Dovetail Games Join Us For Festival Of Rail 2026!

As we enter into February, all of our teams are getting super excited, as this means it's almost time for another Festival of Rail!

• A New Game Announcement from Dovetail Games
  ▹ Join us on Thursday February 5th as we kickstart Festival of Rail with a brand-new game coming from our teams!
• All New Train Sim World 6 Remasters
  ▹ Great Western Express Remastered - Releasing This Friday!
  ▹ Announcing Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen Remastered - Releasing This Month!
  ▹ Announcing East Coastway Remastered - Coming Soon!
• Festival of Rail 2026
  ▹ Train Sim World February 2026 Roadmap - Coming Next Week
  ▹ Train Simulator Classic - Update for 2026 and beyond
  ▹ Metro Rivals: New York - New Dev Blog & Gameplay First Look!
• Xbox Publisher Sales - Now Live
  ▹ Catch two different Xbox sales ongoing throughout February!

Celebrating all of our titles and developments, join us for the annual Dovetail Games publisher event, this time extended across a full week, packed with awesome news you can look forward to over the weeks ahead.

Festival of Rail will be starting this Thursday, February 5th from 18:00pm UTC, and will be an opportunity for everyone to enjoy what it means to be a Rail Enthusiast - we can't wait to show you more.

On our line-up this year, we're starting this party with a brand-new non-TSW game announcement, developed by our Dovetail Games team, which we've been waiting to unveil for some time! Also dive into more information on Train Simulator Classic, with a preview for the upcoming Northampton Loop and more details on future content development, catch the first Train Sim World Roadmap for 2026 next week, and we're also getting you a first look at Metro Rivals: New York gameplay in a first Dev Blog towards the end of the event with behind-the-scenes updates on our development so far.

Buried between all these incredible updates will also be a range of fantastic ambassador content, creator events and Dovetail Livestreams for you all to enjoy.

A New Game Announcement on February 5th!
Get ready for a brand-new non-TSW game announcement, coming from our teams at Dovetail Games, that will kickstart Festival of Rail 2026 and be the headliner for our first day in the event.

Join us for the reveal live, premiering on our Dovetail Games YouTube channel on Thursday 5th February, at 18:00 UTC. Set a notification and save the date with our link below:


Train Sim World: Festival of Remasters
This month, we're glad to finally release the long-awaited Great Western Express Remastered, but it's not the only route that's seeing some love - we're excited to also announce that across the next month, you'll be able to enjoy new remasters for Köln-Aachen and East Coastway, ensuring that these older add-ons get the latest lighting features, environment improvements and updated timetables to give a whole new breathe of life into the routes!

We've had some fantastic feedback on our previous Remaster to the West Somerset Railway route, and we can't wait to share more with you - with all updates completely free of charge for existing owners of the content.

Let's take a look at what's coming up!

Great Western Express Remastered - Releasing This Friday!
Here we go - the date is booked, it's almost time to get your hands on the Great Western Express Remaster, arriving just in time for Festival of Rail, and on all platforms this Friday 6th February, with an update at 10:00am UTC.


Back in December, we shared a first showcase of the remastered features, which you can watch again below, and highlighting the huge overhaul the route will recieve to the timetables, environment, loco features and much much more.





Here's what you can expect to land with the upgrade:

New Timetables

• New 2017 Timetable (4,674 services & 1,335 playable). Layers up to 23 UK Add-ons to cerate the second-largest Uk timetable in TSW.
• Full London Underground Timetable. All Circle and Hammersmith & City line services playable using a Class 484.
• Full Heathrow Connect Timetable using a Class 350 in a Heathrow Connect inspired livery to represent the Class 360

Remastered Updates

• Full lighting overhaul
• Route scenery and texture overhaul
• 2 new stations with full London Underground branding; Royal Oak Station and Westbourne Park.
• New London Underground platforms at Ealing Broadway
• Massive audio upgrade, including brand-new rail singing sounds
• All GWE and Diesel Legends stock upgraded (New wheel blur, guard mode, suspension, reworked lighting/weather vfx).

Once the GWE Remaster goes live, we'll be opening a new thread in our Player Feedback Forums to gather your thoughts and opinions, and help us support the release as best as possible.

Preview Great Western Express - Remastered live tonight!
As a special treat, we're also going live this evening to give you all a showcase of what's to come in the Great Western Express Remaster!

Join Executive Producter of Trains, Matt Peddlesden, for a livestream on our TSW channels this evening, Tuesday February 3rd 2026, starting at 19:00 UTC.


Announcing Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen Remastered - Coming Soon!
Hot off the heels of the GWE Remaster is a German classic - Köln-Aachen Remastered, coming soon to Train Sim World 6, with great support from the FolezzWorld development team!



These changes will perfectly compliment the Köln-Aachen Timetable Update we shared back in June last year, which was our first phase of updates to the route, and took the service count total from 552 services to over 4000 (with all relevant content installed).



We're excited to share that many further updates are coming as part of the second phase for this remaster, and together with these new route improvements, we're hoping you can all experience a familiar journey with a whole new feel!



Here's a summary of the new features you can expect:

Köln-Aachen Remastered

• Implemented TOD4 Lighting to the route and stations
• New OHLE rendering and materials
• New Landscape Ballast Material
• New grass and vegetation textures
• Added Night Lighting to Dense city areas (i.e. Köln Hbf)
• Added lighting to the churches in Aachen
• Updated Signal Materials
• Updated Display board Materials
• Replaced green bridges for newer models
• Updated Track Descriptors

BR 442 (Talent2)

• Updated Displays, FIS, Headlights and all emissives to work with new TOD4 lighting
• Added GSMR Textures in the cab

BR 406 (ICE3M)

• Added new widget to make screens look better in TOD4 lighting
• MTD adjusted to be more realistic, now including Schalten & Werkstatt pages
• AFB on the ICE3 is now selectable (via 9->1 and Beleuchtung 9->6)

BR 423 (S-Bahn Köln)

• Updated Displays, FIS, Headlights and all emissives to work with new TOD4 lighting

As a reminder, similar to our other Remasters, this is a completely free update to owners of the Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen route add-on in Train Sim World 6.



We'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on the new changes, and once the SKA Remaster goes live, we'll be opening another thread in our Player Feedback Forums to hear what you have to say.

East Coastway Remastered - Coming Soon!
Finally, completing our trifecta of remasters, we're giving some love to another beloved UK add-on - East Coastway Remastered will also be headed your way shortly!




This remaster comes courtesy of Liam from Grump Dog Games, and the Rivet Games team, and will help uplift the route to the latest TSW6 standards, including TOD4, passenger announcements and train faults, as well as also helping support the upcoming Class 171 & 377/3 pack to bolster the timetable with the 171, both developed from the Rivet Games team.



To be clear, whilst the remaster will aim to support the Class 171 & 377/3 pack, it will still standalone as it's own free-of-charge upgrade to existing owners, and provide a significant overhaul to the route add-on on it's own for everyone to enjoy.



Let's take a look at what changes you can expect:
East Coastway Remastered

• Route-wide scenery and texture updates
• Implemented ToD 4 lighting upgrade
• Added disused Newhaven Marine station
• Added rail singing
• Added AI whistle boards for stock with AI whistle functionality
• Updated landscape and foliage assets
• Updated track and ballast, including new track shadows
• Updated signal visuals
• Updated light baking for tunnels and stations
• Updated distant scenery
• Opened Lovers Walk Depot
• Updated depot and yard areas around Brighton station
• Updated yard area around Eastbourne
• Fixed scenery issues which caused assets to vanish when taking screenshots
• Added Station Announcements

Class 377/4 & EWS Class 66

• Added Train Faults (Pantograph, Wipers)
• Added Onboard Announcements
• Added new suspension improvements
• Added Guard Mode
• Added Driver Assist
• Wheelblur Update

Festival of Rail 2026 - Coming Up:
New Game Announcement on February 5th!
As mention, don't miss a brand-new game announcement, coming from our teams at Dovetail Games, kickstarting our event.

Great Western Express Remastered lands on February 6th!
It's finally time - from 10am, jump into the Great Western Express Remastered add-on, and experience this classic route brought upto the greatest standards!

New to the route? Don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunity to pick this up, alongside layered content, in all-new bundles coming soon too.

A Weekend of Train Sim World Content on February 7th and 8th!
We're teaming up with all the wonderful TSW ambassadors to help us fill an entire weekend schedule of content, featuring many TSW6 routes, challenges and more!

Discover content on our Train Sim World YouTube channel, or natively on creator's channels as they go out!

Train Simulator Classic - Northampton Loop Preview and More on February 9th
Join our team for a preview of the upcoming Northampton Loop Add-on, live on our channels in the evening, as well as new details on our upcoming Dutch Route, recreating the line from Hoofdorp to Hilversum, and more!

Train Sim World 6 Roadmap on February 10th
Our first TSW Roadmap of 2026 is coming as we approach the end of Festival of Rail 2026, as a chance to summarise all the new announcements, and look ahead to the future of content you can get excited about on the way for Train Sim World!

Metro Rivals: New York - New Dev Blog on February 11th
We've been waiting to tell you more about what's cooking in Metro Rivals for some time now, and we're finally ready to start letting you all in, with the release of our first Dev Blog article and livestream, we're planning to start talking more regularly each week, and invite your questions to be answered by our teams.

Coming up in Festival of Rail, expect more news on what's been happening since our announce; details on playtesting in the Dovetail PlayLab, latest progress and screenshots, and more information on the gameplay you'll experience!

Be sure to visit the Metro Rivals: New York website and socials, and join us for the event on the Metro Rivals YouTube channel.

Xbox Publisher & Indie Select Anniversary Sale - Now Live


Be sure to check out two ongoing discount events throughout this month, starting with the Indie Selects Anniversary Sale now live until February 9th, featuring great deals on TSW add-ons, including:

• Train Sim World 6: Standard Edition – 50% off
• Peninsula Corrdior – 60% off
• BR Class 86/2 & Mk2f Coaches – 20% off
• Manchester Airport Commuter – 20% off
• West Coast Main Line: Birmingham Crewe – 20% off
• MBTA Providence/Stoughton Line HSP46 Pack – 40% off

Launching today, we have our Xbox Publisher Sale live now until February 16th. Get your hands on Train Sim World 6 Special Edition at a big discount, and a selection of TSW add-ons reduced for a limited time!

• Train Sim World 6: Special Edition – 60% off
• San Bearnardino Line: Los Angeles – San Bernardino – 90% off
• Northern Trans-Pennine – 90% off
• Frankenbahn: Stuttgart – Heilbronn – 20% off
• Cardiff City Network: Radur & Coryton to Penarth & Bae Caerdydd – 45% off

Plus, many more discounts, including on our other titles, CATAN: Console Edition and our range of fishing games. Be sure to check out the Xbox stores to catch your wishlisted content at a bargain!

Join us in the Community!
So that you're ready for the event, be sure to join our fantastic communities for Train Sim World and all our titles, from our Dovetail Live forums, our new official Discord, and community-led spaces that we are active in – be sure to check this out below and talk directly to our teams!

Discover more on Train Sim World 6 by following @trainsimworld on Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and Discord

 

Steam changed the dates of their sales. They won't host another big sale until 19 March 2026, so just a heads up. They used to do the Spring Sale in February, so that's what's going on.

(yes, it does hurt to write the date that way)