While i do hope that this is already on Dovetail's radar and it's been mentioned in the route's discussion thread, I want to raise the topic here and detail the opportunities that the Stuttgart S-Bahn's core would unlock for the route - as far as Schwabstraße. Firstly, the route taken by this route out of Stuttgart, towards Heilbronn, sees three lines, S4, S5 and S6 (the S60 did not exist at this point in time) run alongside it between Stuttgart Nord and Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, with one station in-between at Stuttgart-Feuerbach. After Zuffenhausen the S6 branches off, with the S4 and S5 lines continuing along the route together for two stops to Ludwigsburg, before the S4 then goes it's own way. The S5, however, continues along the features route to it's northern terminus at Bietigheim-Bissingen. South of Stuttgart Nord, trains enter the S-Bahn tunnel under the city and, in the case of all four of the above-mentioned lines, they travel as far as Schwabstraße station, stopping at Stuttgart Hbf (Tief), Stadmitte and Feuersee along the way. This stretch is about 3 Kilometres long, but would enhance the route's S-Bahn side massively: S1, S2, S3 Without: No Appearance With: Hbf - Schwabstraße, 4 Stations S4: Without: Nordbahnhof - Ludwigsburg, 5 Stations With: Schwabstraße - Ludwigsburg, 9 Stations S5: Without: Nordbahnhof - Bietigheim-Bissingen, 8 Stations With: Schwabstraße - Bietigheim-Bissingen, 12 Stations, Full Route S6: Without: Nordbahnhof-Zuffenhausen, 3 Stations With: Schwabstraße - Zuffenhausen, 7 Stops Beyond that however is the more interesting feature in Stuttgart's S-Bahn which is the turning loop at Schwabstraße. Used by the four (then three) lines that terminate there, this removes the need for drivers to change ends at the station and keeps trains flowing throughout the day. In-game, this presents the opportunity to 'chain' services endlessly, as the entire route would then be available for the S5, but also to do so without changing ends which, as far as I'm aware, we haven't yet seen in a comparable TSW route? The S5 is the shortest route on the Stuttgart S-Bahn by quite some way and to cut it short would be not only quite a poor show, but would be a massive missed opportunity. Also, as a bonus, it would offer even more mileage for the 420 when it eventually arrives! Cheers.
