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[ITALY] Bolzano's Rush Hour

(Please read description)


THE STATION:

Located at the foresteps of the Dolomites, Bolzano/Bozen is a small-sized, although important city of the South Tyrolean region. The city is surrounded by montains on all sides, with the Dolomites (that I tried to draw in the bottom-right corner) taking a beatiful piace of panaroma on the north-east.

The station of Bolzano is the meeting point between the Brennero railway, a high-capacity major freight route connecting the Italian peninsula and the rest of Central Europe, and a small one-track railway connecting the west of the region to the main city.

During rush hour the station is reached by lots of trains full of commuters coming from all sides of the region, which with the numerous freight trains circulating all day on the line, transforms this quiet station in a chaotic place for everybody.


TIPS:

The following is VERY IMPORTANT. The section of the two tracks leading south from Bolzano / Bozen (to the left) has a SPEED LIMIT OF 40km/h.
This is not a bug, but it aimes at simulating the actual 55 km/h speed limit of that section. A lot of trains will actually be going 30 km/h in real life, as any train deviating from the main path is required to follow this speed limit in case the next signal is red (as by Italian Railway Signalling Rules). *Check below for more info

In this section, don't be afraid to move trains on the wrong side of tracks as this is common practice IRL.

Please check the timetable when you handle freight trains, please make sure that they won't halt other passenger trains. At the same time consider that the timetables of the freight trains are not exactly precise.

Plan when moving trains to and from the depot as they might occupy other vital tracks.


MAKING:

Please note that some layout adjustments have been made to adapt the station to the game.

The timetables and the numbering of passenger trains is exactly the same as in real life. You might notice that some trains arrive earlier than the scheduled timetable as it's common practice to shift arrival timetables forward to compensate possible delays.

The timetables and the numbering of freight trains is fictional.

The track layout and signals might not be exact, as there aren't any official maps available to the public. Most of the layout and distances between stations has been built by sampling from OpenStreetMap and using my memory.


THE SLOW SECTION (IRL FACTS):

The section south from the station of Bolzano / Bozen has a speed limit of 55 km/h although it's mostly a straight section. The low speed limit is due to the high risk of rockfall from the nearby mountain. The section is constantly videosurvailled to check whether possible objects have fallen on the tracks, especially in case of heavy rain.

Any possible rock / debris fall on the track leading to a major disruption of service to the line can cause a block of an relavant part of rail freight transport between Italy and Austria / Germany for a long period of time. For this reason, in the next years a 3-track tunnel will be built inside the mountain itself to secure the section and increase the traffic throughput of the station.

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Please let me know what you think about the map, as it's my first. Let me know as well if you're interested in a harder version of this map.