Intercity Line 1 (Gardellia Mainlines)

Intercity Line 1
A photo of an IC-1 rail corridor, taken by MineShafter61
Overview
Type	Commuter Rail
System	Gardellia Mainline
Status	Operational
Termini	New Brighton, Clexio Bay/TomiVille
Stations	13
Services	1
Operation
Opened	2017
Operator(s)	TransHaven
Character	-
Depot(s)	New Brighton, Linirea (defunct)
Rolling stock	POF25SDA
Technical
Line Length	12.5km (approximately)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC Third rail
Operating speed	200km/h (124.2 mph)
Route Map
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Intercity Line 1, also often shortened to IC-1, is a private railroad built and operated by the North West Gardellia Alliance, running east to west along Northern Gardellia. It connects the N.W.G.A Council to the western side of the alliance, starting at Fukuya and going through Bad Fischdorf, Council, Schitt's Creek and eventually terminating in New Brighton.

Alignment

The line is mostly serving the northwestern suburbs and cities of Gardellia. Beginning at New Brighton in the extreme west, the line traverses the marshes into plains. Before descending into tunnel, trains stop at Abaki, a major city in the area. Schitt's Creek is the next major landmark out of the Crystal Hills tunnel portal, being a small, cozy town providing interchange to Gardellia Mainlines. The line dives back into a tunnel to serve the Council region, providing various local and Gardellia Mainlines interchanges. IC-1 resurfaces east of Linirea momentarily, and returns in tunnels to Clexio Bay or TomiVille.

History

Despite it being the oldest IC line, IC-1 is still comparatively more high-tech and modern than the rest, but not without many steps to get there though. The first version of the line was an idea by Pixelixel (now derwurzelkater), Delfino88 and OscarTheOscar_. Its purpose was to connect the two cities of Bad Fischdorf (then named Noran) and Fukuya when the Central Peninsular line was down. (For more context, there weren't signs at some stations to spawn a train, and some didn't even have a button.) After the Central Peninsular line was repaired, the three decided that they enjoyed the line and kept it.

Shortly after, the North West Gardellia Alliance (NWGA) was formed, putting the responsibility of the line not in the three players' hands, but the entire alliance's. A few weeks later, the council building for the Alliance was formed, and with it a need for a connecting line. IC-1 ended up being the second line to route to Council, after IC-2.

Development

As the Alliance grew, so did its need for a connected web for transit. As a result, IC-1 was extended to Schitt's Creek on 24 February 2018. The initial platforms were underground.

Drama struck the Alliance when Delfino88, the owner of Dolphin Plains, one of the cities served by IC-1, left the server. All IC-1 connections to Dolphin Plains were cut in May 2018, and the terminus from there on would be Fukuya Downtown.

A massive renovation of the line took place in June 2018. Tunnels and stations were revamped, adding a new tunnel design and trackbeds all throughout. The line was also re-routed to make smoother curves and speeds, adding more realism to the line. In January 2019, the town of Schitt's Creek underwent massive redevelopment which moved the entire line aboveground. Cross-platform interchange was to be provided between southbound North West Gardellia Mainline services and eastbound IC-1 services. These works involved some months of closure, reopening in Spring 2019.

Extension to New Brighton

The alliance managed to expand its reach westward which required a further extension westwards to reach far-away cities such as (old) Sint Maartenstaad. (The old Sint Maartenstaad was located southwest of Abaki. It has since been moved to the former city of Kralyn after an ownership transfer.) Rapid construction was done, and the line was extended again to Sint Maartenstaad on 2 September 2018, with intermediate stations at Lakeview (formerly Lakeview City) and Crystal Hills. Abaki was not ready at the time which opened later than expected.

Due to the abandonment and move on Sint Maartenstaad, the section between there and Abaki was suspended for months since December 2019, before being announced its permanent closure. This resulted in an alternative alignment of an extension to serve New Brighton, a new developing town in the extreme west of Gardellia. An intermediate station was planned, which is now occupied by Delmarva City. Line works were done in June 2019, resulting in suspension of the line between Abaki and Lakeview which would utilise the new crossover built. Due to complex terrain involving swamps, construction was delayed. Abaki was reopened in July 2019. On the 14th of September, the line finally reached its ultimate terminus at New Brighton. Delmarva City opened much later in 2020.

Nationalisation and Infrastructural Improvements

In preparation for nationalisation, several drastic improvements were done to improve the line. Notably, the curve and gradient between Schitt's Creek and Council had been redone thrice, with the most recent being May 2021. It was also decided to merge IC-3 into IC-1 due to its feasible alignment. At the same time, the tracks between Council and Bad Fischdorf were redone as well as the platform extension works at Fukuya Downtown. Services were part suspended between Council and Fukuya Downtown from December 2019 to March 2020. When through services to TomiVille and Clexio Bay opened on 11 March 2020, only a single track was in operation between Council and Dolphinplains whilst the other remained under construction. The IC-3 platforms at Dolphinplains became disused, with the former IC-1 platforms refurbished and reopened. Bad Fischdorf reopened the next day, which included a new platform and a new concourse. The second tunnel opened three days after.

Line improvement works are planned on the former IC-3 portion. The TomiVille branch was closed for months when the station was rebuilt to have lengthened platforms. It was reopened on 21 March 2020.

On 8 June 2020, the Ministry for Infrastructure and National Development purchased the line for $60,000 from the North Western Gardellia Alliance. The line will also be integrated into the mainline network in the future after extensive renovations.

Several gradient improvements are planned, with the steepest one at Crystal Hills redone in 2020. The Council portal from Schitt's Creek received the most improvement, with smoother curves and gentler gradients. The incline at Lakeview towards Abaki was remodelled when the crossover was replaced with gentler ones.

Rolling Stock and Rail Infrastructure

The line previously used M5LSA as its first train type. After extensive renovation in June 2018, new rolling stock was introduced, named M7LSA. This series is named based on the convention of M for Minecart, 7 denoting the number of carts attached and LSA meaning Line Semi-Automatic. When line infrastructure improvements were done extensively 2019, this allowed for longer trains which would aid in reducing overcrowding at major stations such as Council, Abaki and Schitt's Creek. Different lengths of train sets were introduced in phases. A slightly longer train, the M15LSA, was introduced in September 2019.

By October, most of the M7LSA were retired. A new series, the POF25SDA, was introduced. P for Pixelixel, O for Oscar, and F for Fukuya Downtown, the special termini. SDA denotes Semi-automatic and selective door operation. Due to short platforms at Fukuya Downtown, the M7LSA remained in service until the station had platform extension works done. This also suggested that long trains terminated at Bad Fischdorf. However, the shorter eastbound platform would introduce selective door operation for the first time on the line. Work to extend these platforms began in December 2019, in conjunction with track improvement works at Bad Fischdorf. On 11 March 2020, Fukuya Downtown was reopened with selective door operation implemented. Majority of the fleet is now POF25SDA, with special reliever M15LSA trains. Crystal Hills formerly had selective door operation, but has since had its platforms lengthened.

There are two depots built for IC-1, in New Brighton and Linirea. The latter is currently deemed too tight for trains to manouvre, which has been taken out of use. The depot at New Brighton has been rebuilt several times. Crossovers are available on the line at Abaki, Lakeview, Schitt's Creek and Fukuya Downtown.

Services

IC-1 is capable of operating trains every 3 minutes during the peaks, with provisions of every 2.5 minutes on selected sections shall demand arises. Due to the pandemic and shift to Calidia, a slightly reduced service operates. Trains also currently do not stop at Lakeview.

Updated 21 May 2021.

Operating Hours:

• Weekdays: 5am to 1am
• Weekends: 5.30am to 1am
• Public Holidays: 5.30am to 12am
• Friday and Saturday late nights: 1am to 5.30am (Abaki to Clexio Bay only)

Service pattern:

Weekdays (M-F):

• 7-9.30am: Every 3.5 mins (5 mins Clexio Bay, 10-12 mins TomiVille)
• 4.30-7pm: Every 5 mins (7.5 mins Clexio Bay, 15 mins TomiVille) Additional trains may run between SC and CX to relieve congestion
• Off-peak: Every 8 mins (10-13 mins Clexio Bay, 22-30 mins TomiVille)
• Late nights (after 10.30pm): Every 15 mins (20-30 mins Clexio Bay, 30-60 mins TomiVille [Last Train 11.45pm] )

Weekends (S-S): 5.30-7.15am:

• Every 8 mins (10-20 mins Clexio Bay, 20-45 TomiVille [no early morning service 5-6am] )
• 7.15-9am: Every 5 mins (7.5 mins Clexio Bay, 15 mins TomiVille)
• 9am-10.30pm: Every 7.5 mins (10-12 mins Clexio Bay, 20-30 mins TomiVille) Additional trains may run between AB and CX to relieve congestion
• Late nights: Every 10 mins (15-20 mins Clexio Bay, 20-30 mins TomiVille [Last Train from TomiVille 12.30am] )

Friday and Saturday nights:

• Every 18 mins AB-CX No service NB-AB, LR-TV

Public holidays:

• 5.30am-10pm: Every 8.5 mins (12-15 mins Clexio Bay, 20-30 mins TomiVille) [Trains begin at Abaki before 6.15am]
• Early mornings and late nights: Every 12 mins (15-20 mins Clexio Bay, 30-60 mins TomiVille [No early morning service till 6am, Last Train 11.30pm] )

Stations

Station Number	Station Name	Station Claimant	Interchange/Notes
IC-1-N12 / IC-1-N13	Clexio Bay / TomiVille	Soso123	Interchange Station with Circular and Northern Connector lines, and Northeastern Bypass / Interchange Station with Northern Connector line
IC-1-N11	Linirea
IC-1-N10	Dolphinplains	Delfino88
IC-1-N9	Fukuya Downtown	OscarTheOscar_	Out-of-station interchange with Central Peninsular line.
IC-1-N8	Bad Fischdorf	derwurzelkater	Interchange Station with Central Peninsular line.
IC-1-N7	N. W. G. A. Council	Directly owned by the Alliance	Interchange Station with the Intercity Line 2, Intercity Line 3, and Intercity Line 4 .
IC-1-N6	Schitt's Creek	CaptainSlow_	Interchange Station with North-West line.
IC-1-N5	Crystal Hills	CaptainSlow_
IC-1-N4	Lakeview	Unclaimed
IC-1-N3	Abaki	OscarTheOscar_
IC-1-N2	Delmarva City	Hightech
IC-1-N1	New Brighton	boomdoom

Safety

Emergency brakes were installed at several stations on the line by derwurzelkater. Trains will be stopped when passengers pull the lever during emergency situations. Due to renovations and refurbishments, most of these mechanisms were lost, with the exception of Council station.

Trivia

• Bad Fischdorf literally means Fisher Village.
• IC-1 used to be colored ORANGE on the map, before being switched to WHITE and finally the light grey we are familiar with today.
• While the Central Peninsular Line interchange is named N. W. G. A. Council due to the regeneration of Bad Fischdorf, its IC-1 station is named Bad Fischdorf.