BERT (4th Haven)
| BERT | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background | |
| Owner | BERT (Axton) |
| Locale | NewWolvHaven |
| Number of lines | 3 |
| Number of stations | 23 |
| Operation | |
| Operator(s) | BERT |
| Technical | |
| Electrification | TrainCarts |
BERT, formerly Blocky Electric Rapid Transit, is an rapid transit system in New WolvHaven (4th Haven). It is operated by BERT, under a concession granted by the Department of Transport. The system consists of 3 lines, of which are comprised of 23 stations in total with a total combined track length of 5km.
The District Line, terminating at Mechanicsburg Junction in the north, and Palais De Royal at the south, the Westford Line terminating at Bella Vista in the west and Stalingrad South in the West, and the Wolfminster Line terminating at Monceau in the central, and Bella Vista in the east.
Apart from the District Line running fully automatically, all other lines operate at semi-automatic operation.
Initially created by Axton (formerly named BlockyA1) as a rival transit system to the WolvHaven Metro, the BERT today serves as a supplementary service that compliments the Metro, with all trains running automatic or semi-automatically.
History
Planning and Inception
When development on New WolvHaven (4th Haven) was beginning in late 2013, Axton had a vision to develop the city's metro rail network. However, disagreements with SilverWolv soon surfaced. Axton had wanted to build a transport network that followed closely to the form follows function principle with all stations being modern, whereas SilverWolv wanted a metro that had architectural diversity that included historic and modern segments of the network.
There was also disagreements on the technology to be used. SilverWolv wanted piston-based glass Platform Screen Doors whereas Axton opted for a iron-door based approach.
This disagreement eventually led to the granting of a concession to BERT for the construction of a secondary alternative rail network that would mostly remain elevated, similar to the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok which was the main inspiration of BERT originally. Meanwhile, the WolvHaven Metro (4th Haven) would run mostly underground. BERT was meant to compliment the metro network.
The very first line - the District line started construction in 2013, and ran along 3rd Avenue in borough of Wolfminster and stretched from City Hall to La Resistance with the second line - the Westford line to follow soon after.
Going Underground
After construction of the BERT District Line began, SilverWolv expressed displeasure over the viaducts that ran across and obstructed city views; in particular, the viaduct that cut across the view of the City Hall from the plaza in front of it.
The original design for the Palais De Royal station also called for a stacked cross-platform interchange above ground, which would greatly obstruct the views of the palace itself from the street. This led to the agreement that BERT would instead of running purely above ground, would also be allowed to go underground as well.
Thus, the Westford Line was given the go-ahead to be an underground line instead.
Overlaps with the Metro
Due to the relatively small size of the city, BERT and the Metro soon faced overlapping of plans. The construction of the Metro Line 2 (4th Haven) along 7th Avenue began and forced BERT to change its plans for its third line - the Wolfminster line, which was originally intended to run there instead.
The sudden change in Metro Line 1 (4th Haven)'s plans; which led to the abandonment of a tunnel segment and realignment along 2nd Avenue in La Resistance instead caused the District and Metro to overlap mostly.
Name and Logo Changes
BERT changes its full name from Blocky Elevated Rapid Transit to Blocky Electric Rapid Transit.
In September 2014, BERT abandoned its meaning and is no longer an acronym.
In May 30, 2021, BERT changed the logo from "BERTransit" to "AxtonBERT" to clearly reflect its private ownership. However, due to confusion with new players, the logo once again changed to simply "BERT" in August 10, 2021.
The Last Expansion
In late 2021, many planned stations are cancelled because the commencement plan for Fifth Haven becomes clearer. Since Circle Line failed to become fully circle in due time, the plan has changed to extend Westford Line in Westford with two more stations and merged with Circle Line in January 2022.
Network & Infrastructure
Lines & Names
BERT gives its lines full names along with a 2 letter acronym. The District Line was named as such because it primarily connects between districts in Wolfminster, then Mechanicsburg. The Wolfminster line was named as it primarily served Wolfminster, and the Westford line was named as it was planned to mainly serve Westford.
Architecture
While originally built closely to the form follows function ideology where there was not to be any extravagant architecture, BERT has since changed its outlook on architecture within its system. This started with the District Line where the roof of the City Hall station was replaced with one that was more distinctly unique. Other stations on the network also received major overhauls to improve the design and architectural style.
Wolfminster Line and Westford Line Servicing
Due to the alignment of Wolfminster Line, players must select their intended direction at the station before the fork such as Monceau (towards IDA's Northbound, IDA's Southbound, or Soho by skipping IDA), Supreme Court (towards IDA or Soho), and Soho (towards Supreme Court or IDA). If the player did not change the direction before the train moves, the train will continue to the previously selected direction. For East River, since Wolfminster Line and Westford Line share the departing platform, the player must select their intended line before the train moves.
BERT Door Texture
When Travelling on the BERT lines, the train doors are iron doors. However, Axton created a BERT Door texture pack, which makes the doors transparent, with a yellow line with arrows that make it realistic. (Named BERT Glass doors) The texture is available for download here :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15a7R5cTcOoxsfG9RjSK9o6aoBhzhSCQc/view?usp=sharing
With the current texture pack you are using (preferably Soartex Fanver), replace the iron door texture with the texture you download from the link above. Enjoy.