TLS Roadmap 2025
About TLS
Everything began with the Cottbus Berlin project. Back then, when we all were noobs, without Lidar, I just imported the SRTM and layed some tracks and they were terrible. At some point TaurusCB reached out to me and told me that he wanted to build some part of the route as well, and we started working together, and we even figured out how Lidar works. Nexuxs, who started doing Editor Streams on Twitch really early on, joined the project and helped us find our name, and has spent a lot of time with us in some voice channel. At some point we had some guests join us in our private Discord Server, and Myron was one of them. After some time we figured to ask him if he would like to join us, and he did, we are still trying to integrate him more, that’s why he is not yet mentioned in the Roadmap anywhere else. But I can tell you, he is working on something, and you’ll probably like it. And that is about where we are now, let’s see how this keeps developing over time.
Cottbus - Berlin
The route
The route from Cottbus to Berlin mostly follows the RE2 regional train line in Brandenburg. It starts in Cottbus, goes through the Spreewald area with stops in Lübbenau, Lübben, and Brand (near Tropical Islands), and continues to Königs Wusterhausen. The planned route ends at Berlin Ostbahnhof.
To make the Berlin part more interesting, we are also considering adding extra routes:
from Berlin Grünau to BER Airport
part of the Berlin Outer Ring (from Schönefeld to Hohenschönhausen)
from Grünauer Kreuz through Berlin Ostkreuz to Berlin Lichtenberg
We haven’t yet decided how detailed these extra routes will be. We are also building the S-Bahn tracks along these routes and making them ready to use. However, we are not planning to create an S-Bahn train vehicle ourselves.
Lines and trains
The following lines will be driving over bigger parts of the route, more lines could be added depending on expansion in Berlin:
- RE2 Cottbus - Ostbahnhof BR182 + 5xDostos
- RE 7 Lübbenau - Ostbahnhof 2xBR442 (3+5)
- RE 7 (Verstärker) Cottbus - Ostbahnhof BR182 + 5xDostos
- IC Cottbus - Ostbahnhof IC2 e.g. BR146 + (Twindexx)
- IRE Cottbus - Berlin Lichtenberg BR642
State of vehicles
We are working on the BR182 locomotive and the double-decker coaches (Dostos). The BR182 is currently being converted from the 1116 model from the Semmeringbahn route. It already has a new destination display and has been partly repainted. Some of the Dostos already have the real passenger information system (FIS) working, which shows on the screens. However, vehicle development is not our main priority at the moment.
State of the route
Construction Phase 1 (Cottbus Hbf – Königs Wusterhausen)
Track work is almost finished in this section. The only thing still missing is the overhead wires – in Cottbus station and from Lübben to Königs Wusterhausen. Around 19 km of scenery are already done, from Vetschau through Raddusch to Lübbenau and from Cottbus through Kolkwitz to Kunersdorf.
Construction Phase 2 (Königs Wusterhausen – Berlin)
Tracks and signals are already in place on all planned sections. However, a lot of work is still needed to make driving smooth and realistic in the future.
Timetable
The timetable currently includes all regional services that cross the route, as well as some long-distance services. Freight traffic will be added soon, as well as long-distance traffic, mainly between Berlin Ostbahnhof and Berlin Rummelsburg.
Graphic timetable of the current status between Cottbus and Königs Wusterhausen.
Next steps
In the near future, the focus will be on the section between Kunersdorf and Vetschau. This would close the gap and the approx. 30 km from Cottbus to Lübbenau could be traveled continuously with scenery. The work on the timetable will also continue, as explained in the section above.
Rostock - Warnemünde
For me(Emil), this is a project I have always wanted to do. First of all Warnemünde is a kind of paradise of the “Hamsterbäckchen” Talent 2/BR442, which is, as you can tell, my favourite train. My personal highlight of this route is the station of Warnemünde for two main reasons:
- It basically has its own kind of island and is very close to the baltic sea, which makes it look extremely pretty, it even has traffic with distance trains, a few Intercity services are taking their way there every day.
- I would call Warnemünde a kind of hamster paradise. ♥️
This project fits perfectly together with the BR442 EP. The S-Bahn Rostock is actually a lot bigger, than just the Rostock-Warnemünde part, and since this isn’t that much to drive an expansion is going to be an option that will be considered. The current state of this project is not that far along, all tracks are laid including portals, all signals along the Main Line are placed, except for Rostock Hbf, it will be taking some time for this part. Currently I am placing platforms while adjusting the track height, and fixing some small Lidar “impurities”. I am looking forward to keeping this project alive.
Some of these images have been taken in real life and are supposed to show a tour on the route, that was made to get some content for developing the route.
BR442 EP
We are actively working on an BR442 Enhancement Pack, and progress has been huge, the last big thing we are still missing is sound improvements and setting up the Announcements for multiple routes, yes you heard it right, the BR442 EP will have automatic announcements, for now just on Dresden Riesa, but that might be extended in the future. We are looking forward to publishing a preview on 22nd of July 2025.
On some images the hamster might look a little bit too pink, that is due to some unfinal parameters in the according Material, this will be fixed in V1.
TLS’s Test Track V2
In a few days TLS’s Test Track was created and published, but why? First of all, the TLS group has been existing for a little bit longer, it took especially long to find a name, but at some point we had to release at least something, and that is exactly where we are right now. And that first release was, well… kind of disappointing, so we figured to make a second version, which is not just fixing the height bug, where you can't walk, but also adding some new features and design. The route has a small section to feature our BR442 EP. We are happy to announce that we are going to release Version 2 of TLS’s Test Track on 1st of August 2025.
Other
All the texts in this roadmap were made between March and the release in 2025. All images might not be up to date at Roadmap Release, and all shown content is still in development and does not resemble the final version of the product.
A word for all the fellow modders and TSW Content Creators
What I am gonna try to tell you, is hopefully going to be relatable for people who are experienced in the editor, and for newbies this will kind of prepare you for the journey you might start or you have begun. So… It is really difficult to focus on a single project, you might have experienced this more or less. Especially when you have seen a lot of beautiful sights in real life you would like to see in the game. Trust me, focus on the one you find best, and take your time to find the one, if possible, start with a shorter route for the first project, even better if it is one, you can extend in the future, this is why I am gonna focus on Rostock Warnemünde, it has actually two ways it can be expanded on the same line, and at Güstrow they meet again, and close a circle. And then there is also people like TaurusCB who have extreme mental stamina and just start with Cottbus Berlin without getting distracted, but I think that's the rare case.
Thanks for mentioning
Big thanks to DTG for mentioning our project in the January Roadmap, check it out if you want: https://live.dovetailgames.com/live/train-sim-world/articles/article/train-sim-world-5-roadmap-january-2025#:~:text=and%20route%20scenery!-,Cottbus%20%2D%20Berlin,-by%20TaurusCB%2C%20Emil
Discord
Feel free to join our Discord Server, in the announcements channel you’ll find news about our projects, and in the updates channel you’ll get updates on what our projects currently look like. In our general chats we might be able to help you with some problems you have, depending on how complex it is.
https://discord.gg/v3X9e8RYMV
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