OpenRailwayMap

Tool Description : A free, OpenStreetMap-based interactive map providing detailed information about railway infrastructure worldwide including railway lines, stations, track types, gauges etc.

OpenRailwayMap

Quick Overview

URL

https://www.openrailwaymap.org/

What it does

Maps railway infrastructure and provides details such as track type, gauge, electrification, speed limits, and railway status.

How to use it

Navigate to an area of interest and use the map layers/railway information to examine railway infrastructure and associated features.

Cost

Free.

Account required

No.

May use standard website cookies. None noted during our site session.

Ownership

Community-developed, non-commercial project operated by its developers and contributors with data primarily from OpenStreetMap.

Use in Reporting

Can provide supporting geospatial evidence about railway infrastructure, routes, stations, and infrastructure characteristics.

What does OpenRailwayMap do?

OpenRailwayMap provides a detailed visual representation of railway infrastructure worldwide and is particularly useful for identifying and examining railway routes, stations, track characteristics, electrification, gauges, speed limits and other infrastructure information.

The lowdown: It’s a railway-focused geospatial OSINT tool, useful for researching and verifying railway routes, infrastructure and locations rather than general geographic mapping.

How to Use:

1. Open OpenRailwayMap and navigate or search to the geographic area of interest.

2. Examine the railway network and available infrastructure information, such as track type, gauge, electrification, speed limits and operational status.

3. Record relevant locations, map features and observations, and corroborate important findings against additional authoritative sources before reporting them.

Cost

Free
Partially Free
Paid

Data Processing

Account Required:

Cookies:

May use standard website cookies. None noted during our site session on 24 August 2026.

Use in Reporting

OpenRailwayMap can be used to:

Identify railway lines, stations, junctions, bridges and tunnels in a specific geographic area.
Establish the approximate location and characteristics of railway infrastructure.
Examine track type, gauge, electrification and maximum-speed information.
Identify operational, disused, abandoned or historical railway infrastructure where mapped.
Cross-reference locations identified through satellite imagery, photographs, videos or other OSINT sources.
Support geolocation and geographic analysis involving railway infrastructure.
Provide contextual mapping evidence alongside other independently verifiable sources.

The platform has also been cited as a source in formal infrastructure and planning documentation, including a Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency report and a UK Planning Inspectorate environmental statement.

Capabilities

Limitations

Worldwide railway infrastructure coverage.

Coverage and accuracy depend on OpenStreetMap contributions.

Detailed railway-specific information.

Data may be incomplete or outdated.

Shows infrastructure such as tracks, stations and junctions.

Not all railway features will be mapped.

Provides information such as gauge, electrification and speed.

Mapping data should not automatically be treated as authoritative.

Useful for geolocation and infrastructure analysis.

Summary

OpenRailwayMap is a useful geospatial OSINT resource for researching railway infrastructure helping identify routes, infrastructure characteristics and locations, particularly when combined with satellite imagery and other geographic sources.

It therefore best fits in the analysis and verification stages of the OSINT workflow, however, because much of the underlying data is crowdsourced from OpenStreetMap, important findings should be independently verified.

Ownership

Community-developed, non-commercial project operated by its developers and contributors. Its data comes primarily from OpenStreetMap.

Ethical Considerations

Do not trespass on railway property to verify information.
Avoid using railway infrastructure information to facilitate harmful or unlawful activity.
Treat crowdsourced mapping as potentially incomplete or inaccurate.
Respect OpenStreetMap/OpenRailwayMap licensing and attribution requirements. The OpenRailwayMap project specifically advises users to obey the law, avoid entering railway areas and use publicly available sources.