Newcastle Central Station

Newcastle Central Station
Description	A simulation of the lines leading to and the platforms at Newcastle Central Station
Country	United Kingdom
Time period	2020
Train Operating Company	Northern, London North Eastern Railway, Transpennine Express, CrossCountry
Simulation difficulty
Author	Josco
Website	Newcastle Central Station
Route map Scotland Heaton Depot Sunderland Manors River Tyne Newcastle High Level Bridge Newcastle Central Greenesfield Repairs Forth Bank Repairs King Edward Bridge River Tyne East Coast Main Line

This is a simulation of the 12 platforms and associated lines around Newcastle Central Station. There is also the East/West loop included which runs south of the river and is used as a 'run-around' instead of trains having to change direction when travelling from East to North (for example). The platforms are faithful to the actual station layout and the plaform numbers have been noted on the layout. However, the platforms don't have their own identity with ROS. The whole station is called Newcastle Central Station and trains can stop at any platform. Similarly, passing trains may go via any platform without any penalty. However, the timetable has been created with platform details for each train as per the actual timetable.

Timetable

The timetable has been created from the actual timetable set for the station on 24th April 2020. There are 374 trains in the simulation and the timetable has been written with no repeat services. The main shift from the actual timetable is for trains which leave the local depot and head to the station before beginning their service. In the actual timetable these would be designated as 'Empty Coaching Stock' until they begin life as a passenger service. So, for example, 5P04, would be the head code of the train heading from Heaton Depot to Platform 3. This train would then become 1P04 when it arrives at the platform. For ease, I have created the train as 1P04 from it's inception rather than creating a new service.

Newcastle Central Station Services
Train Operating Company	Origin	Destination	Frequency (tph)
CrossCountry	Plymouth	Edinburgh Waverley	1
London North Eastern Railway	London King's Cross		2
Transpennine Express	Liverpool Lime Street		1
	Manchester Airport	Newcastle	1
Northern	Chathill		2tpd
	Carlisle	Morpeth	2
	Hexham	Nunthorpe	1

Operational Tips

• All preferred directions and auto signals are set in the attached session file.
• There is a 'Goods Line Stop' added as a platform as this is used as a stopping point in the timetable. It is referred to as a Service Line in the actual timetable. The Goods Line Stop is a separate platform and, should trains which are designated to pass or stop here, fail to do so, this will be marked as an error by ROS.
• The areas close to the station have a 40km speed limit and this can rise to 80km, then 150km as trains move away from the station. Note that trains with the head code starting with 4 are all limited to speed of no more than 50km per hour and trains beginning with 6 are limited to 40km per hour.
• In the description of each train, it's journey through the station is stated. This includes the platform to be used and is faithful to the actual timetable. Whilst the simulation can get quite busy, it is recommended to use the platform as designated. However, as per real life, a signaller has the ability to change the platfrom and route of the train if needed.
• The timetable runs for 24 hours starting at midnight. This will give a user plenty of slow time to get used to the layout. A lot of the early hours can be run at double or more speeds until things start to busy up around 6am. The session file starts at 0000 and has the preferred directions and auto signals set.