Grand Urusheen Railway

The Grand Urusheen Railway is a transit system serving the Northern regions of Urushee. The GUR originated roughly a century and a half before The Collapse occurred, as greater initiatives to reforge the nation around Arcane Machina took place, and a necessity for rapid transport through the long stretches of grasslands was deemed necessary. It operates under 3 separate lines and offers different train services for the various requirements of it, from industrial to civilian transportation.

History

Unveiled in 731, the GUR initially operated as a private railway to transport supplies and building materials over long distances after their new capital city Srenluna had finished construction. Powered by Arcane Machina, the initial route made a single back and forth journey between the capital city and Goldhold. By 857, the GUR had expanded to perform a singular loop around the center of Northern Urushee.
By 801, popular demand for a civilian method of utilizing the surface had grown, following an uptick in stowaways aboard the GUR's industrial trains, and the plans for a new rail service that accommodated this need was announced by the Railmaster. Named as the "Midnight Express", the all-day and all-night passenger service would operate with four trains along the route, with new tracks to be built that allow the service to be in reach of smaller settlements. It would take until 817 for this upgrade to the GUR to be complete.

The Collapse

When The Collapse occurred in 874, the Grand Urusheen Railway suffered massively from the event, with multiple train derailments being reported across Urushee. With the entire service line necessitating the usage of Arcane Machina, the GUR was forced unable to continue its primary function and the railway remained dormant for over three decades. It wasn't until 906 that an effort was made to restore the rail system was undertaken, largely starting as volunteer work by residents of Malrton under the ulterior motive of restoring the gambling resort to its former glory.
The first new model of train was designed by the Dwarven engineer Hakkuid Wraithbraid, who based his work on scaling up existing Arcane Machina transportation schematics that were used in Ionin prior to its destruction. It was said that this was done to emphasize form over function, as he believed the Arcana model of locomotive used previously would have taken significantly longer to retrofit. These new trains would power themselves along the lines by use of Electricity, with large power cells being swapped out of their engines at the end of their journey.
At first, the reconstructed GUR functioned as a one-stop system between Srenluna and Malrton, as the two settlements maintained friendly relations and mutually benefitted from the traffic via the decommissioned train line. Soon after, wealthier patrons began to start initiatives to fund further repairs to the Urusheen railway, as to connect multiple key locations of business to the capital for ease of access. This would eventually expand into the modern Grand Urusheen Railway service, with multiple service lines reaching key points of interest around the nation.
In 917, a fatal design flaw in the new train system would be uncovered, however, after station "The Brews" was raided by a large Bandit raiding party. With no replacement batteries available at the station, the GUR was forced to cease operations for two months until order could be restored - Disrupting construction work at a critical time. Since then, it was mandated that all stops along the route of the GUR possess necessary power sources to refuel the trains, in hopes of minimizing the risk of further outages.

Civilian Infrastructure

Lines

The Grand Urusheen Railway operates under 3 lines at the time of writing:
Northern Urusheen Central Circuit - The original circular train route, with its course taking a large loop around the center of the nation. It begins and terminates at Srenluna Central Station, with a full journey taking roughly two days, and hosts the original four Midnight Express trains.
Urushee South Connection - A line that branches off of the Northern Urusheen Central Circuit, opened in 871, going south past the Vitreux river. It begins at Srenluna Central Station and terminates at Levanin, with a full journey from the first to last destination taking five days.
Greater Urushee Central - An extension of the Northern Urusheen Central Circuit that focuses on the region west of the Capitol. A full journey with this line only takes a day.

Trains

Civilian trains come in one uniform size, of two floor surface trains with 15 cars. Each train car can host up to 20 human-sized individuals. The first floor of a train is the general seating area for the journey, as well as the path the catering services move through, whereas the upper deck features double decker beds and luggage storage space. When tickets are purchased, customers are allowed to reside in their designated train car, with selection of beds & storage being manual. While service announcements are frequently made throughout the journey regarding progress to the next destination, all passengers are expected to manage their own departure from the trains. A train remains stopped at a station for 15 minutes before departing.
There are no required seating spaces on the lower deck. The sliding doors of the trains remain locked at all times during the journey other than for routine staff access, with passengers not being allowed to move between train cars. While all train cars are wheelchair accessible, the upper deck in particular is not, as it requires the usage of a small stairwell.