SimRail – The Railway Simulator

It's well-done, some of the stuff that was still missing at launch is (slowly) being added, it looks good, the performance is okay and it's still being developed. The DLC prices could be more reasonable though (just because your competition does it, doesn't mean you should too).
8/10

nice game but you have to be aware of your surroundings
pro tip: in order not to get yelled at by polish people read the signalling guides

I hate long reviews, so here I go:

It's a 8/10.

The simulation is outstanding, very realistic. (I am not a traindriver, but it really feels like real life)
It has a steep learning curve, but there are enough videos online and there is a complementary tutorial per train in game.

The game updates regularly.

The scenery is, for a game like this, with just less then 70 gb, perfect. It aint good as TSW, BUT, if you prefer realism and controlabillity over scenery, this is the game for you. It gives you the feeling you are driving a train for real.

Bugwise I've noticed a few, none gamebreaking. No bugs when driving.

I'd recommend this game to all people that prefer realism and diverse controls.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure whether or not I should recommend SimRail or not.

Personally, I really enjoy the game. The combination of a genuinely good train simulation with the ability for players to signal trains is excellent and creates a very immersive and enjoyable experience. Having said this, there are quite a few problems I have with SimRail, some of which may or may not be fixed in the future.

In an attempt to make this a little less rant-like, I'll lay it out into simply the good things and the bad things.

The good things:
- The train simulation is genuinely quite good. The trains do feel like they've got character, and some of the trains are quite difficult to control sometimes (in a fun, challenging way). I also adore the inclusion of a timetable, which is something that has been missing from simulation games like Train Sim World and Train Sim Classic for years.
- The dispatching (signalling) mode is excellent. This is the main reason why I purchased SimRail in the first place, and after I got around the small learning curve I have to say it has provided some of the most fun I've had in any simulation game.
- Team both of those features with multiplayer mode and you truly do get something very special in the world of simulation. For example, signalling a large station and having three player-controlled trains communicating with you via the radio generates a super fun, immersive, and unique experience.
- The use of non-player-controlled trains and signalboxes is also executed perfectly (although the signallers can be a bit buggy at times). If you want to signal at a particular time when nobody is driving - that's fine. The trains still run on their timetables and you notice almost no difference than if every train was controlled by a player. This is excellent, as it means there's never an interruption in the frequency of trains/signallers just because players aren't occupying those roles.
- You do get a good variety of trains and a huge variety of signalboxes to control.

The so-called bad things:
- Shunting movements don't exist in multiplayer. The functionality is clearly there, but you cannot use shunt signals at all as a signaller. Apparently it's being worked on, but there's been almost no news on the subject.
- The game is quite unstable. I've had it crash multiple times, long loading times, etc. But there aren't an overwhelming amount of bugs.
- The presence of DLCs in early access leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I think the developers should focus on getting the game out of early access than releasing more paid content, but this is just a personal opinion.
- No mechanical signalboxes yet despite them apparently being worked on - with no further news either.
- The interaction system in trains is just absolutely horrible. It's finnicky and annoying to use.

It's up to you to decide. I think personally SimRail will appeal to anyone but take this review as a word of caution - there ARE problems, and there ARE missing features, and we don't hear much from the devs.

Good game, you should play it if you like train simulation. It's better than TSW in many aspects, especially the atention to detail. Something that TSW does do better though is marking objectives, this game is quite a bit harder than TSW. However, it forgives you pretty much anyting other than derailment which is not easy to achieve. On the technical side however, this game kinda sucks. The optimisation is quite poor, lets be real this is no AAA and yet it runs like crap, the scenario reset button doesn't work, the scenario restarts but its broken. Also the weather, time and season selection sucks. Some scenarios are also seemingly broken. I once waited for about an hour on a red signal, started the scenario again by going to the main menu and waited for less than 5 minutes. This leads me to another point, no saving. Why is there no saving? Like sure, if I make a mistake i get to go again with just a penalty to my points, but how do yall expect me to do a 4 hour scenario in one sitting? Im not leaving my pc on overnight, and Im not letting the game eat my GPU and CPU away while i take a break to play something else. Over all, the technical aspect is very much not impressive, but the simulation and attention to detail is much better than TSW. If this game had as many trains, maps and scenarios as TSW does, i would pick this any day.

This is my 2nd train sim now, first one was derail valey, and it was a different difficulty and experience than Simrail, just enough overlap to make them both train sims, but not so much overlap that one replace the other.
Now after 40+ hours I can safely say that this is an awesome game, awesome simulation, the fact that it has a multiplayer where you can both drive AND dispatch trains at multiple stations is just a ridiculously good experience, I am looking very much forward to getting my hands on the Steam Frame and playing the living crap out of this title.

116 hours later
Today the SimRail team dropped a major update to the game. WOW! There is a save system for single player. I saved one my my sessions (Katowice Intermodal cargo run), but the save didn't want to load. Not a big deal because the team is actively working on it plus it is still an alpha (though I have seen notes that say it's in beta, a bit confusing based on what I see in game).
It also appears that a few of the original routes in Katowice have been updated, but I have not fully tested the scenarios that I know were broken, but believe me I will report a yea or na with my findings.
I was thrilled to see that they have unlocked the editor. So now I need to learn how to build my own scenarios, but no guides are available since this literally just dropped. I'll give it a month or so. I've already looked at the functionality, but I need to learn how to use the tool box they provided.
Also announced is a new DLC pack, the CD 163 Series so we will have more optional locos to drive. That is awesome. I'll need to do both the Cargo Pack and this train pack.
I'm so impressed they the developers are working on this game. Despite the typical "is this game dead, the game is dead" attitudes by some. I prefer the slow roll rather than throwing daily updates.
SimRail is awesome, and yes I recommend you pick it up plus the DLCs as well.
Side note: If I had a better Internet connection, I would absolutely steam SimRail on my YouTube channel. Sadly my ISP lives in the dinosaur age in my location (only provides 10Mb down 1Mb up ADSL) and no other ISP covers this area Also I have too many 50 foot tall trees on the property which negates satellite based Internet.
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Meanwhile, 75 hours later.
The Pruszkowski's Intermodal scenario is broken. What is broken? After you drop off the unloaded flat cars, then hook to the intermodal consist, you will eventually be held in a siding for a high speed train. How ever once that high speed train is past the block, you are never cleared from the siding. I've tested this multiple times and after 10 minutes it is definitely a bug. A dev said it was an unintentional bug, but offered no fix for this at the time I had asked on Oct. 6th 2025. If therre is a fix I will update.
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25 hours later.
In this updated review I have unlocked a few more dispatching stations, and it is fun, but as you will learn there are times where no trains will around for upwards of 15 minutes or more depending. I recommend learning to dispatch in the un moderated server. It is a bit more forgiving if you make mistakes verses if you screw up in a moderated server. I can't tell if those servers are bot controlled or human. I got kicked for not replying to a bot request even though I had. The threshold for this incident is too high. People that are new shouldn't be punished for a mistake or missing something. It is just a game after all.
Next I've been learning the multiplayer experience driving trains. The EU07 is a challenge as it uses a shunter for a power boost, and the power wheel (verses a stick control). The cold start procedure is more complex. The SHA/CA) vigilant system will not turn off unless you are in forward or reverse. This unit is the only one I have tried that has that weird setup.
There are several cold start guides you can reference in Steam to aid in starting sequence. Most of them operate pretty much the same in terms of staring up (battery, pantographs, cabin start, close circuits, radio, etc.) Other units like the EN57 had old school switches that require the converter and compressor to be activated along with the pantographs. ALso pressing N when driving a night scenario is your flash light. It comes in handy as the cabin is very dark.
There is a test track where you can drive every train (excluding the Cargo DLC trains unless you buy it) and you can train with the ETCS system which has a lot of details. Bear this in mind. You CAN'T skip that tutorial video, and if you fail the training you have to do it all over again. That needs an overhaul and be a lot more forgiving for newcomers.
There was talk from the devs that a save system was being worked on. It's either progression saves or some other some other type. Supposedly it was going to be released in April 2024, but I have no idea why it wasn't. So as I mentioned in the original review no save system exists as of Oct 1 2025.
More to come.
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What I own: Base game and Lodz to Warsaw DLC and thus my review is based on these items. I have not picked up the Cargo Pack DLC at the time of this review.
SimRail has a lot to offer (and no it is not a dead game), and the updates that are rolled out are methodical. Too many games release an update that breaks more than fixes. The key is be patient and go to the official SimRail website and forum.
If you are coming from Train Sim World bear in mind the mechanics in SimRail are more complex. Complete cold/dark starts, longer distances (this is true 1:1 scaling), and time to play can take several hours. TSW is pretty dumbed down and it's why they call it a sim-cade. It's more about the eye candy than true simulation.
SimRail is a real world replication of Polish train routes that are nicely recreated. There are occasional stutters in the game when things load in, but it isn't bad. I'm on a potato computer, and I can play this just fine. Weather is dynamic as is the time of day (24 hour clock). So if the city you are driving a train in is foggy, you can bet it's foggy there in the real world. If it's snowing in the real world city, yep! You will also see snow. Now that's awesome.
The tutorials are just okay, but many guides on Steam exist for additional learning (especially on cold/dark starting trains not in the tutorials. Not every train is the same. Some are very old school that utilize the power wheel (not a steering wheel) and a few are more advanced. The YouTube vids out there from the past few years are still useful, but as the game progresses they won't be all that helpful. Many have no commentary which won't be much use (in my book).
Multiplayer.
SimRail really is great for multiplayer. You can either drive or dispatch. Though before can unlock the multiplayer map, you have to complete at least 1 tutorial (I suggest all of them to get a good feel).
Dispatching doesn't have a tutorial, you are introduced and then thrown to the wolves. No single player dispatch is in the game. It can be daunting to say the least, but not impossible. You just have to level up by playing for hours to unlock more advanced dispatching stations. Some stations are computerized and some are the old "domino boards" where you press buttons. Keep in mind etiquette is a big deal in multiplayer. If you deliberately send trains on collision courses you will get banned. There is VoIP chatting between stations or you can just text. Again show etiquette with others.
No Save States
There is no ability to save your game (SP or MP). It's been requested from a while, but has not been implemented. I strongly recommend that you set aside a minimum of two and a half hours of your day to play in SP. MP really can't use a save due to it being real time and other technical reasons. AI will be in control of a train when you hop in, you just have to click the display at the very top of the screen to take control.
I will add more to my review the longer I play.
SkittleKicks