Volksbundesbahnen
Volksbundesbahnen (officially abbreviated as VB, commonly known as Volksbahn) is an Infrastructure Company in Antarctica fully owned and funded by the gouvernment of Casey. It focuses on Railroad and Iceways and is the successor of S-Bahn Antarktis GmbH and Eistrassen GmbH. Volksbundesbahen is classified as an unincorporated special fund. Not only does it operate ice- and railroads, but also manages other infrastructure companies in Casey. It's based in Mossau.
History
After the griefing of the Mossau–Shrek Railroad and the abandoning of the Mossau–Dasko Railroad there was a discussion about the fusing of S-Bahn Antarktis GmbH and Eistrassen GmbH into a single state-owned company. This proposal was accepted and took effect on January 1st 2021. From that date on Ice Roads and Railroads would both be operated and maintained by Volksbahnen and the previous companies would seize to exist.
Subdivision
- Eisenbahndirektion: Manages anything affiliated with Railroads.
- Eistrassen Netze: Manages the construction and maintenance of the ice roads themselves.
- Eistrassen Station & Service: Designs, constructs and maintains ice road station.
Infrastructure
VB currently operates on 3 ice roads and is rebuilding/constructing 2 railroads and 2 ice roads. Within the nation of Casey there is barely any competition regarding infrastructure, so the company has laid back regarding modernizations of ice roads, which led to many ice roads being in a poor condition and players being barely able to use them with no interruptions. However, in September 2021, VB has published a plan to modernize all old ice roads, introduce proper maintenance and make detailed plans of all rail- and ice roads.
The latter involves going through the tracks and noting down the kilometers since the start point every 200 meters or at major junctions. This method is known as Kilometrierung.
Kursbuch
Every month VB publishes the Kursbuch, which shows all connections and individual information about thte routes. These routes are numbered after the KBS-System and are known as Kursbuchstrecke.
Kursbuchstrecke-Syntax
To show how the KBS Syntax works, we are gonna analyse VBI 3103. It's meaning is Inter-Continental Elevated Ice Road Number 3 operated by VB.
All of the above shown digits will be explained below.
First two digits: Operator ID
These two digits show, who is operating the track
Third digit: Traction Type
This shows, what type of transportation is used. Possible codes:
- I – Ice Road
- R – Rail
The Traction ID is independent from the other IDs i.e. there can be a VBR 2215, a VBI 2215 and a SAI 2215 but there can't be two VBI 2215s.
Fourth digit: Connection Type
This shows, what the ice road or railroad connects. Possible codes:
- 1 – Antarctica: The ice road or railroad fully operates on Continental-Antarctican Soil.
- 2 – Overseas: The ice road or railroad operates fully on the ocean.
- 3 – Inter-Continental: The ice road or railroad operates on multiple continents and possibly intercontinental waters.
- 4 – Trans-Continental: The ice road or railroad operates fully on a continent, that is not Antarctica.
Fifth digit: Elevation
This shows, how the ice road or railroad is situated. Possible codes:
- 0 – Multiple: Multiple, unspecified, of the types below
- 1 – Elevated: The ice road or railroad operates on a viaduct and/or bridge that allows a player to cross under it withouth crouching or crawling.
- 2 – Flat: The ice road or railroad operates on a viaduct/bridge or a dam at least 2 blocks above/below the surface with the sky visible at all times (Tunnels, which make up to 35% of the route's distance, are allowed; if tunnels make up more than 35% of the route's distance, the ice road or railroad is classified as Elevation Type 0).
- 3 – Tunnel: 95% of the track is below ground and is covered by non-transparent blocks.
Last two digits: Number
Unique number ID for the tracks. The number ID is independent from the other IDs i.e. there can be a VBI 1301 and a VBI 2301 but there can't be two VBI 1301s.
List of Ice Roads and Railroads
- KBS VBI 1101 (Mossau–Neverwinter Iceway): 3 km long, 9 stations. (Opened 31st Dec 2019/1st Jan 2020; formerly ETI 1101)
- KBS VBI 1115 (Neuwittstock–Gansestadt Iceway): 200 m long, 1 station. (Opened 22nd June 2021)
- KBS VBI 1102 (Mossau–New Snork Iceway): 400 m long, 4 stations. (Opened February 2020; formerly ETI 1102)
- KBS VBI 1103 (Mossau–Worldborder Iceway): 4 km long, 3+ stations. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
- KBS VBI 3103 (SFS<ref name=":0">SFS = Schnellfahrstrecke (High Speed Track)</ref> Treiberstrecke): 41 km long, 11+ stations. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
- KBS VBI 4301 (SFS<ref name=":0" /> Treibertunnel): 10 km long, 6 stations. (Opened Summer 2020; formerly ETI 4301)
- KBS VBR 1201 (Mossau–Shrek Railroad): 2.5 km long, 6 stations. (PARTIALLY DESTROYED; formerly SAR 1201)
- KBS VBR 1202 (Mossau–Dasko Railroad): 300 m long, 4 stations. (PARTIALLY DESTROYED; formerly SAR 1202)
- KBS VBI 1104 (Mossau Circle Iceway): Under construction.
Footnotes
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