Middlesburr, Lilletland

**Middlesburr** is a city in the state of Mildred in Lilletland. It is a large city, and as of 2022, it has a population of 11.26 million.

The name of the city comes from the birthplace of the city's founder, Middelsbur.

## History

The area that is now Middlesburr was first settled in 1756 by the British. Middlesburr was founded in 1776 by a German emigrant, Emanuel Höger. He named the city after his birthplace, Middelsbur, a village in Westerbur, a part of the municipality of Dornum in East Friesland in Germany. The name was changed from Middelsbur to Middlesburr in 1792.

The city experienced years of state atheism when Lilletland gained independence; the main reason for state atheism was to reform Lilletland and make it a witch's republic. As a result of Lilletland becoming a witch's republic ten schools of magic were opened in various parts of Middlesburr. Over 200,000 witches and 125,000 vampires settled in Middlesburr as of 1892.

## Transport

### Roads

Middlesburr is linked by the M45 motorway as well as various A and B roads and state routes.

The Middlesburr Road Network is a set of roads in the city, with routes numbered 1 to 9. This results in the route's alphanumeric counterparts unsigned, for example, A54(M) is used in planning documents; the same route is signposted as number 1 in a blue hexagon under the Middlesburr scheme.

### Public transport

Middlesburr Public Transport Company is a company that manages buses, metros, commuter trains, regional trains and a bullet train service not only in Middlesburr, but in eight other cities within Western Mildred as well: Haughmond, Engordany, Timbury, Silchester, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Pierreville and Trallwng.

#### Route numbering

Each metro, tram, suburban rail or a bus route is identified by a number, for example, the 970 high-frequency bus route between Canal Hill and Bruxelles.

For buses, red routes are high-frequency routes while blue routes are normal bus routes. Bus routes with letter suffixes indicate the final destination, route of origin or middle points (such as the 89H to Middlesburr Hospital, a variant of the 89). High-frequency bus routes are allocated either single-digit numbers (1 to 9), or 900 series.

Suburban rail lines are allocated a route number, for example, the 27 between Liddellbrick and Mellor Cove, and the 45 between Middlesburr Central and Castleside. Stations of 20s routes have a platform height of 1050 mm, while those in the 40s routes have a platform height of 550 mm. However, spur lines do not have separate route numbers and they are grouped under the same route number used for the parent line. The letter identifies the stopping pattern for a specific suburban rail line, for example, the 29P express train between Middlesburr and Pittlesbroom, and the 44B fast local train to Terrance. All stops trains which service the entire line only display a double-digit route number with no letter suffix.

Lettered stopping patterns did not appear until 1986; rather, the train's stopping pattern was done by using the same route number with a different terminus, by using the same route number but in a red typeface, or using a red slash through the route number. A red slash through the route number indicated a short turn, particularly a cut route, that did not terminate at a final destination at the end of the rail line. A similar method was used for bus services.

#### Railway

##### Radial railways

There are two radial railway lines, assigned route numbers 24 and 25, which go from Roskilde South to Hillcrest and Daglish respectively. All trains from these two lines stop are local trains (express and skip-stop services were completely abolished in 1983). Until the 1990s all train services were finished after the last train arrived at either Hillcrest or Daglish before midnight, and were replaced by night bus services N24 and N25 respectively. Since then, the two lines run 24 hours a day. The pre-1990s situation was reinstated as a temporary measure from early 2020 until late 2021 to stop the spread of COVID-19 in public transport.

The platforms have a height of 380 mm. Prior to metrication, the platforms had a height of 355.60 mm (equivalent to 14 inches, or 1 feet and 2 inches).

Until the 1990s, the two lines were run by a wooden vintage rolling stock similar to the ones operated on the Ferrocarril de Sóller in Spain, but were built in 1915. Unlike the Ferrocarril de Sóller ones, it had a control car at the end of the train. Withdrawals of vintage wooden electric trains began in 1997 with the last one withdrawn in 2002. Electric locomotive 550 and the six passenger cars are preserved by the Middlesburr Historic Radial Railway Society. Nowadays, the two lines are operated by Stadler GTW electric multiple units built in 1996 and Stadler FLIRT electric multiple units built in 2018, the latter confined to route 24 between Roskilde South and Hillcrest.

Radial railways of Middlesburr
 24 | Roskilde South
 25 | Roskilde South
 23 | Baccles
 26 | Roskilde Central

##### Suburban railways

There are eleven suburban rail lines, numbered 27 to 29 and 40 to 49. When the lines were built, they had the platform heights of 533.40 mm (21 inches) above top of rail for those in the 40s and 1041.40 mm (41 inches) above top of rail for those in the 20s. Lilletland followed the imperial system of units at that time, thus the platform height was specified in inches. When Lilletland adopted the metric system, Middlesburr raised the platform heights to 550 mm and 1050 mm respectively.