We've seen MBTA, MTA, even NJ Transit, and it's always been a shame to me that we've never seen SEPTA, or even Philadelphia for that matter considering just how much potential this area has for a route. With the possibility of TSW7 on the horizon, I would like to propose the idea of SEPTA being looked into as a route addition. Introduction to SEPTA SEPTA is the primary transit agency in the Philadelphia Metro Area, ranking the 5th most ridden transit agency in the US. SEPTA is well known for it's expansive regional rail network, which has unique through-running service, similar to many European cities. Route proposal I created this diagram to showcase what a potential SEPTA Regional Rail DLC could look like. This includes just about all types of scenery you can see in the Philadelphia area, without having to deal with too many long routes. 30th Street Station is the "central" station of the map. As mentioned earlier, SEPTA Regional Rail uses a thru-running system, meaning that trains dont typically end at 30th Street, but rather continue onward to another terminal on the opposite end of the system. Lines denoted in blue leave 30th Street through the eastern end, and are known as the Reading Railroad Lines. The lines denoted in red leave 30th Street through the western end, and are known as the Pennsylvania Railroad Lines. Pennsylvania Railroad Trains heading inbound generally are "bound" for 30th Street, where when they arrive, they become bound for their outbound terminal, and vice versa for the Reading lines, which switch at Temple University Station. Center City Philadelphia stations: Jefferson and Suburban are apart of the Center City Connection tunnel, which runs underground through Philadelphia's urban core. All reading lines follow the mainline, which runs between Temple University Station, and Glenside Station. The diagram includes lines: Fox Chase [FOX] Full length route between Fox Chase & Center City Philadelphia (~ 12 mi) Branches after Wayne Junction Station, onto the Fox Chase Branch (~4 mi) Reading Railroad Line Lansdale-Doylestown / Warminster Lines / West Trenton Line [LAN / WAR / WTR] Partial route between Glenside (LAN / WAR) or Jenkintown-Wyncote (WTR, one station before Glenside) and Center City Philadelphia. (~ 12 mi) Follows the mainline for the entire ingame length Reading Railroad Lines Chestnut Hill East Line [CHE] Full length route between Chestnut Hill East & Center City Philadelphia (~ 12 mi) Branches after Wayne Junction Station, and onto the Chestnut Hill East branch (~ 5.5 mi) Reading Railroad Line Trenton Line [TRE] Full length route between Trenton, NJ & Center City Philadelphia (~ 30 mi) Follows AMTRAK Northeast Corridor & Acela between Trenton Transit Center & 30th Street Station Pennsylvania Railroad Line Chestnut Hill West Line [CHW] Full length route between Chestnut Hill West & Center City Philadelphia (~ 14 mi) Follows AMTRAK & TRE between 30th Street and North Broad Stations, then branches onto the Chestnut Hill West Branch (~7 mi) Pennsylvania Railroad Line Airport Line [AIR] Full length route between Philadelphia International Airport & Center City Philadelphia (~11 mi) Branches after Wayne Junction Station, onto the Fox Chase Branch (~4 mi) Considering that every line shares trackage for most of it's length, this falls down to only ~ 50 miles of track per branch line, which is very short compared to many other routes that are available. This leads to so much unique content that can be added with little extra map work. Trains SEPTA currently operates 4 regional rail cars. That includes: GE Silverliner IV EMU Sister train to the NJ Transit Arrow III. No unique model has to be made for this. Hyundai-Rotem Silverliner V EMU Bombardier Comet Cabcar These are already modelled from MBTA DLC. Siemens ACS-64 Electric Locomotive (AMTRAK/SEPTA) This is already modelled from AMTRAK DLC. Licensing As someone who's made several Philadelphia based games, I know from experience that getting licensing is the biggest hurdle of creating new routes, especially ones like this. Even though SEPTA has been against the idea of selling their licensing in the past for use in games, I still think it's worth trying. Potentially even propose to SEPTA a compromise, where security systems are forced enabled, similar to the LIRR commuter DLC. All in all, I hope this can convince everyone why SEPTA should come to TSW.
