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.
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.
Besides the obvious fact you stated, I think they actually show different information: the thing we're discussing is a map of popular or famous or remarkable train routes, not the map of all the railways in the world.
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 ages
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."
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.
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.
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 complete
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.
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....
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.
Old data? Where's the data from?
At first glance, https://www.openrailwaymap.org seems much better
But missing the iconic Ghan in Australia https://digital-classroom.nma.gov.au/images/route-taken-ghan
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.
Quick Look in Mexico and it’s not good.