Suggestion The current route for GWR is London Paddington to Reading. My suggestion is, rather than have the trains end at Reading, to extend the line to Oxford station like so: I suggest the trains go to Oxford via Didcot Parkway modelling all stations along the route Several reasons for this. Firstly the line is used by all three trains modelled. The 166, 43 and 66 which are all beautifully made, get usage of the extended route. Secondly I think that the Class 43's don't get much running time at high speed, for the fans of HST's (myself included) I think a longer route would give us more satisfaction and use of the DLC. Current routing doesn't really allow for much satisfaction before the line comes to an end. Thirdly, because it's all three classes, the variety it adds is threefold, HST's get higher speeds and longer routes with the chance to stop at two brand new stations, whilst the 166's get significantly more stations. The 66's shunting cargo around also get a longer route to play with. Future Proofing: As we're all aware, the 166's and 43's have a limited operational life as GWR replaces them with the new 387's and 800's. Some of the most popular suggestions are for the new locomotives which GWR ordered, as shown by the two threads attached: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/class-387-electrostar.2089/#post-17815 https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/the-new-class-800-hitachi.2036/ If TSW developers seek to pursue those two models, the extended route would be in place for the new locos. It'd be future proof, with only the addition of gantries needed once the entire line is electrified. It's the ideal length for a new 800 to stretch it's legs
I would like GWE to be extended to Hereford via Oxford, all the way to Swansea, Penzance via Bristol and Via Westbury and the branch lines between Paddington and Reading and the ones in Devon and Cornwall.
Don't forget about the Didcot Rail Centre! That would be featured in it too, which is nice since that means a steam locomotive can be included in the extension. For me, I'd either like to see the Great Western Mainline extended to either Banbury (featuring Oxford of course) so that it could be longer than the original Rail Simulator/Train Simulator 2018 version or have it go west of Didcot to Swindon, which was where many of the Great Western's steam locomotives and several BR diesels were also built.
I'll also add this suggestion which I thought was wonderful as well for the Night Riviera Sleeper service which would also make use of the extension (although not to Oxford). There are some really well thought out suggestions on these forums! https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/class-57-and-the-night-riviera-mark-3-coaches.2285/
Everytime I end the trip at Reading I want to carry on with the full route Would love to see the DLC get route extensions.
I know man... I regularly do the Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington IRL, I'd love to see the full route, but it's so vast I don't think it's plausible yet. BTW, loving your avatar (very appropriate for this thread )
I think somewhere like Swindon would be a more logical routing than Oxford which is kind of off the mainline
I know what you mean. In the Rail Simulator/Train Simulator 2018 version, after you leave Reading, you speed up again when suddenly the AWS goes off telling you to slow down since you cross almost all the tracks to be diverted to Oxford. That's a reason why I think extending it to Swindon would be great, so you can keep accelerating at high speed.
Might be worth creating a new thread? Or should I amend this one to add Swindon? My thinking for Oxford was for the Class 166's to get some run-time as well, from what I've seen on YouTube, it's only the 43's and 66's which go to Swindon, whereas all three classes go to Oxford. It's a good suggestion, I reckon a lot of people would want to see the whole Bristol Temple Meads to Paddington run, and Swindon would be the most logical step. That being said, there's not been any feedback from devs so I don't even know if its going to even happen.
the route we've been given fits perfectly into a upgrade for the 'opening this year' Elizabeth line - which incorporates the Heathrow Connect Service which transfers ownership to TfL in May 2018. http://content.tfl.gov.uk/elizabeth-line-december-2019.pdf now I know people want Paddington to come alive, and we know DTG have worked with TfL before.....Heathrow connect with its 360s and the new 345s due in May - id happily see this as an extension in the meantime.
Yes that is true, but that was due to the owners being Heathrow themselves - from May 20th this year Heathrow Connect transfers ownership to Transport for London, who have licenses in place with DTG and JustTrains, so there is always a chance of Heathrow Connect being licensed (not heathrow express) its Heathrow Express who turned down DTG.
I clearly failed to read your original comment properly, yes you’re quite right in what you said! Apologies, I just read Heathrow Express and jumped the gun.
haha no worries, I too had to actually search it all up to be sure, and Ill be honest, i completely disregarded there was 2 separate franchises haha.
It needs something to bring it to life.....ive never seen london paddington or reading so quiet and lifeless :-/ it does need an extension and although it should be for free i would pay if they attached a decent amount of track and gave some variety on the HST.