Moin, maybe I've just been unlucky so far, maybe it's also a bug, but every single service (both cargo and pax) on the Main-Spessart DLC I tried so far did not require me to reach the next station by a specific time. Not only is that vastly different from how real railroads are, it also takes away every last bit of challenge obviously. I'd really like to see that fixed. Greetings, Mike
It's not a bug, they just simply didn't make it. They haven't told a reason for this, but yeah it is kinda strange. I hope it makes ot into the game once. For now, there are luckily timetables which are fan-made and very accurate. However it is always better to just have it officially in-game
They did have a reason for this, and it was explained in a dev stream a while back. It was mainly because they updated the substitution system and apparently the changes there completely broke the timetable feature. They fixed it after the route was released and promised that future routes would have this feature (like TVL), but apparently some players wanted MSB to stay this way because they liked the freedom that it gave them, so they were torn on whether or not to update MSB with it. I think they've decided not to, that's the easier choice anyway, right?
I still find that quite strange to be honest, I mean every other route has it. Also, if they could possibly make it, why not make it an option in the settings instead? Because yes, it gives freedom but also takes away realism. Still I can do the job with a PDF timetable but it would be great to have it in-game.
I think they should just have given times. If some daring player thinks the 143 is equal to the 146 he just replaced with it.... well surprise mate, eh? They should set the chance of random substitutes of that kind to zero though.