I would like to make the suggestion of Reading to Swindon & Oxford (+ Newbury if possible). This is a fantastic line, including Didcot Parkway, home of a small steam museum, and where the branch splits off to Oxford. The principle reason is the variety of gameplay. For me, a good route has these things. 1) A busy timetable. 2) Variety in that timetable e.g. fast & slow trains, but also different service patterns with those trains. 3) More than one final destination. Routes that either have branch lines, or like Southeastern high speed, have different overall destinations. This route would include all of those points. It would include the 800’s that run regular fast services to both Swindon and Oxford, as well as a variety of stopping services. Where this particular route is more interesting than others, is that there are regular Reading to Didcot stopping services, as well as Didcot to Oxford as a separate stopping service. I love the idea of being able to run a stopping service from Reading to Didcot, and then jumping on a new service from that station, and on to another destination (Oxford). I could see myself running those two trains all day! There is also another added layer here, as they are usually two different stock. The 375 runs between Reading and Didcot, and the 166 does the journey between Didcot and Oxford. There is also a huge variety in the 800’s service patterns. All services start from Paddington and run through Reading to Oxford, Swindon (and Newbury line). What I think would make this so enjoyable to play, is that you could pick up an 800 service from Reading that is bound for Cardiff, and drive it to Swindon. You could also pick up an 800 at Reading, bound for Hereford, and drive that straight to Oxford. Another hourly service pattern is an 800 that only stops at Didcot on its way to Oxford. As players, I think we all love having things pop up during a route, whether it be to slow down and cross over tracks, head into a station, or changing ends and bringing a service back the other way. A really great and fun feature to this route would be the trains that run to Oxford, and don’t stop at Didcot. There is relief line that allows the fast trains to avoid the station and keep some speed. The fast lanes approaching Didcot are on the other side, so you have to slow down and move across the tracks to get to the relief lines. There are usually a number of trains heading in and out, so red lights are also a hazard! If you take the hourly 800 from Reading and stop at Didcot, you will also need to turn the train around at Oxford, as it heads back towards London. The route is also packed with regular freight services from both Oxford and Swindon. You could also add the Elizabeth line trains as AI and make them moveable from Reading shed to Reading and watch them go out the other way towards Paddington. These 701s are already in the game, and make an appearance on the Mildmay line in Elizabeth colours. Depending on viability, it would also be nice to see the line that runs from Reading to Newbury, which again includes a variety of stopping and fast services out towards the west. I know not all fast services stop at Newbury, but as with recent releases like WCML, it would be nice to have them stop there so they were playable. This may not be possible due to increasing the overall length. Another option here is to run the route from Reading to Bath Spa and Oxford. That would give you a longer journey, and more variety of stopping patterns out towards Bath. The stock would include the 800 IETs, as well as the class 166 which is still used between Didcot and Oxford on this route. It would also include a GWR 387 which now does the journey between Didcot and Reading. Freight with the 66. Part of the route between Reading and Oxford also sees the Cross Country service (Manchester to Bournemouth) run hourly in both directions. This would be another great add on for the route. If it were possible to include the Newbury branch, then this train also runs out that way for the journey to Bournemouth. The route would lend itself well to those who enjoy scenarios, with so much variety in the stock and service patterns. Just imagine what could happen if those relief lines at Oxford were closed for vital works! The scenery from Reading to Oxford is incredible, with long stretches running alongside the River Thames, and there would be a huge amount to look at as you travel through Didcot station with the steam engines and freight stock. For me, the best routes are ones that include lines that split off to give you more options, and keep the route fresh for longer. Even if it were only possible to do Reading to Swindon & Oxford, I think the variety of services that this would give you would be better than one straight line from Reading to Bristol. With the upcoming Great Western Express Remaster, it would also enable you to have a route hop at Reading, so you can continue the journey to Paddington. The IET also started to make appearances on the western route in 2016/17 for tests and replacing some services, so this unit would also perhaps be able to be introduced in a few places on the timetable. I think this would be a fantastic route up there with one of the best on the game. A busy Timetable, a real variety of services including freight, and a split at Didcot for varied game play.
You have my vote as well. Especially with the new timetable for PAD - RDG in the pipeline I think a revamp of the route (Dresden-Riesa style) into its modern state and then the extensions to Oxford, Swindon and maybe Newbury and/or Thames Valley branches would add so much more richness & replayability. All that would bring a route that has so much potential up to the level of some of the best, most varied routes in game like WCML E-MK, SEHS Extended, Frankfurt - Fulda and Dresden - Riesa. Plus as you've mentioned, the 800, 387 and 165 already exist in-game and the Elizabeth 345 wouldn't be too much of a change from the 710. Kind of incredible potential for a new route!
Lived in Thatcham for 8 or 9 years as a kid so would love this. (Only took the train once though. Twice if you count the return journey back from Reading as separate)
I still think that the Thames Valley branches are a better option overall. All of the passenger and freight branches would add even more diversity to the existing GWE and theoretically could come with extension to Newbury and Oxford for a little more variety. However, in spite of making this suggestion a million times, it seems to have fallen on deaf ears with absolutely nobody willing to implement it. I am well aware that DTG Liam cannot do this under the impressive looking remaster but I still think it warrants exploration. As I have said before, I can see no other feasible way to ever get the Thames Valley branches in game except for the implementation of my Branch Line Mini Packs idea which has also gain no traction or response from DTG or indeed any other developer. The trouble with these branch lines is that they all rely entirely on the mainline to connect them. Otherwise they would have to be built and added separately, hence my Branch Line Mini Packs ideas.
It will be interesting to see whether something akin to the OP suggestion is what DTG might serve up as the TSW6/Late Summer bundle as the UK route, given the return of the GWR licence. Quite how that would dovetail (ha!!) into the GWE remaster would remain to be seen.
