Introduction: The East Coast Mainline is a 393 mile long route that stretches from London Kings Cross, through to Edinburgh Waverley. I will be making a suggestion for the southern section of this route, which is 76 miles from end to end and 24 stations in total. LAMP: Licensing - DTG currently has the LNER, Great Northern and Thameslink livery, making this route an obviously much simpler route to build due to the presence of the licenses needed to make the route busy. The Hull Trains, Lumo and Grand Central would also be welcoming additions to make the route a lot more livelier, as they are open access and make the route more lively. Anticipation - this is easily one of the most suggested routes on the train sim world forum - it would be an extremely popular choice for the community and would open up the current ECML to being a juggernaut of a route, with a very busy almost BML-esque timetable. Mix - there is a huge amount of gameplay to be derived from this route, from faster intercity runs that would take about an hour 40 mins on the fastest services, and over 2 hours on the semi fast services. You also have the Thameslink services that would run from York Road tunnels all the way through to Peterborough (for Horsham services) and Hitchin (for Cambridge), you also would have the great northern commuters that start from Moorgate or Finsbury Park, all the way through to Alexandra palace or Welwyn Garden City. You also have the freight class 66s that run from Doncaster, onward to the south. The commuter services would range from being 15 mins to an hour 1 30 mins for the longest runs. The route is 156 miles long if merged, or 76 miles if the route starts at Peterborough and heads to King’s Cross. It could work like Dresden - Riesa and Dresden to Chemnitz or East Coastway and Brighton Mainline. The route has a lot to offer gameplay wise. Prominence: The East Coast Mainline is one of the main capital to capital routes. It is the fastest Anglo-Scottish mainline, and is a high speed mainline that runs from Kings Cross to Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest routes in the United Kingdom. Safety Systems : AWS, DSD, DRA Signalling Systems: BR 4 aspect semaphore signalling (currently being upgraded to in cab ETCS L2 signalling) Type of route: High Speed Mainline. Electrification: 25KV AC OHLE (BR MK3B) Video of the route: (In Real Life and Train Sim Classic) MAJOR STATIONS ON THE ROUTE 1. London King's Cross: This is the southern terminus of the ECML in London. It's one of the major railway terminals in the city, offering connections to various destinations in the north and Scotland. 2. Finsbury Park: Located in North London, Finsbury Park is an important interchange station where Thameslink meets Great Northern. It's a key hub for commuters. It is 2 miles north of Kings Cross 3. Stevenage: This is a commuter town in Hertfordshire. Stevenage Station serves the town and surrounding areas, making it a busy station for daily commuters. It is served by LNER, Great Northern, Lumo and Thameslink. It is 27 miles north of London Kings Cross 4. Hitchin: Another Hertfordshire town, Hitchin is served by its train station. It provides access to the town center and is used by both commuters and travelers. It is where the Cambridge lines turn off the mainline. It is 31 miles north of London Kings Cross 5. Sandy: Sandy is a market town in Bedfordshire. Its railway station serves the local community and provides links to other locations on the ECML. It is 44 miles north of Kings Cross 6. Biggleswade: Biggleswade is also in Bedfordshire. The station here offers transportation options for residents and visitors. It is 41 miles north of Kings Cross 7.St Neots: Located in Cambridgeshire, St Neots is a historic town served by its train station, which is a crucial transportation link in the region. It is 51 miles away from London 8. Huntingdon: Huntingdon is another Cambridgeshire town along the ECML. Its station connects residents to various destinations, including London. It is 58 miles north of Kings Cross 9. Peterborough: Peterborough is a major city and transportation hub in Cambridgeshire. The railway station here is an important interchange for various train services, including services to London and the North. It is 76 miles north of London Kings Cross. Rolling Stock: Class 387 Great Northern Livery: They run semi fast and fast services from London to Peterborough/Cambridge but due to length restrictions will run London - Hitchin/Stevenage, and run Peterborough semifasts occasionally. Class 700/0/700/1 The 700/0s run the semifasts to Cambridge and Letchworth, the 700/1s run the fasts to Cambridge and Peterborough Class 717: They run the Great Northern Electric commuters around London and the Hertfordshire area, if Moorgate is included they can run Moorgate services or be simulated from Finsbury Park. Class 800/801: They run the primary intercity services between London and Doncaster. They have different varieties in service patterns, ECS and depot runs. Would love to see a 800 simulated in TSW. Class 91: they also primarily run intercity between London and Doncaster, as of recently they have been relegated to Yorkshire Express services with the 801s doing a bulk of the Scottish runs. This could also come as a form of dlc. There would need to be two completely new locomotives implemented as either loco dlc or as the core route from my loco suggestions. And of course a GBRf 66. For a conducive run, there would have to be about 700-1000 service runs to make the mainline active. Which would put it at the same amount as SEHS and Bakerloo Line. Features: - Commuter and Intercity Services - 76 miles of track (without merging) 156 miles of track if merged with Doncaster - Peterborough. - Iconic Kings Cross Station with the new remodelling. - Hornsey EMUD, Bounds Green IC Depot, Peterborough NENE sidings. - Over 700 driveable scenarios - 24-29 new stations (if DTG include Moorgate branch) - 125 mph high speed running. - inner city commuters - Rush Hour Passengers/Timetable Scenarios - (unmerged) Innercity Commuter: Drive a class 717 from Moorgate - Welwyn calling at all stations (1 hour long) Desiro-City Mania: Drive a 700/1 from Peterborough to Finsbury Park calling at: Huntingdon, Sandy, Biggleswade, Hitchin, Stevenage, and London Kings Cross. Time (1hr 20 mins) Electrostar Express: Drive a London bound class 387/2 from Hitchin to King’s Cross calling at Stevenage and London Kings Cross.(time 45 mins) (Merged): Flying Scotsman (Modern): Run Nonstop on a 800 bound for Edinburgh calling at Doncaster Only. (Time 1hr 30 mins) East Coast Electra : Drive a service in a 91 bound for Leeds calling at Stevenage, Peterborough and Doncaster (1hr 50mins) Yorkshire Stopper: Drive a class 801 bound for York, calling at Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark North Gate, Retford and Doncaster. (2 hours) Summertime Delays: Due to a fault on the overhead line between Newark and Retford, drive a Glasgow bound class 800 service calling at Peterborough, Newark (switch to diesel at Newark) and head on to Doncaster on diesel ( 2 hours). Long Freight Run : Drive a freight train from Doncaster to Finsbury Park (2hours 30 mins - 3 hours long) DLCs: York Extension (32 miles, 0 stations) would bring the route fully up to 188 miles, but I doubt we would get it, would be nice to see at some point. It would also provide a terminus for intercity services and would have loads of services (158s and 150s in northern livery could layer in as AI) DLC 2 : LNER HST, Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo Gameplay Pack- a bundle of new routes and trains to add more to the gameplay and unlock a new layer of services DLC 3: Class 55 Deltics (Railtour Edition) would run special services between London and Doncaster along with MK2/MK3 coaching stock. DLC4: special liveries pack - unlocks special liveries on the class 700s and 800s, and 91s to give access to iconic liveries and give more variety on the route. Feel free to give thoughts and ideas on this proposal.
An awesome suggestion. Would love to see it at some point. I would also like to see a DLC where a branches from Doncaster to Leeds for even more variety!!!
Thinking about what you said makes perfect sense from a DTG perspective because why do whole route when can do sections and make more than 1 lot of profit out ecml
What a brilliant and well detailed suggestion! As much as I do ses the opertunities for layers, I prioritize scenary over stock so I'd prefer a more northern section maybe towards Newcastle &/or Edinburgh. Good idea though!
I definitely agree but I don’t know I suggested down south because it’s the shorter part that could be included out of (Doncaster - Newcastle and Up to Edinburgh)
Have you seen the latest TSC installment. Glasgow to Dumblane and Alloa. They can't even get the "TPSW and AWS Operational" voice and just used text to speech. The announcements they included sound jankey at best and the sounds are worse than rivets. Don't let them anywhere near building trains for the ecml
The ATS routes are really good, ECML york/Leeds merge is amazing, Leeds line Is good, Fen Line/kings cross-Llyn is a gem, Cambridge- peterborough is good but chat moss is kind of mediocre, OHLE pack is good aswell. If you noticed I ommited ECML merge and WCML missing link that's because there made by speedypete
Well I think if we got another ECML section it needs to be in a different era to cater for us classic diesel heads. That said, the flawed 700 does need a better route to run on than the SEHS tedious bus service.
It does but there still diffrent respective companies. Also I jus relized its called Thomsom INTERACTIVE not Thomsom Sim so yeah there diffrent. I do agree though that TI stuff is really hit and miss
Well... I think that whole can we shouldn't get into - but yeah either way the catalogue and detail Is good.
Route would definitely be looking like a day one purchase, would also pretty much just leave the northern section of ECML to do.
I'd hope the special liveries would be included but I'd pay 10 quid alone for 91110 and 911111 if I had to. But other then that cracking suggestion.
