Train Sim World 5 Arrives on 17 September

Train Sim World developer Dovetail Games yesterday announced the fifth instalment of their train simulation series, with routes, locomotives, and a new conductor mode, amongst other minor changes. The game is now available for pre-order, and will release on PC (Epic Games, Steam, Xbox App), PlayStation (PS4, PS5), and Xbox (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) on 17 September 2024.

Keeping in line with previous years' releases, Dovetail Games is offering at least three different editions. The first — Standard Edition — will equip you with the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes (UK), Kinzigtalbahn between Frankfurt and Fulda (Germany), and the San Bernardino route between Los Angeles and San Bernardino (USA) for £39.99 GBP (€44.99 EUR, $49.99 USD).

Albeit, there is a catch, even at this price point. With the Standard Edition, these routes come packaged only with some of the available locomotives. For the class 390 Pendolino, arguably one of the Train Sim World 5 'headline' locos, and Flixtrain BR 193 Vectron, you will need to fork out extra for the Deluxe Edition, which costs £59.99 GBP (€74.99 EUR, $74.99 USD). This also includes five days' early access, and the Cajon Pass route that was originally released with Train Sim World 3.

Then there is the Special Edition, which includes the aforementioned routes, locos, and early access, and then some — Kassel to Würzburg, London Underground Bakerloo Line, London Overground Suffragette Line, New York to Trenton, and Bahnstrecke Bremen to Oldenburg. These, again, were all released during previous Train Sim World cycles. It retails for £104.99 GBP (€119.99 EUR, $119.99 USD).

There are loyalty and/or general pre-order discounts, all of which offer 10% off retail price, depending on your chosen platform and digital storefront.

Players will be able to acquire the base game for free on launch day — 17 September — which comes with just the training centre and a handful of unbranded locomotives. So, if you played any of the previous instalments, you will be able to access Train Sim World 5's new features using your existing DLC. This is a welcome change from previous years, but the option will only be available for 30 days; the offer will expire 17 October 2024.

Another change in the series is the addition of a conductor mode, which is a new way to spend your time on the rails. You can check passengers' tickets, use the guard panel to operate the doors, and even eject those without a valid ticket from your train service.

There will also be an updated in-game map UI which provides more information, a 'fast travel' feature for quickly visiting any station in a route, and route hopping so you can seamlessly swap routes where two route DLCs visit the same station.

If you are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, the standard edition of Train Sim World 5 will be available from day one. This makes for a good opportunity to try out the game, and it is difficult to recommend against something that is free. And that goes for the 'starter pack' as well — that is, the free upgrade to TSW5 for existing players. That starter pack is available to new players, too, but they won't have any content besides the training centre to work, or play, with.

Dovetail Games has also announced two spin-offs: Train Sim World Tycoon, which is making its way to Roblox, and Train Sim World VR: New York for Meta Quest. These both remain in development.