My main aim of this suggestion is to add a route that populates the normally bustling cities of Manchester and Birmingham ,which as of right now are severely lacking in the amount of trains, while also providing an enjoyable route. STATIONS: The Stations included are Manchester Piccadilly, Ardwick (avoided on this route but still visible) Levenshulme, Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Cheadle Hulme, Handforth, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Chelford, Goostrey, Holmes Chapel, Sandbach, Crewe and Stafford, then via Stoke-on-Trent we branch off at Cheadle Hulme with our next stations being, Bramhall, Poynton, Adlington, Prestbury, Macclesfield, Congleton, Kidsgrove, Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, Stone and Stafford. Manchester-Stone = 39 miles. Manchester Piccadilly-Crewe = 28 miles. Crewe-Stafford = 24 miles. Rough total = 91 miles. pretty steep length but could remove Stafford from the equation just depends on what DTG/whoever makes it wants to do with that. ROLLING STOCK: Class 390 (at Manchester Piccadilly): The class 390 electrical multiple units were built by Alstom using Fiat Ferroviara tilting equipment (which was also used by Italo for their Pendolino's, Pendolino means Pendulum in Italian which refers to the train's tilting technology) at their Washwood Heath plant between 2001 and 2004 as 8 car trains before they were upgraded to 9 car units, then after Washwood Heath's closure 35 of the 57 units were upgraded further to 11 car trains or 390/1s in Italy. The class 390 was designed specifically for the West Coast Mainline to allow trains to go at higher speeds, this is because of the curvy nature of the line which limits all non tilting trains to 110mph but the tilt in 390s allows it to run at speeds of up to 125mph and had the signalling permitted it 390s could go at speeds of up to 140mph. The 390s run the Piccadilly to London Euston as far as Stafford via both Stoke and Crewe (these are separate services) via Stoke is the slow and via Crewe is the express, the other services such as those to Blackpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow can only be seen between Crewe and Stafford the remaining AWC services that terminate at Crewe and Holyhead are operated by 221s. Class 220/221 (dependent on a Cross Country license)(at Manchester Piccadilly): Built by Bombardier between 2001 and 2002 (221) or 2000-2001 (220) as a part of the voyager family of trains the class 220 and 221 DEMU's (221=5 coaches + plus tilt + a newer bogie design, 220=4 coaches) have a top speed of 125mph and are Cross Country's flagship trains. they were previously from Virgin Trains and ran on the WCML and the NWC but since Virgin trains which is now Avanti west coast is phasing out their last 221's to make room for the new class 805 bi-mode units, they are coming to XC. (the main difference between the Virgin/Avanti Voyagers and the XC ones is that the XC ones no longer have tilting capabilities which was a decision made by Cross Country to reduce maintenance costs) These units operate the services to Bournemouth services from Piccadilly via Stoke, I'm not certain of any other services so please let me know of any. Class 323 (at Manchester Piccadilly): This can be reused from Glossop line and operates the Northern stopping services to Crewe and Stoke-on Trent on both lines. LAYERS: Class 158 (at Manchester Piccadilly): The class 158 could be driven as far as Stockport representing the Liverpool-Norwich services. Class 66: The class 66 and RHTT as usual would operate services to who knows where and so on (couldn't find and SS for this one but yeah. CONCLUSION: I think this would be a great route which would provide Voyagers and Pendolino's as AI at both Piccadilly and Birmingham with lots of variety on the route, for example you can drive a High Speed EMU on both fast and express services without seeing the same things every time because you drive on a different route, or you can drive the first High Speed DMU in TSW on express services and despite the speed capabilities of these units you never actually get to reach these high speeds (high speed meaning 125mph I think you can get between 80 and 100mph for a lot of it) because of the nature of the route, its extremely busy and its very bendy this leads to lots of varying speed limits or stopping at red signals meaning you have to really pay attention which would keep you interested in the route, vs something like the upcoming ECML which is quiet, empty and pretty much 125mph the whole way (this isn't me bashing DTG by the way). then for people who want to drive slower services in a pretty well made train you have the 323 right there. Not to mention the scenery, along this route you will be in and out of Cities and Suburban areas with the odd bit of Countryside and while this type of route is difficult to build I'd say its well worth the effort because it means you're not seeing the same over and over.
This would a awesome network-style route in TSW so you can go 2 different ways from Manchester Piccadilly to Stafford and I think this style of route would do well in my opinion One train I'd add though: The British Rail Class 350 'Desiro' in LNWR livery for operation on the Crewe to Birmingham New Street (Stafford) via Stoke services, the Crewe to London Euston (Stafford) services and the Liverpool Lime Street (Crewe) to Birmingham New Street (Stafford) services
Cheers, I do think that adding a 350 (maybe as DLC?) would work well with this route as it operates a variety of services on the sections of line suggested
possibly another DLC? I just don't see any devs adding a whole new train for the short distances it runs so would be better off as a layer from another route like WCML south, or the Chase line or something like that.
Sounds like a good route and would fill up Manchester Piccadilly, would love to see this come to the game!
