Overview
Template:LineAirLink serves as the quick airport rail link between Stepford City and Stepford Airport, delivering passengers to Stepford Airport Central, Airport Terminal 2 and Airport Terminal 3 via Berrily & Morganstown, in under 15 minutes. It currently has 5 routes, 2 direct, the 3 others with a flipped stopping pattern.
There's a chance that AirLink resembles the real life Gatwick Express since the livery of Gatwick Express is being used on the newer Next-Generation trains.
The AirLink Headquarters can be found at Berrily.
History of AirLink
2017
AirLink was first proposed back in August 2017, when Charlie_RBX, the Managing Director and founder of SCR, stated in the #announcements channel on Discord that a new line was coming. It was named AirportExpress in the old network plans, and the first train that was going to run on it was the Class 345 Aventra. Many people were excited for the new line. Then in September, multiple Class 345 trains started testing on the AirLink mainline. This was a sign that AirLink would be coming soon. People waited until the end of the year, but the new line never came. Another image was posted in #announcements showing two Class 345s at the Stepford Airport Parkway Depot. (A video is available on YouTube of the Class 345's testing.)
2018
On the 23rd of September of 2018, an image was posted to the #sneak-peeks channel by the Innovations Director, BanTech. It showed a picture of the new Stepford Central track layout for signal boards at the ROC. In the picture, it showed that platforms 12, 13, 14, and 15 were going to be used. This caused wild speculation among SCR players, stating that AirLink may be coming in V1.1.
Then in December, SCR released an advent calendar with each day as a sneak peek for Version 1.1. On Day 22, it finally happened. In a surprise announcement, they said that a new line, AirLink, was going to be released, with Classes 185 and 802s running on the line. It is unknown why the Class 345 was never released, but it is most likely due to the fact that seven coaches would be too laggy and the Class 345 is a city train and that AirLink only uses express trains.
2019
Soon after the release of 1.1 on New Years' Eve, more trains were added to the fleet, such the Class 332 and Class 360. In February, the Airport Terminals Were added. In May, AirLink introduced its refurbished 185 with NG technology. The Class 387 was then moved to AirLink from WaterLine in June and also refurbished with NG technology. Not long ago, Airlink got a new logo and a new colour, from yellow to a dark orange. Then in September, a new train was revealed to the public: the Class 755. It would already be added to the game with Next Generation technology. Another sneak peek revealed the new AirLink extension to Leighton Stepford Road.
Rolling Stock
The following list represents the current, past, and future fleet of AirLink.
Current
Class Number | Maximum Speed | Price | Number of Coaches | Routes Operated On | Train Family | Date Put Into Service |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class 185 (Next-Gen) | 100 MPH | 1500 points | 3 or 6 coaches | All routes | Desiro | December
31, 2018 (Next Generation-May 24, 2019) |
Class 332 | 100 MPH | 1500 Points | 4 or 5 coaches | All routes | N/A (No Family | January 25, 2019 |
Class 360
(Next-Gen) |
100 MPH | 1500
Points |
4 or 5 coaches | All routes | Desiro | February 1, 2019 (Next Generation-July 20, 2019) |
Class 387 (Next-Gen) | 110 MPH | 3000
Points |
4 coaches | All routes | Electrostar | June 8, 2019 |
Class 802 | 110 MPH | 3000
Points |
5 coaches | All routes | A-Train | December 31, 2018 |
Former
- None
Future
Class Number | Maximum Speed | Price | Number of Coaches | Train Family | Reveal
Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class 755 (Next-Gen) | 100 MPH | 2250 | 3 or 4 coaches | FLIRT | September 9, 2019 |
Depots
Current
Future
- No depot has been revealed yet.
Former
- No depot has closed down yet.
Sidings
Current
Future
- None known of at this time.
Former
- No siding has been closed yet.
Stations
Current
- Stepford Central
- Stepford East
- St. Helen's Bridge
- Elsemere Junction
- Berrily (Eastbound Journeys)
- Morganstown
- Stepford Airport Parkway
- Stepford Airport Central
- Airport Terminal 1
- Airport Terminal 2
- Airport Terminal 3
Future
Former
- There are no former stations on AirLink.
Routes
You can see the list of all AirLink routes here.
Note
- It is not suggested that you drive on AirLink if you're trying to earn points.
Trivia
- The Logo is based off the Gatwick Express Logo as shown here.
- AirLink is the only operator that has Express and Stopper Routes.
- Airlink is the only operator which offers first class onboard.
- Airlink has the joint fastest speeds, with Connect on the network: 110mph
- Airlink has the lowest amount of different rolling stock (double, or trains with one extra carriage), which is 5.
- There are only 11 stops in total that Airlink serve, making it the least amount of stations served by an operator.
- The scheduled timetable says that Express Trains from Stepford Central don't stop until Airport Central, making this the greatest distance between two scheduled stations.
- More than half of the Airlink fleet is Next Generation.
- Airlink holds the longest train in the game, the double Class 185, having 6 coaches.