OpenRailwayMap

Last updated
OpenRailwayMap
OpenRailwayMap of Northeastern US and Southeastern Canada.png
OpenRailwayMap section of northeastern US and southeastern Canada
Type of site
 Collaborative mapping
Owner Community-owned
Products Geographic data
URL www.openrailwaymap.org
CommercialNo
RegistrationRequired for contributors, not required for viewing
Launched2013;12 years ago (2013) [1]
Current statusActive
Content license
 Various

OpenRailwayMap (ORM) is an online collaborative mapping project developing a worldwide railway map using technology based on the OpenStreetMap project. The project is part of the OpenStreetMap database, and acts as a renderer for the existing OpenStreetMap database to include additional information for railroad lines worldwide. [2] The project was launched in 2013. [3]

Contents

History

The project was started in 2011. [4] The OpenRailwayMap website was launched in mid 2013. [3] The map originally supported both raster tiles and vector tiles, but support for the latter was dropped in 2017 due to poor performance. [5] A fork of OpenRailwayMap with a more modern vector tile implementation was announced in 2025. [6]

Contents

OpenRailwayMap contains data for railway line positions, as well as the following information about them: track type (i.e. bridge, tunnel, regular line); track line type and current use (i.e. main, branch, yard; construction, disused, abandoned); max rail speeds; train protection; track electrification and track voltage if applicable; and track gauge. [7]

Applications

Some of the uses for OpenRailwayMap are as follows: scientific models/simulations, data for model train enthusiasts, track information for trainspotters, and routing/public transport. [4] [8]

As well as the project website there is also a mobile app available for Android devices. [9]

API

OpenRailwayMap has a public and free (albeit limited-use) API. It is designed for small-scale applications. Users can query for information such as rail locations and data related to the rail. [10] [11]

Contributing

JOSM editor JOSM-ss.png
JOSM editor

OpenRailwayMap allows anyone to contribute in many ways, such as:

Internationalization

OpenRailwayMap is available to users in around 22 languages. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "Whois openrailwaymap.org". www.whois.com. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  2. ↑ "Where to find railroad maps online". Trains. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  3. 1 2 "Whois openrailwaymap.org". www.whois.com. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  4. 1 2 3 "OpenRailwayMap - OpenStreetMap Wiki". wiki.openstreetmap.org. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  5. ↑ Matheisen, Alexander (2 April 2017). "Removing vector tile support". openrailwaymap (Mailing list). Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  6. ↑ Wieringa, Hidde (6 March 2025). "OpenRailwayMap-vector announcement". openrailwaymap (Mailing list). Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  7. ↑ Brebbia, C.A.; Mera, J.M.; Tomii, N.; Tzieropoulos, P., eds. (2016). Computers in Railways XV: Railway Engineering Design and Operation. Great Britain: WIT Press. pp. 119–120. eISSN   1743-3509. ISBN   978-1-78466-123-6.
  8. ↑ Blumenschein, Mattias; Babilon, Katherina; Schmidt, Bernd D.; Pfaff, Raphael (2021). "Use cases in autonomous shunting" (PDF). RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY. Aachen, Germany. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  9. ↑ "Railmap for OpenRailwayMap - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  10. ↑ "OpenRailwayMap/API - OpenStreetMap Wiki". wiki.openstreetmap.org. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  11. ↑ Gaffuri, Julien (2018). "Generalising OpenRailwayMap to 1:10k and 1:50k" (PDF). TU Dresden. Luxembourg city, Luxembourg. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.