With excitement building around the possibility of an official Train Sim World (TSW) API, I’m happy to announce that ThirdRails is now available for TSW! Originally designed for Train Simulator Classic (TSC), I’ve started adapting ThirdRails for Train Sim World 5 in anticipation of future updates. While we don’t have real-time API integration just yet, there are still plenty of cool and immersive ways to enhance your experience with ThirdRails in TSW. Here’s what you can do with ThirdRails in TSW right now: 1. Drive Real-Time Timetables You can drive real, live timetables from RealTimeTrains (UK) or DB (Rest of Europe) in TSW timetabled or freeroam scenarios. If you like you can optional enjoy both timetable-driven and ad-hoc spoken announcements, no matter which route you’re driving! 2. Track Yourself on the Multiplayer-Style Radar Curious how you can appear on a multiplayer map without a TSW API? I’ve created a workaround using "Calling At" station data from your timetable to track your progress. As you drive, your position will “hop” from station to station on the Multiplayer Radar. With the radar you’ll always know where you’re driving and can discover landmarks along the way, adding an extra layer of immersion to your journey! You will find the radar inside your cab, but also online here . 3. Leverage the Live Browser When driving, you can access real-time information from real-world services if you’re on a Real Drive. This includes live data on train formations, schedules, and more. Plus, with the in-game PDF Viewer, you can pull up manuals and guides for quick reference as you drive. Interested? Check out more information here: ThirdRails forTrain Sim World users Watch a video tutorial on YouTube: Walk through video Free download available here: https://thirdrails.org/downloads.html I’m excited to see how this is adopted in the community—let me know what you think! See you on the radar!
This is fantastic news BeenTrain ! I have been wondering if Thirdrails was ever going to be availalbe for TSW and now it is here. Thanks for putting in the time and effort to create this.
I tried it today on the München to Augsburg route using an S3 service from Mammendorf to Hackerbrücke. It worked quite well. The only real difference from TSC is that you need to open the doors at each stop using TSW keys U or Y, as well as the ThirdRails keybinding of Alt T to record the stop. At the end of the run, it didn't save to my ThirdRails Activity Logbook.
Working on it. For logbook bit puzzling what to log, since we don't have driven miles logged. Could probable calculate distance from the straight lines between the stations, but some stations could be missed if we can't find the GPS position, so it will be inacurate anyway. Maybe a combi with manual input or better waiting till an API is available. But would be nice to log the timeliness.
I understand where you’re coming from. ThirdRails has been in development for over six years, continuously adding new features. At its core, ThirdRails is a tracking tool. You start the simulator, click "follow," and your in-game position is displayed on a real-world map (OSM, Bing, OpenRailwayMap). This position is broadcasted to the radar—a website that shows a map with all players in real-time, creating a multiplayer-style experience. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to Train Sim World yet, as we need the API for real-time tracking. The second key feature of ThirdRails is extended gameplay, and this is where TSW users can benefit. Extended gameplay allows you to pick up a real-time timetable (or create your own) and run it using ThirdRails' custom HUD. In this mode, you can ignore the in-game HUD and follow the timetable directly. In Train Simulator Classic, this brings extra meaning to Quick Drive scenarios, where you’re not just driving from A to B—you’re executing a timetable, potentially in sync with a real-world service. As an added bonus, ThirdRails provides spoken announcements on every route, powered by over 450 Azure AI voices, enhancing the immersion. In Train Sim World you could execute this on timetabled of freeroam scenarios and station-to-station tracking shows you on the radar. I hope this helps! For more information, visit the Learn Page, where you’ll find more tutorials and videos.
Yes. In TSW5 for sure if you use a matching timetabled scenario. In TSC it depends if the Quickdrive scenario provides AI traffic. Most do provide AI traffic. For TSC the app also offers a Multiplayer option using standard scenarios.
This is the best idea product for TSW thx. I tried launch it with tsw5 on english routs(as in example) but i cant launch it with Koln-Achen rout. Help me please
For example: I want drive Train ICE 15 Bruxelles-Frankfurt. In TSW i can choose it ICE15 11:40 from Aachen. In ThirdRail choose StartService - Europe- choose ICE 15 and i see that Ice15 only Bruxelles-Aachen So how i can drive it P.S. I founded Route RE9 - and choose it. But its not working I see me in browser but my speed 0km/h
You can search for service from Aachen? Live schedules may differ from the one in game. You can choose what you want, you can for example ride a night service in TSW in the afternoon. No speed and live tracking yet because currently TSW API does not support it. So no realtime live tracking like in Train Simulator Classic.
A wonderful app! Of the features, I noticed a time discrepancy with TW5, namely, if you synchronize the time, then after half an hour there will be a minute difference - the simulator is lagging behind) I also can't connect to the DB service, I don't know what caused it.. The UK service is fine -
A key aspect of ThirdRails Real Drive is that you can largely ignore the TSW HUD and execute the timetable using the ThirdRails HUD. This allows for more flexibility in real-time driving, such as running a night timetable during the day or adjusting your schedule dynamically without strict time constraints. If the upcoming TSW API provides a way to extract the player's timetable, ThirdRails could automatically sync time, much like in TSC, where a scenario timetable is used for execution. (TS Drive) This could open up a whole new gameplay experience, allowing for a multiplayer-style interaction on the radar where players follow and execute real-world schedules together. (It remains to be seen if the API provides this functionality) That's a known issue (the used DB Service stopped working), and it's already fixed in our next update! This update will be released alongside the official TSW API, which, according to Matt in the Roadmap Stream, is expected in one or two TSW updates, so hopefully within a few weeks.
Thank you for your reply. The upcoming update with API support is really good news. So far, I've found the best synchronization option for myself: I manually create a schedule according to the current schedule in TSW, enter the time and platforms, and then save and use them. Thus, in the ThirdRails application, the time corresponds to the time in the simulator. The main thing is to take into account the gaps during stops, this allows you to completely abandon the HUD. And the functionality of the program allows you to quickly recalculate the time in the schedule, when the departure time changes. This makes it easy to duplicate schedules for the same service but for different departure times. Thank you for developing such an application and I hope that in the future it will be fully optimized for working with TSW.
