Birdhall Metro

Birdhall Metro
Birdhall Metro Logo.
Where it Goes
Route	D  Birdhall to Birdhall Transit Hub  T  North Cliff Park to Birdhall Transit Hub  C  Birdhall Bank to Spurnton Point  S  Robin to Portside  W  Robin to Farfetch'd Street  DLR  A Line : Downtown Ring to Bryce Valley (loop) Q Line : Downtown Ring to Birdhall Transit Hub (loop)  SLR  North Branch : Bayquay to Farfetch'd Street South Branch : Farfetch'd Street to Redwhitt East Branch : Farfetch'd Street to Plaza Park
Number of stations	28 (interchanges counted as one station)
Status	Good service
Players involved
Main builder	Robang592
Others Involved	soso123 (partial construction of  Wrenough Line )
Station designer	Robang592

The Birdhall Metro is an intracity rail system operating in Birdhall, created by Robang592 on 16 October 2015.

Route Map (as of 28 Nov 2023)

History

Back To Square One (Before Oct '14)

An image of Birdhall with the first 3 stations on the District Line completed.

Robang's previous transit system, the Chack City Subway, was not much of a feat, but he decided to base the metro off that anyway. As such, the lines were originally named after different wood types (eg: Acacia Line, Oak Line, etc). This was scrapped later because of the lack of types of wood at the time.

The metro was already obligatory when Birdhall was starting out. However, due to certain misconceptions about the ranking system, the metro wasn't built until Robang met [Councillor] rank. Before [Councillor], exits were pre-built at their present locations, albeit with minor differences, such as how  T3  S1  W1  Robin's exit was supposed to be on the opposite side of the road.

The moment the rank was given on 16 October, Robang immediately began construction on the first station,  D1  T2  Birdhall.

Progress Is Made (Oct '14 - Jan '15)

Back when the Downtown Light Rail's A Line first opened.

The first line to be established was the  District Line . The first 3 stations on it opened 2 days after construction began. A new line, the  District Spur , which would later become the  Southhall Line , was built on 21 October. This spur line would have facilitated the projected southerly expansion to the city. On the 22nd, with the completion of both the  Downtown Line  and  D2  T4  ChackHall, the full planned system for the small but growing city was built -- 5 stations, 2 lines. The headquarters was built shortly after, on the 30th, at Robin Road.

In November, the  Downtown Light Rail  was created with the  A Line  being first to open. Initially, the system would have consisted four branches in an 'X' formation. They were named  A ,  Q ,  V  and  W , and would connect to both  D3  Downtown Ring and  D4  Downtown Boulevard. These line names were chosen to deconflict with any other abbreviations (notably " D ", which would be already taken by the  Downtown Line ). The 4 branches were planned to serve a much larger downtown area. The  A  and  Q  Lines would have covered the south-east and south-west of the estate, whilst the  V  and  W  Lines would cover the north-east and north-west. When the final plan for the downtown area was established, the  W  Line merged with the  Q  Line and the  V  Line was removed entirely.

A depot was built on the 13th, storing rolling stock for the two lines. The  Downtown Line  was now growing fast, reaching up to  D4  Downtown Boulevard, as well as the  District Line  and  Q Line , which were both now up to  T5  DQ2  Canning Link.

The Centric Line's Failure (Feb - March '15)

The detour to Spurnton Point was a consequence of the claim.

Birdhall would have seen an extension going north back in 2015. Known now as the Centric District, it was going to be a bustling extension to the Downtown Estate, complete with its own visitor centre. Unfortunately, another player soon claimed the area north of Birdhall which prevented any further extensions north of the transit hub area and halted several plans. One of these was the  Centric Line . Originally intended to serve the entire Centric District, the line was actually going to be very long, spanning more than the current four stops. In fact  C4  Spurnton Point was never in the original plans. It was only after the player's claim that the line was detoured to a newer extension of the city to the west. It was a giant hiccup, and the line is now a short stub coming out of the light rail tracks.

The Transit Hub (Apr - June '15)

This natural formation made it perfect for a transit hub.

After the flop that was the  Centric Line , Robang knew the next thing that was coming up needed to be huge and successful. So, the Birdhall Transit Hub was created. It is built in a very nice natural valley in the mesa which was only modified very minorly during construction. All lines but the  Southhall Line  and  Wrenough Line  connect to the hub. The hub also serves as the linkpoint for intercity rail services such as IntraRail.

The Southhall Line (Dec '15 - Apr '16)

A view of Southhall, with the three Southhall Line stations visible.

Nothing really happened for a few months, since all plans were, again, completed. Then, suddenly, the new Southhall Districts were created. The plan was to extend the previously dormant  District Spur  to the south. However, due to possible confusion dealing with two lines sharing the same colour, a new line was created: the  Southhall Line , which took over the one station spur line. In both  T3  S1  W1  Robin and  S2  W2  Southern Forest, there are still places that retain the original colour of the  District Spur . In the coming months, three more stations were built on the south plateau of Birdhall. Of these, two above-ground stations were built with experimental track designs, each with a very narrow stature. Only 2 months later, the  Southhall Line  was completed.

The Power of The Internet (June '16)

Burnwood Hill station on the Wrenough Line.

In early January 2016, Robang posted a new video to his channel where he showcased the Birdhall Metro at the time. It quickly gained views in the hundreds, now being one of the top videos on his channel, with over 30K views. Soon enough, people started suggesting new lines and joined the server. One of these comments posted on 14 June 2016, prompted Robang to start a new line that would serve further south of Birdhall, reaching the city limits. It became the newest line on the network, the  Wrenough Line . Although not verbatim to the suggestion, it still shows how the internet can bring things to life and influence others.

Onward to the Future (Present)

With little development to Birdhall in 2017, not much occurred. The  Wrenough Line  had, at this time, made it all the way to  W6  East Cliff Park and a new station in the Sandstred Estate, named  W7  Farfetch'd Street. The  Sandstred Light Rail  began service in mid-2022 and accompanies the road network of the area, cutting across paths and junctions in a "open transit network" style.

From 13 December 2023, the  Centric Line  and  District Line  transitioned to using TrainCarts as a test to evaluate the feasibility of implementing it throughout the entire network.

Mass Rail Lines

The metro has 5 mass rail lines. Typically, mass rail lines have gantries and larger, longer platforms than light rail lines.

They mostly have very basic call-cart systems. The  Centric Line  and  District Line  currently operate using TrainCarts that will be destroyed once they reach the end of the line. Otherwise, players must remove their carts when disembarking as there is no cart return mechanism.

 Downtown Line 

Good service: Train lines are running smoothly.

The Downtown Line serves the more urban areas of Birdhall, eponymously named. It generally stretches to a north-westerly direction. It is coloured brown - a reference to the original colour of the Singapore MRT's Downtown Line - and has 5 stations.

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	D1  T2	Birdhall	District
	D2  T4	ChackHall	District
	D3  DLC	Downtown Ring	DTLR A, Q Lines
	D4	Downtown Boulevard	No connections
	D5  T6  DQ5  C3	Birdhall Transit Hub	DTLR Q Line  District Line  Centric

 District Line 

Good service: Train lines are running smoothly.

The District Line goes through various districts throughout Birdhall. It is coloured green - a reference to the London Underground's District Line - and has 6 stations.

Canning Link station on the District Line, which is a replica of the Thomson-East Coast Line station, Napier, in Singapore.

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	T1	North Cliff Park	No Connections
	T2  D1	Birdhall	Downtown
	T3  S1  W1	Robin	Southhall  Wrenough
	T4  D2	ChackHall	Downtown
	T5  DQ2	Canning Link	DTLR Q Line
	T6  DQ5  D5  C3	Birdhall Transit Hub	Downtown  DTLR Q Line  Centric

 Centric Line 

Good service: Train lines are running smoothly.

This line travels around the Centric District of Birdhall. While this line was meant to be longer, the halting to the northward expansion of Birdhall meant this line got truncated and rerouted to Spurnton instead. It is coloured red, and has 4 stations.

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	C1  DQ3	Birdhall Bank	DTLR Q Line
	C2  DQ4	Centric Link	DTLR Q Line
	C3  DQ5  D5  T6	Birdhall Transit Hub	Downtown  DTLR Q Line  District
	C4	Spurnton Point	No connections

 Southhall Line 

Good service: Train lines are running smoothly.

This line serves the southern portion of Birdhall and replaces the  District Spur . This line can bring you to Birdhall's current landmark, the Birdhall Amphitheatre. It is coloured blue and has 5 stations.

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	S1  T3  W1	Robin	District  Wrenough
	S2  W2	Southern Forest	Wrenough
	S3	Plateau Street	Birdhall Amphitheater
	S4	Newbin	No connections
	S5  W5	Portside	Wrenough

 Wrenough Line 

Good service

This line goes through the south-western portion of Birdhall, reaching the city limits. The name "Wrenough" is a portmanteau of the words "Wren" (a species of bird) and "Borough". This line is coloured orange-yellow/gold and has 6 confirmed stations, with an extension to the southeasternmost parts of Birdhall in the works. It has code  W .

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	W1  S1  T3	Robin	District  Southhall
	W2  S2	Southern Forest	Southhall
	W3	Burnwood Hill	No connections
	W4	Wrenough	No connections
	W5  S5	Portside	Southhall
	W6	East Cliff Park	No connections
	W7  Na	Farfetch'd Street	Sandstred Light Rail
	W8  Nb	Sandstred (planned)	Sandstred Light Rail

Light Rail Lines

Light rail lines are lower capacity lines aimed as feeder services for specific areas. They do not usually have gantries, and both tracks and stations are smaller in size and complexity. Additionally stations are laid closer together to facilitate passenger collection. They are thinner-stroked on maps.

 Downtown Light Rail 

A map of the Downtown Light Rail in Birdhall.

 A Line  Good service: Train lines are running smoothly.
 Q Line  Good service: Train lines are running smoothly.

The Downtown Light Rail consists of 2 unidirectional loops, the  A  and  Q  lines, that go around the downtown district of Birdhall. It was very loosely based off the Hong Kong MTR Light Rail. These two lines join at the Downtown Light Rail Central Station at  D3  DLC  Downtown Ring. The only underground light rail station,  DQ1  Lava Lake Junction, is on the  Q Line .

 A Line 

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	DLC  D3	Downtown Ring	Downtown
	DA1	Cinema	No connnections
	DA2	Bryce Valley	No connnections

 Q Line 

Canning Link station, above ground. The purple section is the Q Line.

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	DLC  D3	Downtown Ring	Downtown
	DQ1	Lava Lake Junction	No connections
	DQ2  T5	Canning Link	District
	DQ3  C1	Birdhall Bank	Centric
	DQ4  C2	Centric Link	Centric
	DQ5  D5  T6  C3	Birdhall Transit Hub	Downtown  District  Centric
	DQ6	Birdhall Shopping Centre	No connnections

 Sandstred Light Rail 

A map of the Sandstred Light Rail in Birdhall (The airport notated is only speculation).

Partially open: In early development.

The Sandstred Light rail system is an above-ground network of low-capacity lines that serves the currently developing Sandstred Estate to the east of Southhall. It is much like the  Downtown Light Rail  in that it consists of a few split branches of lines that loop and intersect at two central stations. Designed in an "open network" style, the tracks cut across paths and roads, accompanying the network of transport in the general area. The line is coloured orange and has code  N .

Station codes follow the rule   N (cardinal direction) (station number)  , where the cardinal direction is the first letter of the branch in lowercase. The north, south, east and west branches are coloured on signs as red, yellow, green and blue respectively for easier comprehension. The central stations,  W7  Farfetch'd Street and  W8  Sandstred, have their directions labelled a and b respectively and the number removed.

The four lines may be thought of as services rather than individual lines, as they may use the same line of track simultaneously. For example, at  W7  Na  Farfetch'd Street, the  North ,  South  and  East  Branches all use the same northbound track at platform D. While the  South Branch  and  East Branch  services terminate here, the  North Branch  continues using the track up to  Nn1  Bayquay. Thus, carts on  South  or  East   Branch services that terminate at  W7  Na  Farfetch'd Street can continue on and switch to a  North Branch  service. Such switches are notated on the directional signage upon arrival at the station.

 North Branch 

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	Nn1	Bayquay	No connections
	Na  W7	Farfetch'd Street	Wrenough  s  e
	Nn2  Nw2	Sandstred Circus (planned)	w

 South Branch 

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	Na  W7	Farfetch'd Street	Wrenough  n  e
	Ns1  Ne1	Plaza Park	e
	Ns2	Duneway	No connnections
	Ns3	Promenade	No connnections
	Ns4	Reddwhitt	No connnections
	Ns5  Ne2	Market Street (planned)	e
	Ns6	Shallowpond West (planned)	No connections
	Nb  W8	Sandstred (planned)	Wrenough  e  w

 East Branch 

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	Na  W7	Farfetch'd Street	Wrenough  n  s
	Ne1  Ns1	Plaza Park	s
	Ne2	Sandbend (closed)	No connections
	Ne3  Ns5	Market Street (planned)	s
	Nb  W8	Sandstred (planned)	Wrenough  s  w
	Ne4	Shallowpond East (planned)	No connnections
	Ne5	Birdhall Point (planned)	No connnections

 West Branch 

Status	Code	Station name	Connections
	Nb  W8	Sandstred (planned)	Wrenough  s  e
	Nw1  Nn2	Sandstred Circus (planned)	n
	Nw2	Pikipek Road (planned)	No connnections
	Nw3	Penton (planned)	No connnections
	Nw4	Spear Pillar (planned)	No connnections

Signage and Notation

Line codes

Each line on the network has a single letter code assigned to it which may be used in signs. Usually, this is the first letter of the line's name. However, to avoid conflict with lines with the same initial, some exceptions to the rule exist. A triple-letter code also exists, but it is normally used for light rail lines.

Line codes used on the Birdhall Metro

Line	One-Letter Code		Three-Letter Code	Other Code(s)
Downtown	[D]		DTL
District	[T]		-
District Spur *	-		-	[TS]
Centric	[C]		-
Southhall	[S]		-
Wrenough	[W]		WNL
Downtown Light Rail A Line	[A]		DLR	[DA]	DTLR
Downtown Light Rail Q Line	[Q]			[DQ]
Sandstred Light Rail North Branch	[N]	[n] or (n)	SLR	[Nn]
Sandstred Light Rail South Branch		[s] or (s)		[Ns]
Sandstred Light Rail East Branch		[e] or (e)		[Ne]
Sandstred Light Rail West Branch		[w] or (w)		[Nw]
Light Rail				LR

*The  District Spur  is a defunct line. The code used is kept here for posterity.

Station codes

Each station on the network is assigned a two- or three-character code for accessibility. The code is made of the line code followed by the ordinal number of the station on the line. For instance, Birdhall station is coded  D1  T2 , being the first station on the  Downtown Line  and the second on the  District Line . Exceptions include the Downtown Light Rail Central station at Downtown Ring, which has code  DLC , and both central stations on the  Sandstred Light Rail  which have their ordinal numbers replaced by a and b.

Abbreviations

Due to sign space constraints, abbreviations to words and station names are used throughout the network. In administrative situations (such as on serial numbers) a station's name can be abbreviated to triplet codes as well. Some examples are detailed below.

Station/Word	Abbreviation(s)
Birdhall	BDH, BH
North Cliff Park	NCP
East Cliff Park	ECP
Park	Pk.
Downtown	DT
Boulevard	Blvd.
Link	Lk.
Street	St.
Road	Rd.
Transit Hub	Trans. Hub, TH
Point	Pt.
Shopping Centre	SC
Junction	Junc., Jn.
Farfetch'd Street	F'fetch'd St.
Sandstred	S'tred
Northern/North	N.
Southern/South	S.
Eastern/East	E.
Western/West	W.
Loop	Lp.
Platform	Ptfm., Pltfm.
Station	Stn.

Directional Signage

This section refers to signs that display the current, next and/or terminal station on the line as well as any other useful information.

Older System

On older lines, arrival signs included only the name of the current station, that of the next station, and any lines that may be transferred to. Newer mass rail lines may include a more concise version of these signs that use the shorthand shown below.

Shorthand Used on Old Directional Signs

Icon	Meaning
=	This station
->	Next station
-|	Terminus
>-<	Change for...
><
X	No service

Newer System

The  Sandstred Light Rail  trials a distinct system of directional signage that may be carried over to older lines. Notably, it makes use of formatted text (colour, underlines etc.). It is detailed in the image below.