Stepford Connect

Stepford Connect operates rail services to various districts around Stepford County, such as Benton, Leighton, Morganstown, Whitefield, Berrily, Stepford Airport, Llyn-by-the-Sea and Willowfield. A full journey on the mainline, which runs from Stepford Victoria to Llyn-by-the-Sea takes about 43 minutes and is only drivable on the Class 68.

The route could be classified as commuter rail as the intent of the services is to deliver passengers to and from major centres, indicated by the current routes, rather than being a link for intermediate stations in between some large areas like regional rail. The trains on this route reach an average maximum speed of 100 miles per hour.

As part of a renewed franchise from 1 May 2020, this operator is now branded as Stepford Connect and bears a cyan colour scheme, courtesy of rail management system Transport For Stepford. Prior to the renewal, the brand was simply Connect and bore a bright bluish green colour scheme.

History

2017

Services on the route commenced on 25th November 2017, exclusively using Class 700 units, from Stepford Town to Port Benton. Services to Stepford Airport Central began next, providing a direct link between the city and the then under-construction airport.
Coxly Depot was constructed to alleviate the overcrowded Benton Depot, alongside the introduction of Class 333 units for more frequent service. Class 321 units were introduced shortly after on 29th November to run new services to Winstree. In December, Bodin, Benton Bridge, Stepford Airport Parkway and Stepford Airport Central were renovated to allow for more capacity, with Benton being completely rebuilt.

4th December: the Connect franchise was renewed to include the Waterline route sub-franchise. Class 357 and Class 387 units were also introduced, with Class 350 units following on 6th December. On 11th December, some Class 700 units were painted into a special livery to celebrate Christmas, and Class 185 units were introduced on 13th December. On 18th December, all Class 387 units were taken out of service to be repainted into the WaterLine livery, and were replaced by Class 377 units. On 25 December, Class 720 units were introduced.

2018

1st January: Class 170 units were introduced. On 9th January, Benton was rebuilt once more to allow more trains to enter and increase capacity.
21st April: all Class 700 units were replaced by Class 707 units, Winstree and Winstree Depot were demolished and rebuilt as Leighton Stepford Road and Leighton Depot. Rocket Parade station was constructed in-between Water Newton and Leighton Stepford Road, and services to Leighton City commenced. St Helens Bridge was rebuilt and became a terminus for trains from Leighton City.
10th May: Class 380/0 and 380/1 units were introduced. On 15th July, all Class 321 units were painted into a revised livery. On 4th August, Class 365 units were proposed to be introduced.
31st December: Services to Berrily, Morganstown, Edgemead and Stepford Victoria commenced, and Class 68 locomotives hauling Mark 3 coaches were introduced. The entrance leading to Platforms 11 through 15 at Stepford Central was also opened.

2019

28th April: services to Stepford United Football Club and Whitefield commenced. On 6th May, Class 331/0 and 331/1 units were introduced. On 14th May, Class 158 units entered service, being the first with Next Generation doors and interiors on the fleet. On 29th May, all Class 185 units were upgraded with the same tech from the Class 158 units, and on June 8, all Class 377 units were upgraded as well.

On 5th July: all Class 350 and Class 357 units were upgraded. On 9th July, Class 458/5 units were introduced, already equipped with Next Generation doors and interiors. On 29th July, all Class 707 units were upgraded. On 7th August, all Class 68 and Mark 3 units were upgraded. On 14th August, Class 458/0 units were introduced, already equipped with Next Generation doors and interiors. On 31st August, all Class 170 units were upgraded. On 17th December, services to Westwyvern and Llyn-by-the-Sea commenced.

2020

22nd February: All Class 321, Class 331, Class 465, and Class 720 units were upgraded, and Faymere Green TMD was built between Faymere and Westercoast. The platforms at Stepford Central, Stepford High Street, and Benton received new decor. The entrance to Whitefield was rebuilt, and all platforms received new decor, with platform three being extended.

4th March: All Class 707 units were upgraded with Next Generation V2 doors and interiors. On 11th March, all Class 333 units were upgraded with the same tech from the Class 707 units. On 18 March, Stepford Central was rebuilt to increase capacity and discard aging infrastructure.

1st May: The Connect franchise was renewed to no longer include Waterline, and was passed onto Transport For Stepford. All Class 380/0 and 380/1 units were upgraded with Next Generation V2 doors and interiors, and became the first trains to bear the new branding introduced with the franchise renewal. On 2nd May, plans were revealed to retrofit all Class 170, Class 331, Class 350, Class 357, Class 377 and Class 465 units with the new branding.

25th May: Plans were revealed to upgrade Coxly station. On 30th May, plans were revealed to upgrade Stepford Victoria station. On 2nd June, plans were revealed to retrofit the Stepford Connect Headquarters with new branding.
6th June: Plans were revealed to upgrade all Class 720 units with Next Generation V2 doors and interiors and new branding. On 16th June, plans were revealed to introduce Class 730/1 units and new signalling equipment. On 19th June, plans were revealed to retrofit all Class 158 and Class 185 units with new branding. On 22nd June, plans were revealed to commence services to Beechley and Willowfield, as well as the retrofitting of all Class 331/1 units in a Pride variant of the new livery.
22nd June: All aforementioned changes and services were set in motion that same day, alongside the retrofitting of all Class 321, Class 333, Class 458 and Class 707 units with new seating and a new livery. Many Connect stations were refurbished whether an interior upgrade or a full refit. They include Stepford Central, City Hospital, Financial Quarter, Stepford Victoria, Stepford High Street and Stepford UFC. All the stations west of Stepford High Street received a new station sign and Class 730 was added to the fleet. Services to Beechley and Willowfield also commenced.
14th August: Plans were revealed to remodel all Class 377 units to the mesh models. The Class 387 was also featured in the sneak peek.
27th September: Plans were revealed to open a previously abandoned station, Upper Staploe, to the public.

Rolling Stock

Current

Class Number	Top Speed (mph)	Price^{[Note 1]} (Points)	Carriages	Manufacturer	Train Family	Date Put Into Service	Date converted to NG	Routes Operated On
Diesel multiple-units								R001 R002 R003 R004 R005 R006 R007 R008 R021 R022 R023 R024 R025 R027 R028 R029 R030 R031 R032 R033 R034 R035 R037 R038
Class 158	90	~~1500~~ 1125	2 (/9) 3 (/0)	BREL	Express Sprinter	May 14, 2019
Class 158	90
Class 170	100	~~1500~~ 1125	3	Adtranz and Bombardier	Turbostar	January 1, 2018	August 31, 2019
Class 170
Class 185		~~1500~~ 1125	3	Siemens	Desiro	December 13, 2017	May 29, 2019
Class 185
Electric multiple-units
Class 321	100	~~1500~~ 1125	4	BREL	Mark 3	November 29, 2017	February 22, 2020
Class 331		~~1500~~ 1125	3 (/0) 4 (/1)	CAF	Civity	May 6, 2019	February 22, 2020
Class 331
Class 333		~~1500~~ 1125	4	Siemens and CAF	N/A	November 30, 2017	March 11, 2020
Class 350	110	~~1500~~ 1125	4	Siemens	Desiro	December 6, 2017	July 5, 2019
Class 350	110
Class 357	100	Free	4	Adtranz and Bombardier	Electrostar	December 4, 2017	July 5, 2019
Class 357
Class 377		~~1500~~ 1125	4	Bombardier	Electrostar	December 18, 2017	June 8, 2019
Class 377
Class 380		~~1500~~ 1125	3 (/0) 4 (/1)	Siemens	Desiro	May 11, 2018	May 1, 2020
Class 380
Class 458/0		Unlocks with /5	4	Alstom	Juniper	July 29, 2019
Class 458/0
Class 458/5	75	~~1500~~ 1125	5	Alstom	Juniper	August 14, 2019
Class 458/5
Class 465		~~1500~~ 1125	4	BREL, ABB and Metro-Cammell	Networker	November 30, 2017	February 22, 2020
Class 465
Class 707	100	~~300~~ 225	5	Siemens	Desiro City	April 21, 2018	July 20, 2019
Class 707
Class 720		~~1500~~ 1125	5	Bombardier	Aventra	January 29, 2018	February 22, 2020
Class 720
Class 730/1		~~1500~~ 1125	5	Bombardier	Aventra	June 23, 2020
Locomotive hauled stock								18 routes^{[Note 2]}
Class 68	100	~~3000~~ 2250 ^{[Note 3]}	3^{[Note 4]}	Vossloh and Stadler	UKLight	December 31, 2018	August 8th, 2019	18 routes^{[Note 2]}
Class 68	100
Mark 3A	N/A	Included with Class 68	N/A	BREL	Mark 3	December 31, 2018

Former

Class Number	Top Speed (mph)	Price	Carriages	Manufacturer	Train Family	Date Put Into Service	Date Withdrawn From Service	Routes Operated On
Electric multiple-units
Class 700	100	Free	6	Siemens	Desiro City	November 25, 2017	April 21, 2018	All routes (at that time)
Class 700	100
Class 387	110	45 Robux	4	Bombardier	Electrostar	December 4, 2017	December 18, 2017 (Moved to Waterline on December 21, 2017, then Airlink on June 8, 2019)	All routes (at that time)
Class 387	110

Future

None at this time.

Proposed

Class Number	Image	Top Speed (mph)	Carriages	Manufacturer	Train Family
Class 365		100	4	ABB	Networker
Class 365