Hello, in this thread i am proposing an East Coastway extension to Ashford International via Hastings. The current Train Sim World East Coastway runs from Brighton to Eastbourne also including the Seaford branch line. this makes the current route roughly 35 miles long which for Train Sim Wolrd 3 standards is too short and services can be completed in no more than 30 minutes. Why am i suggesting an extension The current route feels to short and always made sense for an extension with loads of possibilities for extensions and the one which makes the most sense is and extension from just after Hampden Park where the line splits going through the sussex countryside through to Ashford International in Kent. If this extension were to come to Train Sim World 3 i think they should do a simular thing to what they did for Southeastern Highspeed and rebuild the original route from the ground up with the extension to TSW 3 standards. The route would also be backdated to 2013. What rolling stock would be included? The BR class 377/4 built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2014 at Derby Litchurch Lane. The BR class 377/1 built at the same place and time as the /4 The BR class 313/2, the class 313 was built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Holgate Road carriage works between February 1976 and April 1977 making it the oldest train in normal passenger operation today. Sadly the 313s are coming to there fate and have recently started getting moved for scrap. And finally, the train that would be the new addition to TSW 3 will be the class 171. The class 171 was built by Bombardier Transportation. It is identical to the class 170s apart from the replacement of the BSI coupler with a Delner coupler. These units will run on the non electrified section between Ore and Ashford International, more on that bellow. What makes this route special? What makes this route special for me is the non electrified section between Ore and Ashford International which is required by the 171s because they are diesel. The line is single track with one passing loop at Rye station. What can i expect to see along the route? Scenic countrysides, rolling hills, historical towns and villages, seaside views, unique marshlands. How many services can i expect on the extension? 1 train per hour each direction London Victoria - Ore (377) 1 train per hour each direction Ore - Brighton (377) 1 train per hour each direction Hastings - Brighton (377) 1 train per hour Brighton - Ashford International (171) That makes 8 trains per hour. What stations are on the extension Pevensey and Westham, Pevensey Bay, Normans Bay, Cooden Beach, Collington, Bexhill, St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings, Ore, Three Oaks, Doleham, Winchelsea, Rye, Appledoor, Ham Street, and Ashford International. Layers and future DLC Class 375 from Southeastern Highspeed will be seen at Hastings and Ashford International. The class 395 also from Southeastern High Speed would be seen at Ashford International. The Hastings 201 1001 thumper as a railtour DLC.
I support this suggestion. I give it a thought ahead, why not extending sehs and merge it with eastcost way, which runs to ashford? Yes probably they have to do the timetable again, but east coast way needs an upgrade anyway. The 377 isnt up to date, gatwick 387 is missing too and as far i remember the timetable is one of the autogenerated fantasy timetables. L2b merging with ECW seems unrealistic because the service frequency of l2b. But the network ashford to brighton with a new cl.171 and updated timetable. Seems doable. Very contoverse idea: maybe this should be the first pc / new gen consoles project. For gen8 the eastcoastway ashford extension could be availble without merge to sesh
ECW feels like it needs an upgrade of some sort, so an extension to Hastings or Ashford would be the logical choice. If not merged with BML, the line from Lewes to Haywards Heath would be a welcome addition also.
Do 171's go all the way to Brighton? I've been there a load but never once have I seen a 171 or a train to Ashford for that matter in the pis or in physical form. I presumed ashford services where only on the marshlink line as it isn't electrified if im not mistaken.
Nope, they pulled them back to Eastbourne but then Eastbourne to Brighton has a lot of services already and isn't really a busy route outside of commuter time With regards to the OP, there are loads of "better" diesel routes in the UK than Marshlink which really is a single track 1 per hour line so very little added to gameplay. The only thing that even makes this line notable is that the surrounding lines are all electrified and this one isn't It goes from nowhere (Ashford) to nowhere else (Eastbourne) in terms of moving people If you look at the passenger stats the busiest station on the route is Rye with 1100pax per day and the quietest is Doleham with 848 in an entire year... That's two per day
Are you trying to accomplish like this merging East Coast way onto Southeast high speed extended which does have Ashford as an end point. The final steps arebthe missing Wivelsfield connector to link ECW with BML and South London Network to link SEH with BML at London Victoria. Bundle wise this can be called TSW 3 Southeast UK network. Also down the line TSW 3 Southeast Network Starter Bundle with US Cajon Pass & Germany Schnellfahrstrecke Hannover Würzburg Kassel Wilhelmshöhe Würzburg section
This would be misleading... Brighton is on the south coast, not the southeast coast and isn't on the SouthEastern network either Really, this is a "Brighton Commuter Bundle" at best
Thank you for telling me about this since my thinking was using the old British Railways Southern Region network for BML ECW extended to meet SEH at Ashford International
The Southern Region you refer to included all of what is now Southern (part of GTR), and if you mean the Southern of "the big four" then that also included Southeastern, with SR stretching from Portsmouth and Southampton in the West (if not further) to all of Kent, Sussex etc
Absolutely agree with your East Coastway extension suggestion, namely for the absolutely stunning scenery as well as the 171! I'd also agree with the other comments that it should also include the 9-mile Wivelsfield branch from Lewes too. All photos taken by myself
During the Era of ECW was set in they did but now its been reduced down to Eastbourne - Ashford International
Very helpful for the answer. I'm wondering how would a starter Edition be called if it has ECW Brighton Ashford SEH London to Ashford and BML including Wivelsfield connector called? That's what I ended up choosing southern region pack
