Overview
Stepford Express, commonly called Express, is the fast rail link between major cities and zones such as Benton, Leighton, and Llyn-by-the-Sea. It currently has 2 trains and 4 routes. All 4 routes originate at Stepford Central.
History
2018
First traces of Express could be seen as far back as January 7th, where a new express line was built. The works included new Platforms 5 & 6 at Benton, passing tracks through Coxly and Bodin, and Platforms 1 & 2 at the Pre-V1.1 Stepford East abandoned, later removed. The works caused Connect to use a different route to Stepford Central via Angel Pass. Works also happened east of Benton, where a linking line from Benton to the fast lines near Hampton Hargate was built.
On December 22nd, 2018, BanTech mentioned that Express will NOT be coming in V1.1 as they prioritized AirLink and not Express, hinting that Express would be coming in future updates.
2019
On May 11th, 2019, BanTech unveiled the roadmap. Under Q3 of 2019, it mentioned the Express line, which got people hyped because they would be getting Express over the summer.
Express wasn't mentioned again until the 22nd of September when BanTech announced that Connect Extension and Express Line were delayed.
On the 29th of September, Matty, then the OD, showed off Faymere and commented "This station will be served by Connect but is a cool place to watch Express trains pass at speed!". On the 5th of October, Charlie showed Northshore and commented "Fancy a wander on the beach? Connect and Express can help you out with that! Introducing Northshore". This confirmed to the public that Express was skipping Faymere yet stopping at Northshore.
On the 18th of October, Matty showed Llyn-by-the-Sea and a Class 43 for Express which got the public hyped up again and confirmed Express was stopping at Llyn. Finally, on the 25th of November, BanTech showed a picture of the 43 at Stepford Central.
On the 17th of December, 2019, 1.4 came out with Express, 4 new routes, and 2 new trains.
Rolling Stock
Current Fleet
| Class Number | Maximum Speed | Price | Number of Coaches | Routes Operated On | Train Family/Manufacturer | Date Put Into Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class 43
(Next-Gen) | 125 MPH | 3000 points | 4 with 2 locomotives, making it 6 cars | All routes |
British Rail Engineering Limited/InterCity 125 | December 17th 2019 |
Class 801
(Next-Gen) | 125 MPH | 2250 points | 5 cars | All routes | Hitachi/A-Train AT300 | December 17th 2019 |
Former
- None at the moment
Future
- None at the moment
Depots
Current
Former
- None at the moment
Future
- Faymere Green TMD (Possibly)
Stations
Current
- Stepford Central
- St Helens Bridge
- Benton
- Leighton Stepford Road
- Leighton City
- Edgemead
- Westwyvern
- Northshore
- Llyn-by-the-Sea
Former
- Coxly
Future
- Westercoast
- Faymare
Trivia
- Matty's sneak peek of Starryloch showed a fragment of a purple-coloured train, which aroused speculation that it could be an Express train. It was later revealed to be the Class 43 alongside the long-waited Llyn-by-the-Sea sneak peek.
- A significant portion of the tracks have been or are already in use. Before Angel Pass was added, Connect trains used the express tracks between St Helens Bridge and Bodin, and the middle tracks between Coxly and Benton. Platforms 1-3 at Stepford Town (Stepford Central) and Platforms 1-2 at St Helens Bridge were formerly operated by Connect. Also, AirLink trains used the Express tracks between just west of Hampton Hargate to Leighton Stepford Road since the Five Million Update.
- The Class 43 holds the record for the longest train in SCR along with the Double AirLink Class 185.
- The Class 801 is exactly the same as the Class 802 running on AirLink, with the exception of class numbers, liveries, operators, and maximum speeds.
- This is the 2nd operator to feature "bullet trains" as the first was AirLink.
- Every Express route plays the "The Train now approaching Platform x, does not stop here. Please stand back from the Platform edge." message while passing at least 1 station.
- Stepford Express serves the least amount of stations of any operator on the network, at 9 stations.
- Stepford Connect stops at every one of the 9 stations that Stepford Express stops at. 4 of those 9 have Connect and Express share Platforms (Leighton Stepford Road, Leighton City, Edgemead, and Llyn-by-the-Sea). Stepford Express services is a part of Stepford Connect, the other operator is WaterLine.
- The headquarters of this operator cannot be found.
- A Class 91 was actually supposed to run on the line, evident in a showcase of future SCR trains made by former PDV, OverheadWires, but due to his resignation the units were never completed and were never put into service. It's unknown if someone else would finish them and put them in service.
