RailWorks is a train simulation

Train simulator

A train simulator is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations.-Industrial train simulations:Like flight simulators, train simulators have been produced for railway training purposes...

 game. Developed by Rail Simulator Developments. It is a successor to Rail Simulator

Rail Simulator

Rail Simulator is a train simulation published by Electronic Arts . It was produced by UK based Kuju Entertainment, the company which developed Microsoft Train Simulator with Microsoft...

, and was released online on 12 June 2009 and in stores on 3 July 2009.

RailWorks 2 was released on Steam on 24 September 2010. It was released on DVD later that year. Owners of the original Railworks were automatically upgraded to Railworks 2 via the Steam platform.

Since the game's release, Steam has been used to deliver additional routes, locomotives, updated Rail Simulator content in the form of DLC

Downloadable content

Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...

. Examples include the fictional Rascal & Cottonwood route from All Aboard and packs of the LMS Jubilee

LMS Jubilee Class

The London Midland and Scottish Railway Jubilee Class is a class of steam locomotive designed for mainline passenger work. 191 locomotives were built between 1934 and 1936...

s and the GWR 4900 Class

GWR 4900 Class

The Great Western Railway 4900 Class or Hall Class is a class of 4-6-0 mixed traffic steam locomotives designed by Charles Collett. A total of 259 were built, numbered 4900–4999, 5900–5999 and 6900–6958. The LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 and LNER Thompson Class B1 both drew heavily on design features...

 locomotives.

Routes

The base package contains nine routes.

• Oxford-Paddington (UK), set in 2006
• York-Newcastle (UK), set in 1978
• Bath-Templecombe (UK), set in 1955. Part of the S&D railway
  Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
  The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and Bournemouth now in south east Dorset but then in Hampshire...
  
  .
• Barstow-San Bernardino (US), set in 2005
• Hedborough North (UK fictional), set in 1968
• Seebergbahn (Alpine fictional), set in 2009
• Castle Rock Railroad, (US fictional), set in 2009
• Hagen-Siegen (DE)
• TestTrak, based on Test and validation centre, Wegberg-Wildenrath

Rolling stock

The base package contains 16 drivable locomotives and multiple units.

• LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0
  LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0
  The London Midland and Scottish Railway's Class 5 4-6-0, almost universally known as the Black Five, is a class of steam locomotive. It was introduced by William Stanier in 1934 and 842 were built between then and 1951...
  
  
• S&DJR 7F 2-8-0
  S&DJR 7F 2-8-0
  The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway 7F 2-8-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for hauling heavy coal and goods trains. Eleven were built in two batches in 1914 and 1925, and were used until withdrawn between 1959 and 1964...
  
  
• British Rail Class 55
  British Rail Class 55
  The British Rail Class 55 is a class of diesel locomotive built in 1961 and 1962 by English Electric. They were designed for the high-speed express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between and Edinburgh. They gained the name "Deltic" from the prototype locomotive, DP1 Deltic, which...
  
  
• British Rail Class 47
  British Rail Class 47
  The British Rail Class 47, is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British...
  
  
• British Rail Class 37
  British Rail Class 37
  The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Also known as the English Electric Type 3, the Class was ordered as part of the British Rail modernisation plan....
  
  
• InterCity125 High Speed Train
  InterCity 125
  The InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rail's High Speed Train fleet. The InterCity 125 train is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of Mark 3 carriages, and is capable of , making the train the fastest diesel-powered locomotive in regular service in the...
  
  
• British Rail Class 166
  British Rail Class 166
  The British Rail Class 166 Turbo Express is a fleet of diesel multiple units , originally specified by and built for British Rail, the then United Kingdom state owned railway operator. They were built by ABB at York Works between 1992 and 1993...
  
  
• DBAG Class 101
  DBAG Class 101
  DBAG Class 101 is a class of three-phase electric locomotives built by Adtranz and operated by DB Fernverkehr in Germany. 145 locomotives were built between 1996 and 1999 to replace the 30-year old and aging Class 103 as the flagship of DB AG...
  
  
• DB Class 294 Diesel Shunter
  DB Class V 90
  The DB Class V90 locomotive is a German diesel-hydraulic locomotive for shunting and freight hauling.-History and design:...
  
  
• DB Class V 200
  DB class V 200
  DB Class V 200.0 was one of the first diesel-hydraulic express locomotives of the German Deutsche Bundesbahn and - as Am 4/4 - of the SBB-CFF-FFS in Switzerland.-DB Service:...
  
  
• DRB Class 52
• DB Baureihe BR 143
  DR Class 243
  The DR Class 243 is a universal electric locomotive of the Deutsche Reichsbahn which is used for general rail service. Deutsche Bahn lists the locomotive as Class 143. The locomotives of class 143/243 still belong to the most successful class of German electric locomotives.- Development :Since...
  
  
• DB Class 151
  DB Class 151
  The Class 151 is an electric heavy freight locomotive built for German Federal Railways between 1972 and 1978. They were built as a replacement to the aging Class 150, in order to cope with the increased requirements of this type of locomotive, in particular the desire of a 120 km/h top...
  
  
• GE ES44-AC
• EMD SD40-2
  EMD SD40-2
  The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C locomotive produced by EMD from 1972 to 1989.The SD40-2 was first introduced in January 1972 as the mid-range offering in EMD's six-axle "Dash-2" series, competing against the GE U30C and the MLW M630...
  
  
• EMD F7 A & B
  EMD F7
  The EMD F7 was a Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and General Motors Diesel . It succeeded the F3 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence, and was replaced in turn by the F9. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La...
  
  

The game also comes with passenger coaches and freight vehicles.

Critical reception

Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 reports an average score of 70 out of 100 or "Mixed or Average Reviews". IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

gave the game an "7.0" or "decent" citing that the game doesn't "bring a lot of new stuff to the genre" and graphically lacks the "flair" of a normally developed game.

On Thursday 17th March 2011, it was announced that Railworks 2: Train Simulator had won the award for "Best Simulator 2010" by readers of GiN (Games Industry News)

Sequel

A new version of RailWorks, which is called RailWorks 3: Train Simulator 2012 has been released. Owners of RailWorks 2 are automatically upgraded to RailWorks 3: Train Simulator 2012 via the Steam platform. The new version contain a number of improvements and new features.