Trainz Simulator 2009: World Builder Edition, or TS2009, was released for digital download on 27 November 2008, and the first boxed copy orders were shipped in mid December 2008. Despite its name, the World Builder Edition is the full version, and the first to be evolved by the new team of programmers hired after Auran's post-bankruptcy reorganization and the Trainz franchise became the property of N3V Games. The sub-title refers to the many improvements in the world builder software, the Surveyor module. The version also made certain changes to the simulator's data structures to enable better graphics capabilities, the first to use multi-core microprocessor technologies and to take advantage of graphics card advances such as built in graphics processors. It doubled the amount of Video RAM and RAM memory the game could utilize.

The follow on edition, Trainz Simulator 2009: Engineers Edition, was scheduled for release by the end of April 2009, but was cancelled because the many updates to the newer data model created unanticipated problems for the new release that required four service pack releases to stabilize fully. The Engineers Edition was to have focused on driving and operating improvements, incorporating new graphics features such as SpeedTree technology, as well as further new content (most of which was deferred into TS2012). Subsequently, the name and many features (including SpeedTree) were applied to Trainz Simulator 2010: Engineers Edition.