This is a "network style" route with a busy passenger timetable and lots of opportunities for great freight gameplay, set in a country that's new to TSW, but still of familiar to much of the player base. (C) OpenStreetMap contributors Included would be the direct main line from Luxembourg to Rodange and onwards to Athus (Belgium) and Longwy (France), as well as the Luxemburg to Petange line via Bettembourg and Esch-sur-Alzette. Altogether that's about 70 km, so totally doable! Most of the line is quite rural, but there's steel industry with extensive freight yards between Niederkorn and Esch-sur-Alzette. Athus, Longwy, Rodange, Petange & Bettembourg also feature yards of various sizes. There's a lot of railway in quite a small space here, allowing for interesting origin/destination freight gameplay, rather than just the middle of a mainline run. However, the way that the different routes and junctions are arranged allows for many different paths, meaning that even the mainline runs will be quite varied. Passenger-wise, there's lots to do too. There's a half-hourly RB from Luxembourg to Athus on the direct line, supplemented by a Luxembourg to Longwy RE that runs half-hourly at peak hours, but not at all off-peak. The line via Esch-sur-Alzette gets two hourly RE lines. One (which actually stops everywhere) runs from Luxembourg to Petange, the other one (and this one actually skips some stops!) between Luxembourg and Rodange. Services are between 35 and 50 minutes long, and those along the northern route are self-contained. Those that take the southern route continue beyond Luxembourg. Railway operations in Luxembourg are similar enough to Germany that this route will be interesting and accessible for the German market (see the signal system for example). However, it will still feel distinctly foreign - the infrastructure looks and feels quite French, and until 2020, a variant of the French "crocodile" safety system called "Memor 2+" was in use. This system's complexity (and use!) is similar to a mix of PZB and AWS, so implementing it shouldn't be a problem. For rolling stock, the route would include the CFL 4000 series electric locomotive, double-decker coaches, and the CFL 1500/1580 series diesel locomotive. The 4000 series is a Bombardier Traxx locomotive, equivalent to a German 185.1. This is not the same as the 185.2 we have in TSW, so this would be a good opportunity to start from scratch and get an all-new, up-to-date Traxx locomotive with all the latest TSW features into the game. These locos can run in Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, and France, and they are used for both passenger and freight trains. They can handle almost all main-line traffic on this route by default. The 185.2 and Vectron will be able to substitute on freight trains, and other CFL passenger trains (2000, 2200, 2300 series EMUs) could be introduced later as loco add-ons. The double-decker coaches are the same Görlitz-built Dostos we know and love from just about every German route. For photos, see the 4000 series link above! The 1500/1580 series is a Vossloh G 1206 diesel-hydraulic "road switcher" type locomotive that was built from 1998 onwards. This would be used for shunting in the non-electrified steel industry yards as well as some mainline freight runs. Both the 4000 and 1580 series locos are of types that are used in various other European countries. The Traxx family of locos is everywhere in Europe, and various private freight operators in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and other countries use the G1206. There's lots of potential for other variants of these locos to be used on future routes or as loco DLC.
