The Siemens Desiro HC has been in production since 2017 and is currently in service at five railway operators. It's iconic formation of single-deck end cars with motorized bogies along with unmotorized double-deck middle coaches makes it recognizable even within the messiest central station you can think of. At a minimum delievered formation length of 4 cars and 105 meters, it can accelerate with up to 1,1 m/s² and reach speeds well above 200 kilometers per hour. But even the maximum delivered formation length of 6 cars and 157 meters still manages an impressive acceleration of about 0,91 m/s², making this train ideal for fast-paced regional traffic. In the following, I will list a few variants of the Desiro HC that I personally see as possible for representation in TSW after looking at existing facts and details. The following Desiro HCs will not be listed: National Express Class 0462 (Rhine-Ruhr-Express) - Reason for Exclusion: From what I've read, National Express does not like seeing their branding represented in simulators. If they really are that stubborn, representing their DHC appears terribly unlikely. Israel Railways Class 40xx and 60xx - Reason for Exclusion: Israel is a country far out of scope (both geographically and for other reasons) for what Dovetail or any other currently known 3rd party developers tend to create for TSW; making it difficult to even start building a route for this DHC variant. General Data (valid for all operators/variants listed further below) Exact Train Length in Milimeters 4-car DHC: 105252 5-car DHC: 131000 6-car DHC: 157252 Width: 2820 mm Height: 4640 mm Track Gauge: Standard (1435 mm) Electrification: Overhead Wire, 15 kV 16,7 Hz Empty Weight in Metric Tons 4-car DHC: 198 6-car DHC: 284 Available Seats: 400 to 655 Safety Systems (may vary across variants): PZB, LZB, ETCS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Desiro_HC_Baden_Württemberg.jpg Formation(s) Length: 4 cars Vmax (Maximum Permitted Speed): 160 km/h Pros: bwegt branding already available in TSW (see Maintalbahn's 642), easier access in terms of licensing / not your usual traffic red as you'd expect from DB Regio; this one is piss yellow instead Cons: none I can think of Anything Special Worth Noting? - not for this one I suppose Possible Routes (or sections of them): RE7 Karlsruhe Hbf - Basel Bad Bf (44 stations / 190 km route length / 2h 35min running time) Image Source: https://www.fotocommunity.de/photo/2462-108-6-makna/47041483 Formation(s) Length: 5 cars Vmax (Maximum Permitted Speed): 160 km/h Pros: unique blue livery with white wave-like shapes across the coaches Cons: often runs together with Siemens Mireo, which is not represented in TSW; this would be missing out on a great special feat Anything Special Worth Noting? - as to be read right above this line, this HC runs together with the Siemens Mireo, or atleast it does irl. Possible Routes (or sections of them): RE9 Ulm Hbf - Munich Hbf (31 stations / 147 km route length / 1h 15min running time) RE80 Würzburg Hbf - Donauwörth (18 stations / 136 km route length / 2h 16min running time) RB86 Dinkelscherben - Munich Hbf (9 stations / 81 km route length / 1h 21min running time) RB87 Augsburg Hbf - Meitingen (8 stations / 22 km route length / 22min running time) RB89 Augsburg Hbf - Aalen Hbf (22 stations / 78 km route length / 1h 14min running time) RE89 Aalen Hbf - Augsburg Hbf (27 stations / 78 km route length / 1h 14min running time) Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ODEG,_Siemens_Desiro_HC,_3462_005-4.jpg Formation(s) Length: 4 cars, 6 cars Vmax (Maximum Permitted Speed): 160 km/h Pros: an opportunity to introduce Berlin to TSW Cons: RE1, the honestly best route choice, cuts right through Berlin which is, as of now, highly unlikely to be represented in TSW Anything Special Worth Noting? - the RE1 only has 6 car DHCs running on it while the two RB lines only use the 4 car DHCs, often in double formations Possible Routes (or sections of them): RE1 Magdeburg Hbf - Cottbus Hbf (32 stations / 230 km route length / 2h 30min running time) RB17 Wismar - Ludwigslust (16 stations / 130 km route length / 1h 40min running time) RB18 Rostock Hbf - Schwerin Hbf (15 stations / 120 km route length / 1h 30min running time) Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Siemens_Desiro_HC_Franken-Thüringen_Express.jpg Formation(s) Length: 4 cars (1462), 6 cars (4462) Vmax (Maximum Permitted Speed): 160 km/h (1462), 190 km/h (4462) Pros: 190 km/h runs along the VDE 8 highspeed line Cons: DB Traffic Red livery which is an average sight in germany Anything Special Worth Noting? - the 6 car class 4462 has single-leaf doors, making it the only Desiro HC in germany with that unique feat Possible Routes (or sections of them): RE14 Nürnberg Hbf - Saalfeld (Saale) (16 stations / 160 km route length / 2h running time) RE19 Nürnberg Hbf - Sonneberg (Thür) Hbf (17 stations / 180 km route length / 2h running time) RE20 Nürnberg Hbf - Würzburg Hbf (18 stations / 200 km route length / 2h 20min running time) RE29 Nürnberg Hbf - Erfurt Hbf (20 stations / 250 km route length / 1h 53min running time) Information about all listed lines for each Desiro HC variant has been obtained with help of ChatGPT, there may be little to fatal mistakes (especially since I sat at this post up to 4 AM)! The following Wikipedia article has been used as a source for the majority of displayed information: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_Desiro_HC
We really need the Desiro HC in Game! While it is suboptimal to probably never get the RRX Desiro HC, which is needed for doing almost any NRW route in the modern era, we still are left with a big selection of routes the Desiro HC could be used on. I would really love to see it in the ODEG livery, as that is one of my favourite ones. Just note: The Desiro HC also runs the RE3 between Munic and Passau, which could be a great opportunity to bring the route between Munic and Landshut (or further) into the game, especially as the only private company travellling on it is Alex, so we could see a route set in present day that includes Munic without missing a lot of non-ai operators. Let's hope this makes it into TSW!
