Towtalt

Towtalt (/təʊ'tælt/) is an island in Kulpania. The island's largest settlement is Towta, with an estimated population of around 822,000. Towtalt speaks Standard Kulpan because of its proximity to the Kulpan mainland. Towtalt is its own county, with its county council being situated in the largest settlement, Towta.

History

Towtalt was incorporated into the Kingdom of Kulpania in 1663 after the Third Towtalt War (1659-1663). Previously, Towtalt had been an independent nation, the Kingdom of Towtalt, which predated the Kingdom of Kulpania. Kulpanian forces invaded Towtalt three times before successfully annexing the island in the Third Towtalt War. The first invasion attempt was in the winter of 1317, resulting in a loss for the Kulpanians at the Battle of Elsmere. This first invasion attempt was intended to go ahead in the summer of the same year, but violent storms in the north of the country made sea travel dangerous.

In 1326, the Kingdom of Towtalt launched their own invasion attempt, against Kulpania. Their campaign was unsuccessful as the army was easily outnumbered by the Kulpanian forces. A second attempt in 1388 saw marginally more success, with the Towtalian forces being able to maintain a small amount of land on the Soltahtor coast for a few days, before eventually being overwhelmed by the Kulpanian troops and forced to retreat to their ships.

After the annexation of Towtalt in 1663, the island was incorporated into Soltahtor, however Towtalt was allowed to split from Soltahtor and form its own county in 1752 after it became obvious that the Soltahtor leadership could not effectively command such a large area.

Amenities

The island's largest city, Towta, hosts the Northern Arena, the home stadium for the Towta Blues. Outside of the football season, the stadium is regularly used for concerts and other large-scale events, as it is one of the country's largest venues of its kind.

The Eastside Centre is a shopping centre in the east of Towta, opened in 2003. The Towtalt county council's push for modernisation of Towta saw the Centre's approval in 1999, and construction began later in the same year. Since the Centre's opening, the Eastside area of the city has rapidly developed into a modern and renowned district with numerous national corporations and start-ups choosing to relocate to the area.

Towta Cinlof, Towta's central railway station (opened in 1908), is an imposing building in the city's centre famed for its charming architecture and vast arches. The railway station is still operational, seeing trains running to Towta North and Bigmistan Port two to three times an hour.

One of Kulpania's most popular tourist destinations, Túhobab, is on the west side of Towtalt, accessible on the Towta Metro. The coastal town is known for its large sandy beaches and smooth seas, and with the influx of tourists in the last fifty years, many new shops and attractions have opened to accommodate the increase in popularity.

Alheldron is home to Kulpania's northern-most point, Admiral Ólman Quay. The picturesque harbour in the town draws many visitors in the winter months, as the town hosts a traditional winter market that has been running since the mid-17th century. The town also contains Æntes Líntúq Manor, the last home of Æntes Líntúq, who is often called "Kulpania's greatest writer".

Nilmelin Point is located at the southern tip of the island, a tourist attraction hosting shops and restaurants. The site developed as the result of an advertising campaign on national television in the late 1980s showcasing the natural beauty of the location, drawing a large influx of visitors to the area.

Transport

Towtalt is connected to the Kulpan mainland by a regularly scheduled ferry service from Bigmistan Port, near Bigmistan on the south of the island, to two different landing points on the North Soltahtor coast, both of which have KulpanRail interchanges. The island itself also has a KulpanRail rail line, operated by Dutell Trains, which runs from Bigmistan Port to Towta North terminal. This line opened in 1908, and originally only ran as far as Towta Cinlof, the main railway station serving the centre of Towta. Northern Arena station opened in 1993 to cater to the large amount of traffic travelling to watch the Towta Blues, and Towta North terminal opened in 1999 as the northern areas of the city were developed and built up.

Towta Metro

Towtalt has the Towta Metro system: a three-line system serving mainly the city of Towta, but also some surrounding towns on the island. The system initially opened in 2001 with two lines: Nilmen, running from Island Way to Qilfan Street; and Hobir, running from Island Way to Źismin. In 2004 the Hobir line was extended to Túhobab, and Zimtan Market station opened two years later.

The Insal line was opened in 2009 from the Eastside Centre to Towta Cinlof when the island's bus network became overwhelmed with the large amount of traffic travelling to the rapidly developing district. The Insal line quickly became the busiest line on the metro system overall, however the Hobir line has the largest amount of traffic in rush hour as it serves many commuter towns on the outskirts of Towta.

The Nilmen line extension to Slitmum North was opened in 2012 and initially had the same frequency of service as the other parts of the network, however after opening the passenger numbers on the new section were much lower than predicted and the frequency of services was cut back, with many Nilmen trains only running as far as Qilfan Street as before.

2014 marked the beginning of the northern extension of the Insal line: the section from Towta Cinlof to Towta North opened in this year, and the further extension to Noltir opened two years later. This section of the network has been a resounding success for public transport on the island, with the bus network being able to cut back on services as the previously struggling 4 bus route had most of its traffic shifted away.

The most recent addition to the Towta Metro opened in 2019 with the Nilmen line being extended to Unrisle, in the northern suburbs of Towta. Residents of Unrisle and surrounding areas had repeatedly complained to the Towtalt county council about the lack of public transport available, campaigning for the opening of another Towta commuter bus route. Instead, the county council decided to construct a metro extension, extending the tunnels from Island Way northwards. Hobir line trains continue to terminate at Island Way, but Nilmen line trains carry on for a further three stops. The council feared that this extension to the Nilmen line would be unsuccessful like the extension down to Slitmum North, however the exact opposite was true, with metro services being overused and overcrowded. As such, the council made the decision to operate Nilmen services from Qilfan Street to Unrisle through Sunday nights, unlike the other two lines which operate overnight except on Sunday nights. Nilmen services to Slitmum North continued to run in the daytime only, and not on Sundays.

For eight months between January and September 2020, the Insal line was closed to passengers north of Towta North station after a major accident at Noltir station where the train failed to stop at the end of the line, crashing into the station building and causing sixty-seven fatalities. Extensive safety checks were undertaken in the period, and the line finally reopened on 19 September 2020. As of April 2021, this is the only major incident to have occurred on the system.

After recent successes of metro extensions, the Towtalt county council is considering further extensions to the Towta Metro. Numerous proposals have been made for an extension of the Insal line further northwards, eventually leading to Alhedron. No definitive plans have been put into place as of yet, however, but the consultation phase is still ongoing.

At present, all three Towta Metro lines run 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday, and the Nilmen line runs 24 hours a day every day of the week. On the Insal and Hobir lines, services on Sunday run until approximately 9:00PM, and re-commence at approximately 5:30AM on Monday morning.

While the Nilmen line does run 24 hours a day every day, this is only for services between Unrisle and Qilfan Street. Services to Slitmum North run at a much lesser frequency and timeframe: there is no service beyond Qilfan Street on Sundays at all, or between 10:30PM and 5:30AM on any other day. Zimtan Market station, on the Hobir and Nilmen lines, is only open on days when the market is running (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, outside of winter), as Mistan Street station is only several hundred metres away.

Rail line

Dutell Trains operates a single heavy rail line (D100) on the island, running from Towta North to Bigmistan Port. Two to three trains an hour operate on the line, and ferry services are scheduled to depart ten minutes after each train arrives at the port. Like the metro system, Dutell Trains is considering extending their rail line to Alheldron to cater for the large amount of tourist traffic in the winter, but, like the metro system, no concrete plans have been put into place at present.

The line has nine stations, however Diaś station is only served by every other train operating on the line. Every station except for Tislofes has bus connections available.

Buses

Towtalt has eighteen regular bus routes and six Towta commuter bus routes. The eighteen regular bus routes generally run every day of the week, from the early morning to late into the night. An exception is the 1 bus route, which runs 24 hours a day to connect Towta to Bigmistan Port, but also serves the Eastside Centre and Slitmum. The 12 also only runs to Nilmelin Point on weekends, to correspond with the opening times of the visitor centre. At other times, the route terminates at Bigmistan Port.

The six Towta commuter bus routes run from 6:00AM until 10:15AM and from 3:30PM until 7:00PM every day except Sunday. The routes are only ever operational in one direction as they are intended for commuter traffic only: in the mornings buses run from the suburbs to the city centre, and in the afternoons and evenings buses run from the city centre outwards. These routes use a different model of bus to the island's regular bus routes, to visibly make them stand out. These commuter bus routes have been running since 2007: previously, regular bus routes ran their approximate routes and were regularly overcrowded.