Compatibility: Train Simulator Classic.
The Wessex Main Line: Southampton to Salisbury route extends
Dovetail Games’ South Western Main Line: Southampton – Bournemouth
route to Salisbury (required for this extension to operate). It
includes the direct route between Redbridge and Romsey, as well as the
line to Romsey via Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford. This extends the
original route by around 33 miles.
The route normally sees hourly all-stops service between Salisbury
and Romsey via Southampton and Eastleigh, and an hourly semi-fast
Portsmouth to Cardiff service, as well as occasional peak services
between Southampton, Swindon and Great Malvern. Numerous freight
services operate along the line with daily container workings to and
from Southampton Docks, stone trains to and from the quarries at
Whatley and Merehead, and engineering trains between Eastleigh and
Westbury. It is also the main diversionary route for freight and other
passenger services when the South Western Main Line is shut between
Eastleigh and Basingstoke, and is popular with rail tours which often
run in a loop to and from Salisbury.
Development Updates
Here's the next of our Development Updates for Wessex Main Line:
Southampton - Salisbury Extension. The screenshots focus on the area
around Southampton Central and the Docks region following the
extensive improvements over the last few years. The shots show some of
the upgrade works represented in Train Simulator, starting at
Millbrook and heading west towards Redbridge. The final screenshot
shows the new footbridge steps which were modelled due to the existing
ones conflicting with the new track layout. Consequently, they are now
more representative of real life. Here's some background detail about
the enhancements and the work that has been carried out:
Southampton is the UK’s second busiest container port and a vital
part of the UK freight network. Around 800 containers a day pass
through Freightliner’s Southampton Maritime Terminal at Redbridge
which handles around 24 container trains daily. In addition, DB Cargo
and GB Railfreight average 18 trains per day from the Southampton
Docks complex which is about two miles west of Southampton Central
station. However, until recently, freight trains were limited to 520
metres in length.
Friday 19th February 2021 saw the completion of a £17 million
project, largely funded by the DfT, to increase freight capacity at
the port. This work enabled 750-metre-long trains to access
Southampton Western Docks in Millbrook, used by DB Cargo and GB
Railfreight, and the Redbridge Freightliner Maritime Terminal to
accommodate container trains 775 metres long, the maximum allowable on
the UK network. As a result, Freightliner trains from Southampton can
now carry an additional 14 containers, potentially saving tens of
thousands of Heavy Goods Vehicle movements each year.
As well as lengthening sidings at Redbridge, these enhancements
included track and signalling alterations which simplified terminal
shunting arrangements with the effect of improving the efficiency of
freight train operations by up to 30%. The work provided almost a mile
of new track, 14 new sets of switches and crossings, and 22 new
signals, as well as requiring alterations to the signalling control
panel at Eastleigh.
It increased the allowable speed of freight trains between
Southampton Central station and the docks, thus reducing congestion at
the station as passenger trains do not have to wait so long for
freight trains to pass through it.
The work was done in three phases. Phase 1 saw the original
600-metre-long Redbridge terminal sidings extended for which land had
to be purchased from the local authority. This was completed in March
2019. Phase 2 saw new track installed to increase linespeeds between
Southampton Central and Redbridge. Phase 3 saw the commissioning of
new signals for the Southampton area. This required two weekend
blockages in the area on 30/31st January 2021 and 13/14th February
2021, as well as a line blockage from 15-19th February 2021 west of
Southampton Central.
