OpenRailwayMap
Open railway mapping software project
| OpenRailwayMap-vector section of Dresden, Germany | |
| Website type | Collaborative mapping |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Community-owned |
| Products | Geographic data |
| Website | openrailwaymap.app |
| Advertising | No |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Required for contributors, not required for viewing |
| Launched | 2024 (2024) |
| Current status | Active |
| 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. The project was launched in 2013.
01History
The project was started in 2011. The OpenRailwayMap website was launched in mid 2013. The map originally supported both raster tiles and vector tiles, but support for the latter was dropped in 2017 due to poor performance. A fork of OpenRailwayMap with a more modern vector tile implementation was announced in 2025.
02Contents
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.
03Applications
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.
As well as the project website there is also a mobile app available for Android devices.
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.
04Contributing
OpenRailwayMap allows anyone to contribute in many ways, such as:
- Creating data using photography or GPS trackers and sending it to experienced project editors
- Using the JOSM desktop editing tool to expand the database (Registration required with a verified email address, no registration required to view data)
- Contributing to the project's open source code
Internationalization
OpenRailwayMap is available to users in around 22 languages.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “OpenRailwayMap”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- OpenRailwayMap of Northeastern US and Southeastern Canada.png by OpenRailwayMap contributors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- JOSM-ss.png by JOSM was written by Immanuel Scholz and other contributors, GPL
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