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- Hacker News
- This is super cool, but at least by a quick glance, I think the coverage for China is very incomplete.by ykl
- I wonder where the data is sourced. It has lots of detail about some VIA Rail routes in Canada and entirely misses others.by kimos
- Interesting! It's definitely not complete, quite a few reasonably common passenger routes in Europe I know are missing. But a fun idea, one I would love to play around with more were it more completeby RugnirViking
- The last few days I have been working on a new verification system. I hope to be able to add many more routes through this system, so that World Train Map can have high quality routes that are verified.by Flightmussy
- Tracks in Czechia are mostly missing. It’s known as a country with the most dense railroad network in the world.by josefrichter
- I am aware of that. Lines like Karlovy Vary - Loket or Strakonice - Tabor are missing. I have travel by rail in Czech Republic a bit too much according to my friends lol.
The reason why they are not added yet is because I am working on a verification system. I see that there are many routes in Czech Republic which are not shown either in OBB Scotty. I will see if I can use Ceske Drahy to verify and get at least almost all routes.
by Flightmussy - https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ is much more comprehensive. It's open street map data, but filtered for railway infrastructure.by rjmunro
- That's more like it, the Ghan (AU) track is shownby xx__yy
- World Train Map is, by design, a curated map of interesting passenger trains, not a comprehensive map.
The problem with every comprehensive map I've seen is that they are way too comprehensive. If you look at Congo on https://www.openrailwaymap.org/, you might assume the country has a functional passenger railway network, when almost most lines shown were for bulk cargo only, fell into disrepair in the 1960s and certainly haven't had passenger services in decades if ever. Even for first world places like Australia there are tons of supposedly "main lines" listed that are nothing of the sort.
- Nice work!
But missing the iconic Ghan in Australia https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/images/route-taken-ghan
by xx__yy - Also missing (a big chunk of) the Indian Pacific (east to west coast, has passenger services several times a week).by jaza
- This is missing just about all of the short lines in America. So by default the is NOT a world train map. This link and website is misleading to think it is the world of train maps. Disappointing.by ggerules
- Same for Russia.by tdiff
- It's missing some weird ones for having others operating as part of the same public transport systems too.
Old data? Where's the data from?
by tapland - Amazing. Also super interesting to see that when you filter for high speed rail it’s basically Japan, China and Europe. America (north and south), Africa - basically the rest of the world is in dark agesby quietthrow
- The high speed filter is a bit misleading. Amsterdam to Berlin is marked as high speed. But it takes 6 hours and 41 minutes to cover the ~580km distance. It might technically qualify as high speed but it doesn’t feel like it.
Washington DC to NYC is comparable.
At night I can legally drive to Amsterdam faster by car. 670km on the Autobahn in 6 hours can be done. Not as comfortable of course, but just to prove the point.
by artisinal - This is a very dangerous site for train travel geeks. Like, what am I doing with my life? I should be catching the Nile Valley Sleeper, 879km "Overnight up the Nile past Luxor’s temples: wake to feluccas and the First Cataract at Aswan."by angry_octet
- Hahahaha thanks!
I have the same feeling. There are so many places and things to experience which I want to do. I am not sure what I am doing with my life either.
In a way I have to grow up and become "successful", but at the same time I would rather just sit in a train somewhere in the alps with the craziest view, have a small wine bottle at train table and trying the best ice cream ever in a random North Italian town.
I really admire the train vloggers on Youtube because that seems so cool to do.
I do not know where to even start, there are so many routes that I want to do right now.
by Flightmussy - Really nice, how does this compare to https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ ?by noeltock
- One is AI slop, one is direct OSM databy ks2048
- Openrailway is a bit more technical product than World Train Map. The goal of World Train Map is to have a good selection of almost all passenger rail routes around the world, where the user can hover over each route to get a quick story.
The tracing on World Train Map is based on OSM and I am thankful for both their tracings and the community which has corrected this project. Most casual users like me are not interested in signals or the technical stuff about the line, but rather simpler technical details such as speed, average speed and where you can take the route from and to.
Besides OSM is really all rail routes, while World Train Map is only passenger service.
by Flightmussy - The map is ok, but mostly I'm interested in the number of map apps people are cranking out with AI. The design elements pretty clearly mark them as such (and it's even more obvious once you poke around a bit). I love maps, so I get it, they tend to hook people, and the relative density of information can be very high.
I work in the electricity space (and of course we have a map[0]), and it has been wild to see the number of "I was a PM at a B2B SaaS/AI company and now I'm here to solve the grid with this vibe-coded tool", which inevitably involves a map. Seems like an inflection point was hit sometime late last year where first SMEs could make little apps they couldn't before, and then it expanded further into people who truly don't know a space but the AI can make it look like they do to other people who also don't, and the cycle continues.
[0] https://www.gridstatus.io/map?zoom=4.45¢er=-95.70000,40....
by cwal37 - I would not bet on AI. I think this map is older.by Beijinger
- I am going to sleep now because it is pretty late in Norway and I can sense that I will have a very long work day tomorrow. It is crazy to see that World Train Map is on the front page. Holy shit!
Please give feedback meanwhile because it helps the site a lot. I want to add both many more routes and have a well functioning verification system. I hope that the map is giving all of you an enjoyable experience.
by Flightmussy - I got a question . Whats the core purpose behind this endeavour ?
Ive seen a lot of other website tracking different things in the world. Is there a monetisation angle or a leisurely hobby ?
by bakraman - A lot of the "feedback" below seems to consist of people complaining that this is not a comprehensive map, despite your site clearly saying it's a " curated atlas of notable passenger routes — not every railway on Earth". Sigh.