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How are railway network maps created (in computer software)?

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Can anyone tell me how railway maps are made? I am mainly talking about network maps like these for example:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/routemaps/nationalrailoperatorsmapzoom57.pdf

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/nationalrailroutemap_allstations.pdf

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/London_South_East_0518-b.pdf

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/London_Rail_Tube_0518_v2.pdf

How exactly are they made? What program or software is used? Could an ordinary person like myself easily create a map like these or do you have to work in the railway industry and have experience to know how to create these?

I am quite interested in maps and i would quite like to have a go and try and create some like these for various different networks in the UK and in other countries. Any information regarding this is appreciated.

Many thanks.
 
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DJames

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They are likely made in Adobe Illustrator, or some other vector drawing program. There are bound to be tutorials on YouTube for regular maps and ones like these.

If you just want to give it a try and you don't want to spend a lot of cash on the Adobe suite, Inkscape is a free alternative that would work. There should also be some tutorials on YouTube for that.
 

Intermodal

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I wonder how long I can make my location on this f
Could an ordinary person like myself easily create a map like these or do you have to work in the railway industry and have experience to know how to create these?
Nothing is out of reach. Anyone is capable of reaching their goals. Never give up, never let yourself deny the opportunity - always give it your best shot. I believe in you. Godspeed user1234.
 

GatwickDepress

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The Transit Map Tumblr blog has a good few tutorials and the FAQ talks about software used:

Q. What software should I use to make a transit map?

A vector-based illustration application is an absolute necessity for making professional-looking transit maps. I use Adobe Illustrator CC (2015), which is the choice of professional designers and map makers.

If you can’t afford the hefty price tag of Adobe applications, many enthusiasts use Inkscape, an open-source (free) vector illustration application. It doesn’t have the same polish as Illustrator, and some of its functionality is implemented differently, but — from what I’ve heard — it’s a very competent editor.

If you use a Mac, I’ve also heard good things about Affinity Designer, a newcomer to the graphic design and vector illustration world. At just $50 for a full licence (the same as just one month of an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription), it’s definitely worth checking out.

Bitmap editors like Photoshop or MS Paint are really totally unsuited to the precise work required to make a transit map, and I really recommend you don’t even try.
 

Malcolmffc

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They are generated from data in Network Rail’s timetabling system, which contains detailed information on how the network is linked together. A dump from this is available as part of NR Open Data (though you would need some decent programming skills to do anything useful with it)
 

Doctor Fegg

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They are generated from data in Network Rail’s timetabling system, which contains detailed information on how the network is linked together. A dump from this is available as part of NR Open Data (though you would need some decent programming skills to do anything useful with it)
No, they aren't. All four maps cited by the OP are done manually with a vector drawing program, almost certainly Illustrator. Label placement and generalisation algorithms are not advanced enough to produce anything like the cartographic quality of the London/South-East maps (...I'll reserve judgement on the quality of the Project Mapping ones ;) ). I'd suggest you download Mapnik and have a play if you genuinely think you can create a data-driven equivalent of the London/South-East maps!

OP - if you don't want to fork out for Illustrator, then Inkscape (free) is a passable alternative. It has a rather clunky UI but all the core functionality you'd need is there. Corel Draw and Affinity Designer are moderately low-cost options.

Richard (professional cartographer inter alia)
 

jha4ceb

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Just wanted to add another vote for Inkscape as a free option. It can be clunky, but with some work you can produce decent-looking work. I have no professional experience in this area but managed use Inkscape to make an ok-looking map for a fantasy transport sim project earlier this year.
 

MarkyT

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Another free vector editor worth considering is the draw application within LibreOffice.
 

trash80

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The diagrams are quite simple if you think about it, just a load of basic shapes. Illustrator is usually used for this kind of thing though i've done similar using apps like Photoshop and Hippani. Could even do it in Paint if you wanted though you'd probably quickly lose the will to live.
 

alex17595

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I had a crack at making a couple of basic line maps with some free trial software. I think it came out fairly well, I did one of the RhB and the Matterhorn Gottard bahn as well which came out a little better.

WHL map.png

(Yes there are some spelling errors!)
 
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Thanks for the replies. That is very helpful.

I think i may purchase Adobe Illustrator and have a go. Although it is quite expensive it is probably worth it as it sounds like it is the best one. I am looking here - https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/plans.html?single_app=illustrator&promoid=J469WX8G&mv=other - and wondering which one is the best to purchase? I am thinking just the "Single App" would be fine? I presume that none of the other programs are required to make Adobe Illustrator work?

I may have a go on Inkscape and some of the other free ones as well. I see that Adobe Illustrator also has an offer of a free trial.

From reading the links you have all provided it does look rather complicated. Especially as there are not that many tutorials on how to get started for beginners. Although i am sure it will get easier once you gain more experience. I suppose it will involve a lot of trial and error to get the right result.
 

trash80

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Try Inkscape first as it's not a bad program and might be all you need, Illustrator is more powerful but isn't cheap. If you do go for the latter i recommend you get some online training in it too (as i am myself at the moment in fact) as Illustrator is a bit daunting when you start.
 

alex17595

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To me it is really important to have some relationship to geography, Wick being to the left of Thurso is very confusing for me. It ceases to be a map and more a diagram

I don't want it to be completely huge which is what it would be with the Kyle line going off to the left. It could work going right between Forsinard and Altnabreac


Edit: Is this one any better?

farnorth2.png
 
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Aictos

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My question is how are maps like Open Train Times and Traksy actually made? Are they made using software mentioned above?
 

JonathanP

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My question is how are maps like Open Train Times and Traksy actually made? Are they made using software mentioned above?
Yes, possibly.

The maps on both sites are encoded in SVG format, which is a way of describing a diagram using text/XML. This is one of the formats that can be exported by vector drawing software such as Inkscape and Illustrator.
The SVG is embedded as part of the web page, and can then be modified 'live' using scripts to insert headcodes in the appropriate places.

Whether the authors of the sites drew the maps by hand, or generated them automatically I cannot tell, but since the maps are highly simplistic and repetitive, and need to be kept 'in sync' with the software that updates them with live data I suspect the latter.
 
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So i have downloaded Inkscape for free but i have no idea where to start. It looks very complicating and i can't seem to work out what i have to do to create the lines and dots and everything. Does anyone know how to get started? What are the basics to making a simple network map on this software?
 

takno

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Yes, possibly.

The maps on both sites are encoded in SVG format, which is a way of describing a diagram using text/XML. This is one of the formats that can be exported by vector drawing software such as Inkscape and Illustrator.
The SVG is embedded as part of the web page, and can then be modified 'live' using scripts to insert headcodes in the appropriate places.

Whether the authors of the sites drew the maps by hand, or generated them automatically I cannot tell, but since the maps are highly simplistic and repetitive, and need to be kept 'in sync' with the software that updates them with live data I suspect the latter.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I thought it was worth answering

You could use the Network Rail-provided data as a starting point, which is how Raildar was done I think, albeit with a substantial amount of tweaking. The main problems with that approach are that the data isn't especially up-to-date, and isn't laid out in a remotely compact way.

The maps on Traksy are hand-drawn, rather than being generated automatically. Rather than working directly with SVGs though, we have a specialised editor which lets us draw specific elements like platforms and various track parts on a grid. That is then converted into our own data format to be sent down to the browser, and it's turned into SVG there. Overall that makes it a lot quicker to draw the diagrams, and saves a lot of bandwidth when we send the maps to the browsers. I did have to write the editor to start with though! I think the process of drawing the whole network took around 4-5 months, and we've spent quite a lot of time since then redrawing them as areas get resignalled, or we think of a better way to lay them out.
 

aar0

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For a geographic map, QGIS is open source mapping software, and it's very powerful and not hard to get the basics of. UK track and station location data is available freely online.
 
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