Traveling by train can be a real pleasure or the mother of all nightmares… depending on the region. One of the most delicate points is the lack of information about local railway routes, and although Google has grown a lot in that regard, it still has work to do. One of the best alternatives available on the web is OpenRailwayMap, a collaborative open-source platform in which anyone can participate by adding data on primary and secondary infrastructure, special signals, and the maximum speeds allowed on each route.
In some countries, trains are a source of pride. In others, let's say passengers basically risk their lives every time they board a car, and sometimes they don't even manage that, as they travel hanging from windows, on roofs, or on the locomotive.
Unfortunately, railway development is uneven, and if that is serious for infrastructure, one shouldn't expect too much at the information level. Faced with the absence of official resources to properly document and register each change, frequent travelers, enthusiasts and professionals appear, willing to give their time and knowledge to improve railway systems, even if that means updating a simple map.
World railway routes
So we come to OpenRailwayMap, an excellent open-source platform dedicated to reproducing all the railway infrastructure available in the world, based on data from OpenStreetMap. Founded in 2011, OpenRailwayMap enabled public access in mid-2013, and within months a special version for mobile phones was created.
Now, OpenRailwayMap doesn't only present lines marking the tracks. When zooming in, you'll see advanced details such as tunnels, bridges, subways, trams, historic, crossing, abandoned, disused, and high-speed tracks, with a precise record of the maximum speeds allowed on each section. The signaling aspect is not far behind, although I've noticed that most references are in German.
The official OpenRailwayMap blog publishes updates, news and information about events related to the railway world. OpenRailwayMap is a work in progress, but we must admit that over the years it has become a very solid tool for those who wish (or need) to know more about regional railway systems.
