Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#1

Post by malte » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 4:32 PM UTC

Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic
flyabb.com

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#2

Post by microtonal » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 6:45 PM UTC

Very nice! There is not much information on the website, do they use the regular schedule to calculate the train positions or something more sophisticated (GPS positions broadcasted from the train)?

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#3

Post by qF » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 7:30 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #2

Very nice! There is not much information on the website, do they use the regular schedule to calculate the train positions or something more sophisticated (GPS positions broadcasted from the train)?

They calculate the positions. Though recently the railway implemented a system in their trains that seems to use GPS to inform passengers on realtime arrival times. So perhaps in the future they will make GPS data available in their API.

The railway company is kinda behind on how the world (of data) works, and they have for a long time considered this kind of information as exclusive information that nobody else should be able to access. Despite being government owned..

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#4

Post by Shabaz » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 7:45 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #2

Very nice! There is not much information on the website, do they use the regular schedule to calculate the train positions or something more sophisticated (GPS positions broadcasted from the train)?

It is calculated based on train schedules from what I can tell. I just got off the train and there is an outage between Almere and Lelystad (in the middle of the map) because of maintenance, but I can see active trains on the map. The entire service is run by buses this weekend.

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#5

Post by route66 » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 7:45 PM UTC

qF wrote: post #3

microtonal wrote: post #2

Very nice! There is not much information on the website, do they use the regular schedule to calculate the train positions or something more sophisticated (GPS positions broadcasted from the train)?

They calculate the positions. Though recently the railway implemented a system in their trains that seems to use GPS to inform passengers on realtime arrival times. So perhaps in the future they will make GPS data available in their API. The railway company is kinda behind on how the world (of data) works, and they have for a long time considered this kind of information as exclusive information that nobody else shou…

It's indeed precalculated. Right now the official site of the train service lists blocking construction work on some routes, no train is riding there. On the map though they are still on schedule. Nevertheless a nice piece of work, but not really "live".

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#6

Post by Luc » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 7:46 PM UTC

qF wrote: post #3

microtonal wrote: post #2

Very nice! There is not much information on the website, do they use the regular schedule to calculate the train positions or something more sophisticated (GPS positions broadcasted from the train)?

They calculate the positions. Though recently the railway implemented a system in their trains that seems to use GPS to inform passengers on realtime arrival times. So perhaps in the future they will make GPS data available in their API. The railway company is kinda behind on how the world (of data) works, and they have for a long time considered this kind of information as exclusive information that nobody else shou…

> The railway company is kinda behind on how the world (of data) works, and they have for a long time considered this kind of information as exclusive information that nobody else should be able to access. Despite being government owned..

The same thing happened in Belgium. A student made a mobile website for accessing rail times, was ignored by the rail company for 18 months, then got threatened into shutting down when the rail company finally made their own application (which naturally doesn't work as well). Luckily a few government ministers made the rail company see the light, despite their protestations.

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#7

Post by kposehn » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 8:55 PM UTC

This is awesome!

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#8

Post by rasur » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 9:27 PM UTC

There's a similar one for Swiss trains.

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#9

Post by Kenw00t » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 9:53 PM UTC

The Belgian railways have a similar thing, which is on an official site: http://www.railtime.be/website/traffic-trains There's not much traffic now since it's midnight. Also, the banner on top is completely Javascript.

Re: Real-time map of Dutch rail traffic

#10

Post by joelhaasnoot » Sat, Apr 02, 2011, 10:05 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #2

Very nice! There is not much information on the website, do they use the regular schedule to calculate the train positions or something more sophisticated (GPS positions broadcasted from the train)?

The data is based of a scraped/entered train schedule from 2009, and hasn't been updated since.

Essentially, the data is always playing back the regular schedule, but is offset by any delays (which can now be obtained by API, earlier by scraping the railway's mobile site). Other than that they use the average acceleration and braking performance of trains, and the max speed at route points.

The project apparently never was finished: this works but isn't up to date. A very similar site and likely by the same maker won a "Who is better than Google" prize a few years back.

It's funny this link pops up now: the Dutch Railways announced an API on March 31st.