Ecml South Kings Cross From Ats

Well, there's also the AI text and art...

 

The Manchester route is very nicely made in most part, but one of the most disappointing in that it ends right halfway through what is really a local journey. The airport branch isn't particularly interesting, the section from Stockport to Manchester is interesting and feels right. I understand long distance services being curtailed for obvious reasons but it comes to something when you can't even complete a local service on a route.

The class 90 seems in a much better state now but I am waiting to see if it gets a better timetable on WCML South until I purchase it.

However the ATS team are clearly enthusiastic and talented and I don't think being ambitious is a bad thing. Hopefully this route will reset certain members of the communities opinion of them. I certainly hope they make a sucess of it as it could be one of the "great" routes, would be even better set 30 plus years ago but I am not going down that road!

 

Most of the reveals left me disappointed as I was hoping for c2c or Great Eastern.
However this saved it for me and I am really looking forward to it. Number three on my top 3 list of wanted routes.

screenshots look great. i’m positive and supportive. I want it to be great and hope it will be. It’s on the buy list along with Sheerness.

 

One positive about MAC (I like the route anyway, even though I'd love it to go to Crewe) is the bodged trackwork was fixed, something many on here said would never happen and something other devs haven't done when they've had a bodged release. They've also updated it with new stock when it became available, also something other devs haven't really done often. Would love them to add the 331 as well.

 

To this day MAC is the only modern British route I don't own. I keep waiting for it to go on sale for under £10 but to my knowledge it's never gone that low. I will say however that if a timetable is created for the 331 on the route then I'd be much more willing to pay full price for it. That's the other reason why I still don't own MAC- I already own two good routes for the 323, both of which offer more fulfilling runs.

If ATS go from not managing get a route out to Crewe to properly nailing a busy mainline like ECML they'd have my full respect. If they achieve it, I would also hope they create an updated MAC to Crewe too.

 

I assume the London to Leeds trains are a mixture of Class 91 sets and IETs at the moment, I know that the 91s don't go to York in normal service anymore, so maybe it might be easier to have all the Leeds services in Doncaster to Peterborough operated with Class 91s and hopefully match them to the ECML South Timetable with all the other LNER services as IETs.

 

91's do still go to York. There's the Monday - Saturday 1Y01 04:40 to Kings Cross which is a 225 set most of the time and it was this morning.
This set usually arrives at 01:48 on service 1N35.
Then there's 1N09 14:33 Kings Cross to Newcastle via York at 16:26-16:29 and 1Y20 18:27 Newcastle to Kings Cross via York at 19:28-19:31.
I know this because I am a member of Railcam and use their data, signal diagrams and watch the cams at York.

 

https://225group.org.uk/wp-content/...city-225-Services-LNER-from-17th-May-2026.pdf

Current 225 diagrams can be found here for those interested. Hypothetically, if ATS gave us a 2026 timetable version, it’s around 20 playable services on weekdays, as all stop at Stevenage and/or Peterborough.

Which makes me think it’ll be a legacy timetable before they were shortened to 7 car sets.

 

The 225s now operate as far north as Newcastle. This has been the case since earlier this year and the timetable uplift. I know this because I work on the railway. Photograph taken at Newcastle in April of this year.

 

Really hope ATS don't skimp out on the IC225 and only make a 7 car set if they do decide to make one.

 

Thank you. I had seen a photo of a "225" at Newcastle but the photo gave the impression it was "a one off" rather than "once a day". I'm pretty sure non-railway workers would have known too, I just don't get out much and have a 12 month backlog of railway publications to read. Other hobbies have taken precedence this year!

https://225.org.uk/diagrams-lner-weekday.html

By the looks of things they are spreading their wings ahead of their replacement. Services to York, Newcastle, Skipton and Bradford. The last two advance the case for a Mk4/91 set for TSW.

85hertz I guess it will depend on when the ECML South route is set. It looks as though the sets have been shortened in the last year. So if it's set in 2025/26 we may get the shorter consists.

 

Any new Stock to with this route we only got the 801 man we would have to get a new 717 and could get 800 and have 700 added on

 

A 225 has been hinted at. Layers likely to be 801 and 700s, with the possibility of a 387 reskin. A 717 might happen later, maybe from another dev. ATS have a lot on their plate with this release, so don’t expect everything in one go.

 

the 801 will probably come with. Hopefully the one that comes with the leeds route is up to TSW7 Standards and they can simply use that one. One would have to assume a 225 is coming, an 801 and possibly a 387. Then the 700 will layer on as its a seperate DLC.

 

Either that or Cambridge maybe

 

If the route has a class 91 (which it seems it will) It'll be a day one purchase for me.

 

I believe the reason for shortening the 225 sets is so there's less weight for the loco to pull/push enabling it to stick to the timetabling easier

 

Correct. It was to help match the Azuma acceleration/braking for the new Velocity timetable that came in last December.

 

225 are now 7 cars the 9 cars like lost 1 st class and and Standed class like maybe coach L J and maybe D or C

 

Did anyone else catch Matt saying it's King's Cross to Peterborough on the Roadmap stream? At 1 hour 58 mins and 30 seconds. A mistake or was he confirming the route? https://www.youtube.com/live/BD9tUXTWe8Q?si=P-HCMMFK9pKrQeqj&t=7110

 

According to Wikipedia it was E and M.

 

It wouldn't really be skimping out, you'd still have all the coaches you need to make and 8 or 9 car set... That said, considering how long this route is meant to be, I'd be very surprised if ATS had the time to build a locomotive, a DVT, four types of coach and three different cabs...

When you add in the fact that MAC was never finished and probably never will be, that it took over a year just ATS to "sort of" fix one piece of trackwork, and also the state of the 90 on release and even six months on (there's now a bug with the 4K texture pack for PC), I wouldn't expect any miracles unless there's some sort of setup where DTG are building the 225.

ATS need to concentrate on getting the route finished before even thinking about brand new stock.

 

Yeah it’s pretty much confirmed it will go to Peterborough. Matt gave it away as well as the various screenshots literally showing Peterborough station.

 

Is it Peterborough from the ATS route though or stock footage from the existing ECML route to Doncaster?

 

It's from this route

 

Yeah would prefer a 7 car LNER oxblood livery

 

I suppose it's possible a DVT has been in development along with the passenger version of the Class 90 that ATS were looking to do.

Assuming the Class 91 does come with the route, I wonder if they'll choose the current main LNER oxblood red livery or use the original interim LNER livery. Although one issue with the 91's that some have special or tweaked liveries, although that could get the GWR HST Farewell Pack treatment further down the line.

 

I hope they do a GNER livery that best livery they got

 

It's one of my three dream TSW experiences that I long for.
1. Powering-up a Deltic as the speed limits increase out of Kings Cross. The sound of pure power from the engines behind me.
2. Driving a morning commuter slam-door train on either the GEML or LTS. I really miss the churn of the compressors and the slamming of doors.
3. Opening TSW and having a choice of GBR-Anglia area routes and spending multiple hours a day driving through the area of the UK that I love the most.

I do get a bit frustrated and impatient for the above, mainly because I have a health problem and if the pain continues to deteriorate I may not be able to use a computer for any length of time in the near future. So every annual announcement has caused huge disappointment that I have to keep a lid on and ensure I'm being level headed online. The upcoming TSW7 Eastern Region releases are a step in the right direction but some days they feel like painfully small steps.

 

Oxblood is second only to IC Swallow for me in terms of classy 225 liveries (GNER takes the bronze medal). I hope they don’t release it in LNER corporate colours, one of the more garish and cheap looking liveries the 225s have carried over the years.

I think we can safely rule out the dull, grey colours of East Coast, as I doubt ATS are setting their route in circa 2013!

 

To be honest I rather liked the Coke can LNER livery. Was quite nice.

 

The coke can livery was inherited by LNER when VTEC (Virgin Trains East Coast) lost the franchise. They just removed the Virgin logo and put LNER in place instead.

 

I share your frustration there. The LTS is never going to happen. Sadly. Essex always gets overlooked.
At least we get this route as a bit of the Eastern region though , so every cloud …

 

Trouble is, just the wrong era. And the sad part of that is, once a route is built in modern no other developer will be interested in doing a classic version. And the "Legends..." etc. style packs as done for GWE, no longer seem to be a thing as, anachronistic as they were, I would rather run the old trains on a modern day route than not at all. Departing Kings Cross with other than a Deltic or Paxman HST is less than fulfilling.

 

I think the majority is glad that it will match up with the era of Doncaster-Peterborough and the stock we already have in game.

 

Just my two cents on the matter;

This is probably ATS’s last chance to prove themselves in TSW, and I’m worried it won’t go well. London to Peterborough is a hell of an undertaking, especially considering the time it took for issues to be fixed on the tiny MAC route. Then there was the Class 90 disaster, which obviously wasn’t entirely their fault, but it still remains a DLC I never touch because it’s still full of problems - that is to say, they have not proved to me they can handle making a piece of rolling stock.

I know their track record in TS Classic is much better, even if their content takes a lifetime to get updates and patches. So I’m hopeful, I just pray they haven’t bitten off more than they can chew and make a fool of themselves again.

If all is well though, and it can match MAC levels of performance and scenery detail, this will be a fantastic edition.

 

I thought the AABS people built MAC and left afterwards to start their own thing. So who is actually building the route at this point?

 

AABS has some members of staff who were originally part of ATS who then left ATS and formed/joined AABS. I'd assume they were part of the process of developing MAC.

 

I agree with this entirely. Not saying I don't want a Deltic or an old era HST, but I'd rather have routes that era-match. Especially when continuing a journey from one on the other.

Personally I quite enjoy MAC, but I do wish it went to Crewe. With the Alderley Edge issue, I do agree London to Peterborough is a bit of a huge, risky step up, and that they are really playing with their reputation. Still, best of luck to them.

 

I believe "ATS" is one guy and a bunch of contractors.

 

Perhaps PixelPunk might take on the ECML if their NTP remaster is successful. JT appear to be committed to the WCML for the foreseeable. I’m happy to take any section/era of the ECML if it enables us to get a Deltic or Valenta in the game.

 

I really hope we see a Class 717 or 313 and Moorgate. It’ll be nice to finally have a route to give the 700 a long run.

 

And you see, this is what I think is the biggest issue with the TSW player base. £55 for a high fidelity route and stock is well worth it. Take Flight sim for example, there's plenty of addons at that price that people happily pay because they know they're getting a great product.

With TSW, everyone wants to pay the bare minimum for content, then comes on here to moan about this not being right, not being scenery dense enough or something or another. I would have no issue paying double the current price of routes and stock if the quality was there.

 

I would definitely pay £40-45 for this route if it came with the Moorgate lines and Hertford loop. The line to Cambridge might be a bit of a push but again I would happily pay for it.

 

it’s a very solid little route that’s got a lot of different things packed into it. fast 390s, local 323s (hopefully 331s soon as well), 220s, TfW dmu’s, 220, some freight, there’s a lot going on. it’s a huge shame they never made it to crewe, once it became apparent they couldn’t make it that far i think the route coverage should’ve ended at wilmslow, it seems a bit pointless going one mile further to alderly edge when wilmslow is at least a more sensible station to cut the line at. having two timetables is nice as well, especially the sunday one which allows for the turnback siding at wilmslow. it does get blurry sometimes which is surprising for a short route, but then again the density of rolling stock presumably adds a lot

 

What era/year is this route set to be in as wounder if include Thameslink core link to St Pancras if it did then would making the a Midland Mainline BedPen route bit easyer