Hey everyone, Today I would like to present you a suggestion for a Polish route in the game Train Sim World 5, which is the "Inter-Vovoidship Corridor: Kraków - Katowice" located in the provinces of Lesser Poland and Silesia (Southern Poland). The route itself has one interesting thing: trains from Kraków to Oświęcim run on two lines: the first is Kraków-Oświęcim via Trzebinia, and the second is Kraków-Oświęcim, but via Skawina. Personally, I only know the line leading through Trzebinia, because it goes through Chrzanów (my hometown). This route connects the line between the capitals of two provinces: Kraków (Lesser Poland) and Katowice (Silesia/Upper Silesia). This route is a great combination of regional, freight and InterCity routes. Additionally, a branch from Trzebinia to Katowice via Jaworzno may be available as an additional regional, freight and Intercity route. The route will be located in 2023-2024 after the reconstruction and modernization of the station in Oświęcim (in 2021-2023). Its total length is above 200 km and it consists of: - Kraków - Oświęcim line (via Trzebinia): 65 km; - Kraków - Oświęcim line (via Skawina): 60 km; - Kraków - Trzebinia - Katowice line (via Jaworzno): 78 km; - Intercity line Kraków - Oświęcim - Czechowice-Dziedzice - Katowice (with a change in Czechowice-Dziedzice): Add an additional 60 km to the Kraków - Oświęcim route (via Trzebinia): 124 km; Rolling stock: Electric locomotives: - EU/EP07 - Polish electric locomotive manufactured by the Pafawag plants in Wrocław and HCP in Poznań. On this route it will be used to service express trains (and rarely freight trains). As an interesting fact, I can say that it was created under the license of the British Class 83 locomotive and the fact that the Pafawag and HCP versions differ slightly visually (the HCP version has grooves on the sides of the body and is slightly longer than the Pafawag version); - EP09 - Polish electric locomotive created as a result of cooperation between Pafawag and NEVZ (Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant). They have been servicing passenger trains since entering service in the 1980s in PKP Intercity livery; - ET22 - a Polish freight locomotive manufactured by Pafawag in Wrocław. It will be used in various variants (I mean the original and modernized ones) as a freight locomotive; ET41 - two-unit version of the EU07 locomotive intended for freight traffic in PKP Cargo livery; - Newag Dragon - a Polish freight locomotive manufactured by Newag in Nowy Sącz, intended mainly for freight traffic; - Siemens Vectron (layer) - an electric locomotive manufactured by Siemens intended for freight traffic on this route. Suggested livery is DB Cargo and OBB. - Bombardier/Alstom Traxx (layer) - another locomotive known from the Train Sim World series. Diesel locomotives: - ST44 "Gagarin"/M62 - a classic Soviet diesel locomotive, known in Poland as ST44 (although private carriers use the original M62). Used on the route mainly for freight transport. - SM42 (Fablok 6D) and its modernized version Newag 6Dg - a classic Polish diesel locomotive manufactured by Fablok in Chrzanów. Used mainly for shunting on sidings, and often also for freight transport (Newag 6Dg); - Class 66 (layer) - the locomotive appears on the route in EWS, DB Cargo and Frightliner PL livery EMU's (Electric multiple units): - EN57 - a classic Polish multiple unit manufactured by Pafawag. It will appear on the route in its original version (or with a modernized interior) and fully modernized in the colors of Polregio (Polish Regional Transport), Silesian Railways (possible to play) and Lower Silesian Railways (as the AI layer); - Newag Impuls - a modern multiple unit manufactured by Newag in Nowy Sącz, constituting the basic fleet on the Kraków - Oświęcim route (via Trzebinia). These trains run on this route in a four-car formation in the colors of Małopolskie Railways and Polregio; - Newag Impuls II - the second generation of Newag trains. It differs from its predecessor in a flatter front, seat spacing and the addition of a door to the cabin from the outside; - Pesa Elf II - the second generation of Elf multiple units manufactured by Pesa from Nowy Sącz. The trains run on the Kraków - Oświęcim line (via Skawina) in the Koleje Małopolskie and Koleje Śląskie and Koleje Dolnośląskie liveries; - Pesa Acatus Plus - a Pesa traction unit combining Acatus trains with Elf train technology. They are very similar to Acatus II trains and run in Polregio (Małopolska) livery; - Pesa Acatus II - the second generation of traction units from the Acatus family (the name Acatus means the Latin name of the city of Łódź). Often used in Koleje Małopolskie livery; Passenger cars (for Intercity trains): - PKP Intercity cars - these are cars such as: HCP 140A, HCP 141A (2nd class cars), HCP 170A (1st class car), HCP 138A (restaurant car), HCP 401A (sleeper car) and HCP 145A (cars with bicycle spaces); - International carriages - in Intercity trains, apart from Polish carriages, there are also carriages of carriers from other European countries: OBB (Bmpz carriages), České dráhy (series 061, 071), SBB (EuroCity and Apm/Bpm Panorama) and Magyar Államvasutak (Bmz, WLAB). Carriages of this type are found in international trains, e.g. to Vienna, Graz, Prague or Bratislava. Lines on the route: - Krakow - Oświęcim line (via Trzebinia): Kraków Główny - Kraków Łobzów - Kraków Mydlniki - Zabierzów - Krzeszowice - Wola Filipowska - Dulowa - Trzebinia - Chrzanów Śródmieście - Chrzanów - Libiąż - Chełmek - Gorzów Chrzanowski - Oświęcim (65 km); - Kraków - Oświęcim line (via Skawina): Kraków Główny - Kraków Płaszów - Kraków Swoszowice - Kraków Sidzina - Skawina - Skawina Zachodnia - Podbory Skawińskie - Rzozów - Wola Radziszowska - Radziszów - Jaśkowice - Brzeźnica - Spytkowice - Zator - Przeciszów - Dwory - Oświecim (60 km); - Kraków - Katowice line (via Jaworzno): Kraków Główny - Kraków Łobzów - Kraków Mydlniki - Zabierzów - Krzeszowice - Wola Filipowska - Dulowa - Trzebinia - Jaworzno Ciężkowice - Jaworzno Szczakowa - Sosnowiec Maczki - Sosnowiec Główny - Katowice Szopienice Południowe - Katowice (78 km); - Kraków - Katowice line (via Oświęcim with a change in Czechowice-Dziedzice): Kraków Główny - Kraków Łobzów - Kraków Mydlniki - Zabierzów - Krzeszowice - Wola Filipowska - Dulowa - Trzebinia - Chrzanów Śródmieście - Oświecim - Brzeszcze Jawiszowice - Czechowice-Dziedzice (change) Czechowice-Dziedzice - Goczałkowice-Zdrój - Pszczyna - Tychy - Katowice (124 km); Landscape/Scenery: The Inter-Voivodeship Corridor offers a varied landscape, starting with the dense urban development of Kraków with historic tenement houses, apartment blocks and views of the Vistula and Wawel. It soon passes into suburban areas with single-family houses, allotment gardens and fields, leading to the picturesque region of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland with limestone hills, mixed forests (beech, oak) and valleys (e.g. Kluczwody Valley), where you can see castles in the distance, such as Pieskowa Skała. Further on, the landscape becomes rural with vast fields, meadows, orchards and fish ponds (e.g. in Zator and Przeciszów), offering views of the Beskidy in good weather. Along the approach to Trzebinia, Jaworzno, Oświęcim, Czechowice-Dziedzice and Katowice, industrial areas dominate, with mines (slag heaps, hoist towers), power plants (chimneys, cooling towers), refineries (pipelines, installations) and steelworks and factories. The dense urban development in Chrzanów, Sosnowiec, Tychy and Katowice includes blocks of flats, housing estates, shopping centres and modern buildings (e.g. Spodek), with smaller green areas (forests, parks) between the industrial zones. So here's my route suggestion for Train Sim World 5.
