Stepford Connect

Overview

Stepford Connect is the brand name used for regional services from Stepford City to Benton, Stepford Airport, Leighton, and beyond.

The Stepford Connect Headquarters is located between Stepford East and Stepford Central.

WaterLine is a sub-brand of Connect and shares its branding likeness, including the use of the phrase "Part of your Connect service."

History

2017

Stepford Connect was the first operator for SCR, beginning service on November 25th 2017, with the Class 700 as its sole rolling stock. Services began between Stepford Town (later renamed Stepford Central) and Benton, then were later extended to Stepford Airport Central, providing a direct link between the city and the airport. Around the same time Port Benton opened, which was the first non-mainline station on the network. The station was also the first to feature a terminus loop. Later, the new Coxly Depot was opened to alleviate traffic from the overcrowded Benton Depot, along with the addition of Class 333 units to further improve the frequency of services. The addition of Class 321 units followed shortly after on the 29th, and so did the opening of the mainline to Winstree (spiritual successor Leighton Stepford Road). Around December, Bodin, Benton Bridge, Stepford Airport Parkway, and Stepford Airport Central were renovated for larger capacity. A renovation to Benton followed shortly after. On December 4th, Class 357 and Class 387 units entered service, being the first Electrostar units to ever operate on the network. Class 350s entered service shortly after on December 6. On December 11th, some Class 700s were fitted with a special livery to celebrate Christmas and the Class 185s entered service on the 13th. On the 18th, the Class 387 units were taken out of service in favor of Class 377 units.

2018

New trains entered service at the stroke of midnight on January 1st: the Class 170s. The Class 720s followed, being the first Aventra trains on the network. Benton got another renovation on January 9th to its present-day look. On April 21st, SCR got a complete revamp with V1.0, which had a major impact on Stepford Connect, including the scrapping of the Class 700 units, which were replaced by the Class 707s, and many station renovations or replacements, such as Leighton Stepford Road which replaced Winstree, and other stations such as Rocket Parade opened. On August 4th, the Class 365 trains were officially proposed to enter service on Stepford Connect. On December 31st, extensions to Morganstown and Edgemead were opened, and Class 68s hauling Mark 3 coaches were introduced to service.

2019

On April 28th, the extension to Whitefield opened to much success. On May 6th, the Class 331s were introduced. On May 14th, the Class 158s entered service, the first Next Generation trains for Stepford Connect. On May 29th, the Class 185s were upgraded, and on June 8, the Class 377s were upgraded. On July 5, the Class 350s and 357s received their upgrades. On July 9, Class 458/5s were introduced. The Class 68s were then upgraded on August 7th. On August 14th, Class 458/0s were put into service. On August 31, the Class 170s were upgraded. On December 17, Connect was extended to Llyn-by-the-sea as part of Version 1.4, with three new routes.

2020

On February 22, the Class 321, Class 331, Class 465, and Class 720 got upgraded to Next Generation, Faymere Green TMD depot added, Stepford Central, Stepford High Street, Whitefield, and Benton got upgraded.

Rolling Stock

Current

Class Number	Maximum Speed	Price	Number of Coaches	Routes Operated On	Manufacturer/Train Family	Date Put Into Service
Class 158 (Next-Gen)	90 MPH	1500 Points	2 or 3 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	British Rail Engineering Limited/Sprinter	May 14, 2019
Class 170 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	1500 Points	3 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Adtranz/Bombardier Transportation/Turbostar	January 1, 2018 (Next Generation- August 31, 2019)
Class 185 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	1500 Points	3 Coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Siemens Mobility/Desiro	December 13, 2017 (Next Generation- May 29, 2019)
Class 321 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	1500 Points	4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	British Rail Engineering Limited/BR Second Generation (Mark 3)	November 29, 2017 (Next Generation- February 22, 2020)
Class 331 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	1500 Points	3 or 4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	CAF/Civity	May 6, 2019 (Next Generation- February 22, 2020)
Class 333	100 MPH	1500 Points	4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Siemens Mobility and CAF	November 30, 2017
Class 350 (Next-Gen)	110 MPH	1500 Points	4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Siemens Mobility/Desiro	December 6, 2017 (Next Generation-July 5, 2019)
Class 357 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	Free	4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Adtranz/Bombardier Transportation/Electrostar	December 4, 2017 (Next Generation-July 5, 2019)
Class 377 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	1500 Points	4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Bombardier Transportation/Electrostar	December 18, 2017 (Next Generation- June 8, 2019)
Class 380	100 MPH	1500 Points	3 or 4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Siemens Mobility/Desiro	May 11, 2018
Class 458 (Next-Gen)	/5 - 75MPH /0- 100MPH	1500 Points	4 or 5 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Alstom/Juniper	/5 - July 29, 2019 /0 - August 14, 2019
Class 465 (Next-Gen)	75 MPH	1500 Points	4 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	British Rail Engineering Limited, ABB Rail, Metro-Cammell/Networker	November 30, 2017 (Next Generation- February 22, 2020)
Class 707 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	300 Points	5 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Siemens/Desiro City	April 21, 2018 (Next Generation- July 20, 2019)
Class 720 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	1500 Points	5 coaches	All routes excluding R009 and R026	Bombardier Transportation/Aventra	January 29, 2018 (Next Generation- February 22, 2020)
Class 68 (Next-Gen)	100 MPH	300 Points and 200 Experience	2 locomotives, 3 coaches, making it 5 coaches	R003, R004, R006, R007, R009, R022, R024, R025, R026	Vossloh Eurolight	December 31, 2018 (Next Generation- August 8th, 2019)

Former

Class Number	Maximum Speed	Price	Number of Coaches	Routes Operated On	Manufacturer Train Family	Date Put Into Service	Date Withdrawn From Service
Class 700	100 MPH	Free	6 coaches	Stepford Town (Stepford Central)-Port Benton	Siemens Mobility/Desiro City	November 25, 2017	April 21, 2018
Class 387	110 MPH	45 Robux	4 coaches	All routes	Bombardier Transportation/Electrostar	December 4, 2017	December 18, 2017 (Moved to Waterline on December 21, 2017, then AirLink on June 8, 2019)

Future

None at the moment