more of a chance if an appropriate substitute came about though.
It is generally a decent route, but there are issues that have never been addressed, despite being widely fed back on by the community and acknowledged by DTG.
I adore SEHS. It is decent, has good service variety and length, and comes to life with the seasonal railtours as well as the RHTT and ROG (if you have the appropriate DLCs), which make it feel more alive than pretty much every other route except the Blackpool one. I'd say it's the second best route overall, plagued by various issues such as AI PIS which stop it taking number 1 (that goes to Blackpool route).
The big problem with SEHS and obviously no fault to DTG as they just modelled what’s there IRL, is that godawful slow grind calling all stations around Strood and Rochester. Stick to the High Speed section from London to Ashford and it’s fine or the rest of the network. But that section does my head in every time.
Its great you can tell JT took time to do the best they could. The pacers are amazing too, we got 2 variants with 3 liveries and the bouncing is lovely
The more layers you add on, the more awesome it gets. For services, layers, variety, and timetable gameplay. SEHS joins Dresden Riesa at the pinnacle of the game for me with Blackpool at the top for scenery and driving experience. When TSW 4 was announced, Matt said he wanted to "dig deeper" into certain areas rather than have many one and done routes. I look forward to seeing what else gets elevated into this category for me.
The extended version is probably one of the better routes in the game. The trains are fun to drive, the 375 and 465 sound good, and the run from Ashford to London is very fun. There are problems with it though; the 465's interior is incorrect and somehow hasn't been patched yet, the 395 sounds are among the worst in TSW, the model of it is also a bit weird-looking, some of the station models are ripped from TS and are very simple and ugly, and the PIS system in the trains has various typing errors and other things that are incorrect. Despite the issues it's definitely on the good side of TSW. As for the route's DLC, the RHTT train is good but is again incorrect as GBRF do all of the RHTT services in this area, and certainly not DB. The 37 pack is a mixed bag - the services are fun and a nice bit of variety, the liveries on the 37 and 375 look great, but unfortunately the model for the 37 is terrible and the weathering is nonexistent. The 375's interior is also completely incorrect, it's hard to believe they put so little effort into it. Lastly there is the 700. Obviously it would have been better for London to Brighton but as it is now it's firmly in the 'good' category, but again has issues. That said you can tell they put more effort into it than other trains in the game. I wouldn't get SEHS to drive the 700 though, it just doesn't have enough space to drive it. You'd be better off driving it on the Brighton Main Line with a timetable mod.
I've recently 'rediscovered' SEHS after picking up the Class 700 DLC in the sales - agree it's one of the better routes in terms of length, variety, layers etc. etc.
It is a good route, especially with the ROG dlc added. In fact it's the best UK route jointly with Blackpool. What I like about it aside from the branches, hence avoiding the dreaded linear route of 40 miles with one EMU syndrome that seems to afflict DTG so much, is the fact that just about all rolling stock is in place to enable a total simulation. Great variety and busy. I did a ROG scenario recently where I had to cross the mainline to get to a siding on the other side, mainline was so busy I had to wait ages to get clearance and then quickly gas the 37 across in between other services. Very authentic and satisfying.
