Train Sim World's Great Western Express DLC nails the misery of British rail travel

Steam's Train Fest is on, and that means train games are having a moment. One writer decided to mark the occasion not with escapism, but with the opposite — loading up Great Western Express, a Train Sim World DLC by Dovetail Games that recreates the Bath-to-London route on the Great Western Main Line.

The DLC lets you ride as a passenger, not just drive, which makes it uniquely suited to this kind of experiment. Starting at Reading — Bath isn't in the game yet — the station recreation immediately impresses: the layout is accurate down to the platform details, though the absence of a pasty shop is noted as a genuine immersion-breaker. The train itself is rendered in convincing mundane detail — buffet cart, vestibule, rain-streaked windows — though it's too clean and far too quiet. No loud phone calls, no screeching kids, no train manager crackling over the intercom. Finding an empty seat is flagged as a serious realism failure. The journey ends at London Paddington, which is rendered just as faithfully as Reading.

Train Sim World, developed by Dovetail Games, has built a reputation for obsessive route and rolling stock accuracy across its expanding library of DLC. The passenger mode sets it apart from most rail sims, which focus purely on the driving experience. Great Western Express covers one of the UK's busiest intercity corridors — a route that, in real life, is synonymous with delays, overcrowding, and eye-watering ticket prices.

The verdict here isn't a recommendation exactly — this isn't an experience worth rushing back to — but it's a genuine curiosity: a simulator that captures the specific, low-grade grimness of British public transport better than anything else out there. Sometimes that's enough.