Train Sim World Roadmap: June 2023

TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) summary

A quick summary for those who don’t want to go through the whole article. There are more details on all these points within the Roadmap.

• A Closer Look at Glossop Line Including digging into an all-new Scenario where you can operate as a Guard, and its timetable
• An Update on the Thameslink Class 700/0 Including timetable information!
• An Update on Trenton Timetable improvements
• Updates from Just Trains on their Unannounced Route
• An Update on Upcoming Patches Linke Rheinstrecke, Midland Main Line, Bremen-Oldenburg, and Rivet Games content – which are due tomorrow! (Wednesday 7th June)
• Inside Development How we make Scenarios, with some Scenarios that didn’t make it!

We have condensed the information on Steam due to text limits, view our full Roadmap on our website!

The Roadmap

Where has that month gone? May has flown by, and with it, a sizeable Steam core update and the release of Peak Forest: Ambergate – Chinley and Buxton, which has had favourable feedback from you lovely lot.

We’ve also just given away LGV Méditerrannée free for a week, so we hope you were quick and got in there! We saw loads of you jumping in and trying the content, which was exactly what we were hoping. We hope you enjoyed a slice of the French high-speed pie. Bon appetit!

This month, we’ll be taking a deeper dive into the upcoming Glossop Line, including details from the timetable and some unique work on the Scenarios. And if that’s not enough, we’ll also have an ‘alternative’ in-depth look at the upcoming Thameslink Class 700/0 (with all-new screenshots!), a further update on the NEC: New York-Trenton timetable, and details on upcoming patches, including one coming tomorrow!

In Partner Programme corner, both Just Trains and Skyhook Games will provide an update on their ongoing projects.

We also have a really interesting ‘Inside Development’ section from our Gameplay team in which we talk about building our Scenarios – including some information about some that never made it out to you!

Finally, as a follow-up from last month’s Roadmap, we’ll be inviting a new cohort of beta testers in the coming weeks (thank you to everyone who has volunteered!).

Upcoming Content

Glossop Line – Manchester – Hadfield & Glossop

We expect this fully-complete and self-contained route to release towards the back-end of June, bringing with it the first appearance of Manchester Piccadilly Station, and some really interesting services and scenarios.

With this route, we’ve tried to get creative with our Scenarios – and the Glossop Line, you can play as a guard!

We spoke to Liam and Cameron, Designers on our Gameplay team, to find out more about it. There is also information about the Glossop timetable below. If you’d like to find out more generally about how we make scenarios (as well as some that didn’t make the cut!), then head to the ‘Inside Development’ section for a deeper look at them!

Tell us more about the Guard scenario – what will the player do?

Liam: "The player will have a variety of guard related tasks in the scenario both on the train and at stations. But the focus is on operating the doors at stations, checking the train is safe to depart and inspecting passenger tickets between stops, something brand new to Train Sim World. When a player interacts with passengers in this scenario, they will be shown the date and the upcoming destinations of the train they are working on along with the passengers' ticket."

"It’s up to the player to compare the information of the passenger's ticket with the current service. The player will be given the option to tell the passenger their ticket is valid or invalid, with an invalid ticket resulting in the passenger be removed from the train at the next stop. The player will earn points by correctly deciding the tickets validity along with completing other guard actions."

Why did we select this route for a scenario involving Guard operations?

Liam: "I chose this route for the guard scenario due to a combination of having a train with guard controls and a route with lots of passenger stops close together. A guard scenario is something I’ve been wanting to add for a while, but it never felt right to do on the previous routes I worked on. I needed a train with a full set of guard controls on a route with passenger stops close enough together that the player would not be spending most of the scenario waiting for the train to reach its next destination."

What tech/content had to be created specifically and uniquely for this scenario?

Liam: "Tech wise, the Class 323 already had the guard controls needed for this so that was a big help as it allowed me to go straight into prototyping the actions of a guard. The new tech needed was a way to interact with the passengers themselves and inspect tickets. Passenger interaction was something I had already worked on before with the creation of the Rail Fans, but they were still for use at stations only."

"I had to create a way for these Rail Fans to board, ride and depart a train along with giving each Rail Fan a train ticket, another new piece of tech. These tickets are randomly generated to match the train service the Rail Fan is riding, with some tickets randomly selecting an invalid travel date or destination to create an invalid ticket for the player to check." 

What was the process undertaken to go from idea to execution? 

Liam: "It started with being a simple guard scenario made as a proof of concept, where the player would ride the back of a Class 323 and operate the doors for the driver. Once the basics were in, I looked at what else a guard could do, both on the train and at the stations. I was in contact with real guards who operate on 323s who were very helpful with their feedback of what was currently in the scenario along with things that were missing and suggestions on how to make the scenario more accurate to real life."

"Ticket inspection was the obvious thing that was missing from the scenario and was something we would need to make the player feel like an actual guard. The ticket inspection gameplay started as a simple graphic of a good/bad ticket and grew to a sort of minigame where the player would have to compare multiple bits of information to the ticket and decide on its validity. It was at this point we could see the scenario would be fun for players wanting to play as a guard, it was just a matter of polishing up the gameplay and adding some extra tasks to help really flesh out the scenario."

Are there any other interesting scenarios players can look forward to?

Liam: "I think there’s some great scenarios for this route which include some fun new things players haven’t seen before in scenarios, such as burst pipes flooding the tracks and a photo competition where players get a camera to use (more on this one soon!)"

Glossop Line - Timetable information

And a quick summary of what you can expect from the timetable at this stage. Please bear in mind this is still being developed, with more information available in the future.

The timetable for Manchester to Glossop runs the class 323 at 2 trains per hour (2tph). Trains typically run from Manchester to Glossop, then turning back to complete the run to Hadfield.

Timings can be quite tight at stations and especially for both Glossop and Hadfield with just 3 minutes between arriving and departing. These tight timings are what allows the route to just about manage a 2tph frequency. Even with the quick turnaround, the next train for Hadfield must often wait until the train ahead has left Dinting.

There are some intricate details about this route such as signal GB867, which protects Hyde North junction, will always be red until the Manchester-bound train is ready to depart Newton. This also means that the approach signal for Newton, GB861 will never display a green aspect.

Northern run 323s on a few other lines, such as both lines to Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Liverpool Lime Street - Manchester Airport.

As for layers, it's a little early to talk about those just yet. But for now, the EMT 158 will be making an appearance at Manchester for their hourly Liverpool Lime Street - Norwich services. It will be mainly AI, but also have one playable service: an ECS in the early hours to Liverpool that runs via Ashburys.

Pricing
The Glossop Line will be available for a slightly different price than usual: £19.99/$24.99/€24.99.

Thameslink Class 700/0

Work on the Class 700 continues in earnest, and we have some more screenshots for you – as well as bringing our resident Class 700 enthusiast, James, in to give a slightly – alternative – update on what you can expect.

James’ Unhinged Update on the Class 700 

You want me to talk about the Class 700? Now? Well, how long have you got…? Alright strap in!

The teams have been busy working on all aspects of the Class 700, slowly bringing it together into a fantastic EMU which I can’t wait for all of you to experience! While we’re still quite far off from release, I thought I would share some of our latest progress, my favourite details, plus some other fun bits.

For the first time, behold the interior! All the final furniture has gone in place throughout the unit, including the First Class tables and the infamous Ironing Board standard class, it’s all there raring to be used by Medway’s… finest locals. And of course, we cannot look at the interior without admiring the modern PIS screens – not every single screen has been implemented, but destination, calling points and next stop schematics are a treat to behold! With each coach being an open-ended gangway, you can experience the hypnotic sensation of watching the train go round corners and S bends – it almost makes you want to do a silly walk down the whole length of the train!

In the cab, the screens are coming to life, and there’s some interactivity included which is fun to play around with. Brightness, Day and Night mode, cab air-con and even regen braking are all options which can be toggled. Modern trains are state-of-the-art in every right, and the Class 700 can even talk to you! Enjoy in-depth conversations where every response is “Driver, you have reset the DRA, please check the signal” – you’ll understand what it means eventually. It’s like Groot, sort of.

Yes, before a riot kicks off in declassified first class, we have included both DC and AC functionality! While we don’t have the northern end of the Thameslink network in TSW, so long as you’re happy to heinously place the 700 on other routes, you can experience the different motor sounds and physics, and we won’t judge wherever you place it… Honest!

Speaking of placing things: Daisy, who you might remember from our Birmingham Cross-City content and live stream, one of our testers and trainee Editor users, has flexed her creative muscles, and – working with the team – has had all the Thameslink-specific stopping boards made to be placed into the Southeastern Highspeed route! Due to the way the timetable already works, whether the “stop at” locations match these is not guaranteed, but her main goal is to make each station between Dartford and Rainham look more appropriate for the arrival of the 700. If you’re wondering what each of the boards mean, never fear, I’ve got you covered!

• RLU – this is the stopping board for the Reduced Length Unit (the 8-car 700/0 we’re making)
• FLU – this is the stopping board for the Full Length Unit (the 12-car 700/1, while this isn’t included, and FLU’s don’t run the Rainham service, the boards are still present throughout Medway in reality for futureproofing)
• ALL – this is the stopping point for any Class 700 regardless of length
• SDO – any of the above with “SDO” surrounding its border signifies “selective door opening”, i.e. you are supposed to stop here but some coaches will be hanging off the platform (a bit like JD’s driving)
• T – this stands for the totem pole-like shrine you see below, no I’m kidding, a T board is a Turnback board, this is the stopping point when the driver needs to change ends, it ensures, for example, that when they move to the other cab, they can still have sight of the starting signal

The Timetable

Drifting over nicely to the next topic, the TIMETABLE!

The Class 700 will add a little over 80 services to Southeastern Highspeed, filling out the half-hourly, all-stops service between Rainham and Dartford. This brings a regular service to Higham, which currently only has Southeastern services in the rush hour, and also means Rainham P0 will be used throughout the day. There are also naturally some morning and night ECS moves, enjoy running the 700 without having to worry about Kentish troublemakers.

Now… the keen modders among you have already been sneaky and found all the Class 700’s services, but joke’s on you, we knew (and secretly hoped) you would find them, but what you won’t find is everything else we’ve added recently:

One new addition because people (also known as, me) kept asking for them is a few diesel railtours, nicely complementing the already existing Jubilee tours. Once again, these are seasonal additions to the timetable, you’ll only see them as AI during select months, but we’ve put a few different ones in loosely based on real-world reference:

The Class 47 is back with a pair of services which mimic the long-lost cross-country services which used serve the Kent Coast, giving you 1O99 and 1S87 to run along the Chatham Main Line in the summer months. In TSW2 these similar services started at Gravesend, however given the addition of Dartford and how busy it is, squeezing anything else in there was going to make Joe cry, so it now joins the route at Rochester.

And then I made him cry anyway with the next addition. Being a Southern Region fan, I was always going to be a bit miffed if the Crompton didn’t make an appearance – thankfully my pleas were heard, and now we have a couple of Class 33 excursions, yay! The Kentish Crompton and The Medway Valley Crompton are a 6-parter and 2-parter respectively, combined they cover pretty much everything (well, not HS1 obviously, but wouldn’t that be awesome?! Railtour planners get on this please!)

Some additional tweaks and AI services have also gone in, most notably, we’ve adjusted how the Forward/Reverse Class 465 turnback procedures work at Strood in the morning and evening rush to be more prototypical. At my most eager request, a winter seasonal AI service now appears at Strood, inspired by last year’s Medway Valley Pullman railtour. There is also a seasonal static train going in, we’re not telling you where, when, what stock, you’ll just have to wait and see...

The final note on the timetable for now; engineering works at Belle Isle Junction are coming to an end, so with the 66’s out of the way we’ve put in ALL THE ECML THAMESLINK AI

Lastly, because I don’t have all day, Scenario fans rejoice as the gameplay team have gone to town, and back! A bumper collection of 7 scenarios are to be included, yes that’s right, 7 scenarios, mega Desiro City action awaits, including some pretty funky situations...

We’ll bring more details, including how the stations look with their new signs, in due course.

As a final note – as this has not been tested yet, the above is subject to change, and whilst we’ll endeavour to ensure these additions are available for all players, we’ll let players know if some timetable additions will be Gen9-only.

German loco

Work is continuing on the German loco – we’ll update further when we have more information!

NEC: New York – Trenton: Updated timetable

In last month’s Roadmap, we talked about the work being undertaken on our newest U.S. route to improve its timetable. And we have another update for you this month, courtesy of our very own Joe.

A Recap:

Progress on the NYT is going well! But first, let's recap. At release we had:

• The full Amtrak timetable, including again services we do not have correct coaches for.
• Acela trains will stop at Trenton for the sake of these being playable. Otherwise more than half would just be between NY Penn and Newark. These also included virtual destinations to many places beyond Trenton & NY Penn, as well as named trains displayed in the PIS.
• For NJT we had ~120 services, not the full timetable and most of which were led by the ML cab car. This was a mix, but not all, of trains 31XX, 32XX, 35XX, 37XX, 38XX, 39XX and 6XXX. All the deadheads do Sunnyside Yard (SSY) were playable, including any of 6XXX, which gave it quite an imbalance between actual passenger services and SSY deadheads.

Progress as of May 2023 Roadmap

• Full Amtrak and Acela as with release. These services may be slightly different now with more delays etc due to the increased NJT traffic.
• Full Electric NJT timetable (see below) is now complete with a few late trains that are being fixed/simulated as I type this.
• Does not include: Arrow III Princeton Junction-Princeton AI or diesel equipment out of Newark Penn/Hoboken and no AI traffic at Secaucus Junction.

However, that wasn't all I wanted to with this timetable. I'm sure you know what I'm thinking...

Imbalance of ALP-46 and ML lead services

One of the main criticisms of the timetable was of course the imbalance of ALP-46 and ML lead services. Many lines that use push-pull trainsets will usually have the loco always on one end. For example, all Hamburg to Lübeck trains have the loco towards Lübeck Hbf. Another example is RE 1 and RE 9 on KAH will have the loco facing away from Aachen Hbf.

That is not quite the case on the Trenton Line due to the Sunnyside Yard loop. Any train entering Sunnyside Yard will go via the loop, which means it will then face the other way. The difficulty here was trying to strike a close enough balance. I was able to get this balance quite close with just a few more for one than the other. Using the diagrams, each formation that leaves through portals will return facing the correct direction relative to how they left the map.

Trains out of Hoboken, however, follow the typical practice of loco always on one specific end. So, anything to/from Hoboken will always have the loco facing away from Hoboken.

Short NJT Secaucus services

Now for the exciting stuff! I have had a couple of suggestions for extra services, AI and playable. One example is the NJT services from NY Penn towards Newark Broad Street (Numbers 6XXX). Some of these were present at release and as of the last Roadmap they were all included. Though they were all AI, I had a suggestion to make those that stop at Secaucus into playable services. This was not the most straightforward thing to change to make, but that was ultimately successful. So, if you wish to drive short 5-10 minute services, those are there now for you.

The last thing I've been looking at is something quite annoying for many players. Sorting out the NJT service descriptions for NJT services from the NJCL. They would typically say "Drive this train from Trenton to NY Penn." Which is a bit misleading. These have now been corrected based on where you pick up the train from, Rahway, Newark Airport and Newark Penn.

Increasing double loco leading chances on Amtrak Northeast Regional Services

Onto other important things...

Some players have noticed that Amtrak Northeast Regional services have a very low chance to have a double loco leading. It was a very low chance and as many seem to like it, I have increased it slightly.

Freight

American railroads are arguably best-known for their freight. In fact, the freight on the NEC was quite intriguing for me. It was the first service types I began researching back in November before acquiring passenger timetables. Looking through several videos and forums for reference, I found enough information for 4 freight trains: ME-02, ME-47, ME-84 and OI-32. These trains are run by CSAO, which to my best understanding is a settled agreement between CSX and NS after the old CR lines were too complicated to divide up. Please feel free to look up more about them, it's quite interesting.

CSAO ME-02, having just joined the NEC from Metuchen Yard, will change direction and head for Jersey Avenue

But what does that mean for NYT? CSAO run trains with a mix of CSX and NS equipment, specifically the ex-CR equipment that have extra in cab signalling*. In TSW, these will require SPG for the CSX GP38-2s that operate the trains. Though there is a chance that one or multiple per train could be an NS GP38-2, if you own Horseshoe Curve. Many of the cars pulled by these trains also have a medium chance to substitute into other railroad cars. I've seen, for example, CSX mixed with BNSF and then CN, which is quite like the videos I was using for reference.

It also means that each time you play and see the same train, it will always look different. Slight side effect is that ME-02 may have odd cars added that it would not normally have. ME-02 also does not have the CR caboose because we don't currently have one, which may make the return service quite a challenge.

CSAO ME-84 heads Southwest towards Elizabeth on its journey to Metuchen Yard as the delayed Amtrak 133 heads to Washington

Slight problem is that we do not have GP38-2 or GP40-2s in TSW with in cab signalling. For this reason, I am still unsure if these can be playable. I will be playing this with and without the HUD to see if the HUD is able to help in any way with the NEC signalling. The problem could be though that you're suddenly faced with a red signal which cab signalling would have been slowing you down for. This is likely beyond my control and would have to be made AI if it's too ridiculous. Playable or not though, I hope you can enjoy these freight services as much as I have!

With all the changes above, I think NYT will look vastly different. Oh, I almost forgot...

Long Island Railroad Layer

Long Island Railroad. The most requested layer of all time, (maybe).

The good news. The LIRR layer. It's in, it works. Better than I thought it would. This layer adds a whopping over 500 LIRR services to NY Penn. Non-peak trains run using the north tunnels exclusively and peak trains will use both north and south tunnels. LIRR trains can be seen at NY Penn as far down as track 13. With LIRR, Amtrak and NJT, NY Penn during peak hours is almost non-stop with many simultaneous arrivals and departures, LIRR especially.

LIRR peak trains also run every 3 minutes in each directly so there is plenty of activity passing SSY now. The Long Island Railroad layer for NYT will require just the LIRR route for the M7 AI. Each formation, 6, 8, 10 & 12 have a 20% chance to substitute into a LIRR M3 (of the same length) if you own the LIRR M3 DLC too! So, to be clear, LIRR route is required for ALL services. The M3 only adds variety.

NY Penn looking a lot busier now.

Now, for some other important news: it won't be 100% accurate. Specifically talking about Westside Yard (WSY). WSY and Penn are extremely close and together have the capacity for 52 formations in the same area. Add that the nearby SSY has up to over 30 tracks, include all the moving trains and you could be looking at up to 90 formations in that area. Performance-wise, you're asking for trouble.

NJT train leaving Sunnyside Yard whilst a Long Island Railroad M7 flies over

Actually, this is how I started making the LIRR layer, before getting it to 9am and realising this would not work. So, WSY will be rather quiet. There are a few trains an hour that go there if they have to switch platforms at Penn, but will not stay for too long. Consider also that WSY won't be all that visible from Penn station itself, and it makes it more trouble than its worth. These would provide a detriment to performance, for content you wouldn’t even see!

For this reason, many of the LIRR trains that would end up in WSY for several hours after the morning rush will instead head back towards Woodside as if they're empty to other yards. This gives a bonus of requiring fewer formations to run this layer therefore, this layer is as efficient on hardware resources as it can be.

A LIRR M7 passes a very busy Sunnyside Yard in the late morning

Well, that's it for now, but there are still plenty of things to be done...

Thanks, Joe! Expect to see more on the updated timetable in the coming weeks as it nears completion for testing. As a final note – as with the Class 700, as this has not been tested yet, the above is subject to change, and whilst we’ll endeavour to ensure these additions are available for all players, we’ll let players know if some timetable additions will be Gen9-only.

Core Improvements and Content Patches

A progress summary on the core improvements the teams are working on. This month, we have a quick Add-ons Manager update, HST Livery Designer functionality, Peninsula Corridor Baby Bullet Services, and TSW2 Preservation Crew improvements.

Add-ons Manager

No extra news from last month - we’re still in the process of testing Xbox Add-ons Manager. We’ve been experiencing some crashing issues with the current build, so our Engineering team will be taking another look at it.

Once Xbox is out, we’ll turn our attention to PC platforms.

HST Livery Designer Compatibility

It is going through testing now, and we hope to release later into June, alongside some improvements to Great Western Express.

Peninsula Corridor and Oakville Corridor Baby Bullet services

We have a partial improvement for this issue that needs to be tested – if it passes the testing, we’ll be aiming to release it this month alongside another patch.

TSW2 Preservation Crew releases

Nothing further on this one from last month – the team are in the process of collating the updates into one patch, and when we have more for you we’ll let you know.

Third-Party developer (Partner Programme) update

Skyhook Games

All of us at Skyhook would really like to express our appreciation and thanks for everyone who has provided feedback for Midland Mainline. We have been delighted with the response to the route and all the enthusiasm in sharing ideas and feedback with us.

Just Trains

This month, Alex from the Just Trains team gives us an update on the progress of their route’s development. And we have our first Work In Progress screenshot!

Rivet Games

As alluded to in the Patches section, we’ll have an update incoming from Rivet Games that touches some of their older Train Sim World content, including:

• Isle of Wight: Ryde-Shanklin
• DB BR 204
• Arosalinie
• 1938 Tube Stock
• West Cornwall Local: Penzance – St Austell and St. Ives
• S-Bahn Zentralschweiz: Luzern-Sursee

THE TRAIN SIM WORLD ROADMAP

DOVETAIL GAMES RELEASES

Next Arrival:

• [3.GBB-R7 04] Glossop Line - Manchester - Hadfield & Glossop

In development:

• [3.GKK-L7 01] Thameslink BR Class 700/0
• [3.DKK-L7 01] German locomotive

PARTNER PROGRAMME RELEASES

In development:

• [3.GDF-R5 01] UK Route – (developed by Just Trains)

In planning:

• [3.DBB-L5 01] DB BR 420 Electric Multiple Unit (Hauptstrecke München-Augsburg) – (developed by TSG)

CORE FEATURES

In development:

• Add-ons Manager (Xbox, PC)
• Derailing improvements (route-by-route)
• Save Game improvements (route-by-route)
• Performance optimisation

SPECIAL PROJECTS TEAM AND PATCHES

We have included a ‘scale’ of the size of the work/features put into the update.

Next release:

• Linke Rheinstrecke post-release patch
• Bremen-Oldenburg patch
• Rivet Games content patch
• Midland Main Line post-release patch
• HST Livery Designer functionality
• Niddertalbahn post-release patch

In development:

• Peninsula Corridor + Oakville Subdivision – access to Baby Bullet services
• NEC: New York – Trenton timetable improvements
• Scottish Commuter
• Hauptstrecke Hamburg-Lübeck, including timetable update
• Rhein-Ruhr Osten
• 2022 Bakerloo timetable (600+services)
• Long Island Rail Road
• Peninsula Corridor – NOTE: there are further improvements to come on both games
• Oakville Subdivision
• LGV Mediterrannée

At a red light:

• DB BR 187 Audio improvements

MISCELLANEOUS

In planning:

• Manual fireman functionality for Steam locomotives

At a red light:

• Rush Hour passenger system for London Commuter