The route I am proposing includes a much requested section of the South Yorkshire network, with my own personal take. The Route The route from Sheffield to Scunthorpe via Doncaster will take just under an hour (Approx. 55 minutes) to complete a full run with express services, operated by Transpennine Express. However there are many other services which don’t span the entire length, which can give players a shorter, commuter run. These services include: 1 Train Per Hour (tph) running between Sheffield and Doncaster in each direction, calling at all stations including Rotherham Central. These represent the Adwick services and take around 40 minutes to complete. 1 Train Per Hour running between Sheffield and Scunthorpe in each direction calling at fewer stations. These are the Transpennine services to/from Cleethorpes and Liverpool. These take just under an hour to complete. 1 Train per hour in each direction between Sheffield and Doncaster representing the Scarborough services. An express run taking approximately 30 minutes. 1 Train per hour to/from Huddersfield in each direction. These could be AI operational only, or the player could take control of these short 10 minute runs between Sheffield and Meadowhall. 3 Trains per hour in each direction to/from Leeds which run via Barnsley. These could be player operated for the short distance between Sheffield and Meadowhall, or serve as AI only. 1 Train per hour in each direction to/from Leeds which runs via the Dearne Valley. These services also call at Rotherham Central, and can be driven as far as Swinton (Approx. 25 minutes) 1 Train approximately every 4 hours in each direction representing the Sheffield to York service. These also call at Rotherham Central and can be operated as far as Swinton (Approx. 25 minutes) Rolling Stock Much of the stock used in this area is already available for Train Sim World, and will simply require a few minor tweaks as well as a repaint. I will go into more detail in the ‘Layers’ section. The traction primarily used in this area consists of: - Class 150/1 - Class 150/2 - Class 158 - Class 170 - Class 185* - Class 195 *The Class 185 Siemens Desiro also tends to be highly requested on the forums. Layering There are a whole range of possibilities when it comes to layering in content from other addons. Midland Mainline East Midlands 158 and HST for AI use at Sheffield, as well as at Doncaster for the Peterborough local services as utilised on the ECML addon. West Cornwall The Class 150/2 brought up to scratch with the Northern livery will be one of the main units on this route, and can subsequently be substituted with the 158 or the 195 for both player and AI operated services. The Upcoming Fife Circle Pretty self explanatory, for the class 170 DMU. Would be great to have in Northern livery, however they did operate in South Yorkshire in their former Scotrail liveries for a time. East Coast Mainline Again, fairly self explanatory. Can provide the Azuma AI for Doncaster, as well as the Flying Scotsman rail tour and any AI freight traffic. Railhead Treatment Train Operates in Autumn / Winter months. I admit I’m not too familiar with the routing this train takes, and as a result cannot make any comment at this time about player operability, but it certainly would be a nice, small addition for AI at Sheffield. Other notes This route does cover the Stagecoach Supertram network, and subsequently the ‘Tram Train’ section at Rotherham Central which shares a platform with the national rail line. It would be great to see this implemented as an AI only feature. It would also be great to see the trams operating around Sheffield station, where they can disappear and re enter through portals out of sight. Sheffield station has multiple “Middle Roads” where stock is often stabled overnight. For early morning services this gives the player the experience to shunt out of the station before reversing back into the station to begin public service. On a personal note, I think Sheffield is a really nice station. From the entrance you have the recognisable water fountain, and the building itself looks great. Should DTG push the boundaries (Quite literally) and allow a little more room for exploration, to the East of the station once you cross the tram lines, there is a really nice hill which gives a great view of Sheffield station and parts of the city.
Anything involving Northern Rail routes out of Sheffield gets my vote.. my first choice would be out to Lincoln but this would be great too.. plus there's a real interesting urban feel of the route between Sheffield and Doncaster, followed by a more rural feel between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. like you suggested there'd be a lot of interesting service patters here, which for an end to end A-B route would actually create a very varied gameplay pattern. Plus with some service using the Rotherham line and others using the avoiding line, it kind of feels like a little extra bonus route built in! this would definitely get my vote. Sheffield to Lincoln, Sheffield to Hull or in this case Sheffield to Scunthorpe would be my top 3 choices for a new UK route, so really good suggestion!
Don’t get me wrong, I used to live on the Sheffield to Lincoln line and it would be nice to have, however I don’t feel it would offer enough gameplay.
Scunthorpe is a bit of a weird end point. It would be better extended through to Cleethorpes with the Barton line included. To be honest, the Sheffield to Doncaster line should come separate to the Doncaster to Scunthorpe (terminating at Cleethorpes) line. Also, you forgot the 2 hourly Doncaster to Scunthorpe stopper and the hourly Doncaster to Hull services (the latter branching off at Thorne Junction).
I disagree. Doncaster to Sheffield is just too short. While Scunthorpe is not a typical start and end point, for the distance and what would be included it would be appropriate. Extending it to Cleethorpes and including the Barton branch I suspect would be too much for DTG to justify allocating that much time to one project
If Doncaster to Sheffield is too short, it could easily be extended to Leeds with Doncaster and Sheffield being two different terminuses, or even down to Nottingham/Derby to connect to the MML route. But from someone with Scunthorpe as their local station, it just feels wrong for the route to end there. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it either way just for the Class 185, but it just doesn't make sense to me. Also thinking about the way DTG like to do routes, they'd more likely use Doncaster as a terminus.
anything out of Sheffield works for me.. however i do agree that having the line out to Scunthorpe (or Hull for that matter would work here too) does give better gameplay with the service variety.. especially between Sheffied and Doncaster, so if the route was Sheffield to Scunthorpe i would for sure buy this! i do agree that Sheffield to Doncaster wouldn't be long enough, so extending it out to Scunthorpe (or Hull) would be immensely better for long term playability
Yeah exactly. There’s so much potential for both AI and playable services particularly out of Sheffield. As mentioned in my initial post, even driving the Huddersfield/Leeds services as far as Meadowhall can provide a nice short experience for those with less time. And like you said, having both the Rotherham and the avoiding line just adds that little more to the route.
exactly this.. this route has so much more potential than a simple A-B route, with a really rich variety of services (and having the sheffield-meadowhall services as playable just gives a nice extra short option too).. plus having the two Rotherham lines (via and avoiding) is like getting a bonus extra route, so there's so much scope for a really varied and enjoyable service pattern here, would so love to see this become reality! edit: just thinking now you could have the following driveable services; Sheffield - Meadowhall Sheffield - Swinton Sheffield - Doncaster (via Rotherham) Sheffield - Doncaster (avoiding Rotherham) Sheffield - Scunthorpe (or Hull) Doncaster - Scunthorpe (or Hull) and there's a few more variations in there too, plus plenty of freight options, this would have the potential to be such an engaging dlc and not just another point-to-point run!
I think it should be Manchester Piccadilly —> Doncaster and then Doncaster to Cleethorpes. Sheffield to Doncaster is quite a short route but I do know someone is building it in the editor.
