Introduction The North Warwickshire Lines are a series of suburban commuter lines radiating south east from the city of Birmingham in England's West Midlands region. The line runs primarily from Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street to Stratford-upon-Avon in nearby Warwickshire. Services also run along the Chiltern Main Line to Leamington Spa and beyond, taking an alternative route via Solihull. Finally, another branch connects Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa more directly, forming a triangle of traversable routes. These lines form the eastern section of the Birmingham Snow Hill lines. The covered area of this suggestion. The route could include the North Warwickshire Line between Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham Snow Hill, a section of the Chiltern Main Line between Snow Hill and Leamington Spa, and the Stratford to Leamington Line forming a triangle of traversable routes. Services The majority of services are operated by Chiltern Railways and West Midlands Railway using Class 168 and Class 172 Diesel Multiple Units. Chiltern Railways operates two trains per hour from Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone operating as express services calling at select intermediate stops such as Solihull, Warwick and Leamington Spa. Some peak time services originate from Kidderminster, further along from Birmingham Snow Hill. Chiltern Railways also operates an hourly service from Stratford-upon-Avon to London Marylebone, primarily operated by the Class 168. Chiltern also operate one of the few remaining loco-hauled services in Britain, this being formed of a Mk3 DVT Driving Van Trailer (similar to a Cab Car for our American friends), several Mk3a loco-hauled carriages and a Class 68 diesel locomotive. Previously these services were powered by Class 67 locomotives from 2008 to 2014. These particular trains operate express services in tandem with the Class 168. Chiltern Railways occasionally uses a Class 165 in place of a Class 168, however these units tend to operate shorter services nearer London, so are less common on this part of the route. A Class 168 unit working in multiple with another member of the class, forming a 7-car train. West Midlands Railway run six trains per hour between Stourbridge Junction, Birmingham Snow Hill, and Birmingham Moor Street, three of these continue onto to Dorridge and the other three to Whitlocks End. One Dorridge and one Whitlocks End service per hour continue to Stratford-upon-Avon, and some peak hour trains continue from Dorridge to Leamington Spa. Four trains per hour continue beyond Stourbridge Junction to Kidderminster, and two of these continue to Worcester Foregate Street, these being stations beyond Birmingham Snow Hill. All services are operated by the Class 172. Previously these services were operated by Class 150 units until being replaced in 2011. Stratford-upon-Avon railway station, the end point of the North Warwickshire Line featuring a Class 172 in the previous London Midland livery. Other notable operators include Cross Country, who operate Class 220 and Class 221 'Voyager' DEMUs (Diesel Electric Multiple Units) between Manchester, Reading and Bournemouth, seen between Birmingham New Street and Leamington Spa on this line, running non-stop via a connection to Birmingham New Street via the Camp Hill line. In TSW, these services could be layered in should a route featuring the Voyager appear in the future. Another rather interesting operator is Vintage Trains, who operate frequent steam locomotive hauled excursion trains during the summer months between Birmingham and Stratford, mainly with ex-GWR/BR(W) locomotives and Mk1 coaches under the headboard of the 'Shakespeare Express'. This could present a good opportunity to integrate regular steam operations into TSW within a modern setting operating at higher line speeds up to 75mph when compared to the norm of privately operated heritage railways with 25mph speed restrictions. Leamington Spa, seen here with a West Midlands Railway Class 153 on a service across to Coventry, a Cross Country Class 220 on a service south to Reading, and a Chiltern Railways service north to Birmingham. Rolling Stock The most commonly seen operator is West Midland Railway operating a fleet of 27 Class 172 'Turbostar' DMUs built by Bombardier at Derby between 2010 and 2011. These are split between 12 2-car units and 15 3-car units and feature end gangways allowing passengers to move throughout the full length of the train, when coupled in multiple. Typically these units are paired operating as combined 4-car, 5-car and 6-car units, although 2-car and 3-car units may operate by themselves in off-peak hours. These are visually similar to the Class 377 and 387 units, also built by Bombardier, and are structurally similar to the Class 168, 170 and 171 units, the major difference being that the Class 172 uses a mechanical transmission (which can be heard as the engine revs rise and drop when changing gear) and thus cannot operate with other classes due to differing drive systems. The second most common operator is Chiltern Railways operating a fleet of 19 Class 168 'Clubman' DMUs built originally by ADtranz (taken over by Bombardier in 2001) again at Derby between 1998 and 2004. These are some of the first members of the Turbostar family of trains to be built, and the first five units feature a different cab design more similar to the Networker family of trains. The units are formed as 3-car and 4-car sets, usually operating as sole units, except during peak times where two units can be found coupled together to form 6-car, 7-car and 8-car units. These units use a more traditional hydraulic transmission, allowing coupling to most second-generation DMUs including members of the Sprinter family. The Route Starting at the busy interchange of Birmingham Snow Hill, the line quickly enters a tunnel beneath Birmingham city centre before emerging directly into the platforms at Birmingham Moor Street. Birmingham Moor Street has four operational platforms, two of which are through platforms (connecting to Birmingham Snow Hill) and the other two are bay platforms, usually used for terminating Chiltern Railways services to London. Beyond Moor Street the line trundles through the the suburbs of Birmingham past rows of terrace housing and derelict industry, until reaching the outskirts and breaking into countryside south of Dorridge and Whitlocks End. Further on the line intercepts various small villages with their own quaint railway stations, until reaching the more sizable towns of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Leamington Spa. Stratford-upon-Avon being a terminating point for services, and notable for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Warwick is a historic town featuring a large castle visible from the route, as well as being the namesake of the county and line in question. Leamington Spa would act as the southern end point, this pleasantly restored station boasting 1930's GWR style décor performs as an interchange with services heading south to Banbury, London and Reading, as well as North to Birmingham and Coventry. The is a large depot located at Tyseley, used to store West Midlands Railway units when not in use. The depot is also home to Vintage Trains, where restoration and maintenance is carried out on steam locomotives and carriages, also featuring a turntable. Possibilities in TSW I feel like this route is lesser-known but offers great possibilities regardless, similar to the pleasant surprise of Cathcart Circle being a fun route seldom before requested. The majority of services need only two train types, therefore having a full timetable from the outcome. There are further possibilities for layering (such as with any future Cross Country (or its eventual successor) content) and DLC potential (such as with a Class 68+Mk3a+DVT loco-hauled pack or a steam excursion pack replicating the operations of Vintage Trains). The route offers a wide variety of scenery with notable landmarks and historical links. The route length and number of stations are well suited to TSW expectations based on available DLC. Multiple services and branches to explore provide large gameplay potential with more diversity in operations. Although the TOCs (particularly West Midlands Railway) may not be easy to brand in-game, we have seen London Midland content (the predecessor to West Midlands Railway) as well as Chiltern Railways content in Train Simulator, presumably making the possibility of these brands appearing again more likely. Another DLC possibility is a Class 150, these were operated on the route until 2011 and ran with half a Class 150/1 coupled to a complete Class 150/2 to form longer 3-car train sets, using the corridor connection of the centre Class 150/2 coach as a permanent through gangway to the non-gangway Class 150/1 coach on one end. Seen at Birmingham Moor Street. Fun Facts (for easy reference) Approximately 65 km or 40 miles. 32 stations, including a large depot. Primary operators are West Midlands Railway and Chiltern Railways. Primary train types include the Class 168 and Class 172 DMUs. Mix of urban, suburban, industrial and countryside scenery. Variety of branches and service types to operate. Thanks for reading, please feel free to voice your opinions regarding this suggestion below. Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Warwickshire_Line Containing information regarding this route: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Hill_lines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiltern_Main_Line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leamington–Stratford_line Train operators: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_Trains https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Midlands_Trains https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiltern_Railways https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrossCountry Rolling stock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_168 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_172 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_68 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_Van_Trailer
Something featuring Chiltern Railways would be awesome. Would love to see more of the Turbostar family of units.
