How to find line speeds for a given track stretch

[james-martin]

Hi all,

I am trying to find line speed information for a few spots on the network and was wondering what the best public source is for this information? If there is not a public source of information and someone were willing to help with this please do PM me.

Many thanks,

James.

 

[Watershed]

Hi all,

I am trying to find line speed information for a few spots on the network and was wondering what the best public source is for this information? If there is not a public source of information and someone were willing to help with this please do PM me.

Many thanks,

James.

The Sectional Appendix is somewhat unwiedly in its publicly available form (it only comes in PDFs hundreds of pages long), but it contains all the information you might want.

Note that it doesn't contain details of temporary, emergency or blanket speed restrictions.

You can ask here if you prefer.

 

[Legolash2o]

Im just going to leave this here...

https://railmap.azurewebsites.net/Public/SpeedsMap

https://railmap.azurewebsites.net/Downloads

 

[stuu]

Open Railway Map includes most main lines, and different speeds on different tracks if you zoom in. No idea how accurate it is though

 

[WiredUp]

Im just going to leave this here...

https://railmap.azurewebsites.net/Public/SpeedsMap

https://railmap.azurewebsites.net/Downloads

Thanks. It's a bit more user friendly than the sectional appendix, however it only shows speed bands and not precise speeds. For the OP (James-Martin) I would firmly advise sticking to the Sectional Appendix. Admittedly there is a lot of bumpf at the start of these but the actual diagrams are fairly straightforward to use.

What you see on the Network Rail website (thanks Watershed for the link) is a 'snapshot' at given dates. The live NESA (National Electronic Sectional Appendix - available to railway industry professionals) is, as with the PON's and WON's, a controlled document and shows updates after any changes have been made.

 

[Legolash2o]

Thanks. It's a bit more user friendly than the sectional appendix, however it only shows speed bands and not precise speeds.

If you click on a section of track on the map it'll give you the precise speed.

 

[hexagon789]

Open Railway Map includes most main lines, and different speeds on different tracks if you zoom in. No idea how accurate it is though

Not very, iirc it doesn't show the EPS speeds on the WCML for one thing

 

[WiredUp]

If you click on a section of track on the map it'll give you the precise speed.

Okay yes the speeds didn't come up in the boxes until popup blocker was whitelisted for the site.

Hexagon789's comment on PS/EPS differential speeds are correct. Shouldn't be a hard one to change for the developer (is that you?). My only bone of contention is this disclaimer:

• The data cannot be used for commercial or safety-critical purposes without permission.

Sorry - no this should not be used for safety-critical purposes full stop. It is not a controlled publication.

 

[Legolash2o]

Okay yes the speeds didn't come up in the boxes until popup blocker was whitelisted for the site.

Hexagon789's comment on PS/EPS differential speeds are correct. Shouldn't be a hard one to change for the developer (is that you?).

Unfortunately the source data only differentiates between normal and raised speeds and doesn't include the type Wish it did though.

My only bone of contention is this disclaimer:

• The data cannot be used for commercial or safety-critical purposes without permission.

Sorry - no this should not be used for safety-critical purposes full stop. It is not a controlled publication.

That's on every page regardless of the data source but should read "The data cannot be used for commercially without permission or safety-critical purposes." - so I will change that soon. Thank you for pointing that out! EDIT: Fixed.

Quite a bit of my data (non-public) is actually safe to use in a safety-critical situations due to the amount of validation and automation of the data maintenance, but I still rather they didn't.

 

[hexagon789]

Okay yes the speeds didn't come up in the boxes until popup blocker was whitelisted for the site.

Hexagon789's comment on PS/EPS differential speeds are correct. Shouldn't be a hard one to change for the developer (is that you?). My only bone of contention is this disclaimer:

• The data cannot be used for commercial or safety-critical purposes without permission.

Sorry - no this should not be used for safety-critical purposes full stop. It is not a controlled publication.

I was actually referring to Open Rail Maps rather than @Legolash2o 's contribution but on examination that similar criticisms apply I'm afraid.

It may be more directly user friendly but there is the lack of differentials to contend with, so in that respect the Sectional Appendix is definitely the authoritative source.

 

[Legolash2o]

I was actually referring to Open Rail Maps rather than @Legolash2o 's contribution but on examination that similar criticisms apply I'm afraid.

It may be more directly user friendly but there is the lack of differentials to contend with, so in that respect the Sectional Appendix is definitely the authoritative source.

It depends on what they want to use the data for as they might not need to know the differentials. Sectional Appendix is like the bible when it comes to rail information even with the mistakes that are in it (the non-speed data)

 

[hexagon789]

It depends on what they want to use the data for as they might not need to know the differentials. Sectional Appendix is like the bible when it comes to rail information even with the mistakes that are in it (the non-speed data)

I think most people are looking for passenger train speeds, and the highest ones within that category which where applicable will be differentials.

 

[Legolash2o]

I think most people are looking for passenger train speeds, and the highest ones within that category which where applicable will be differentials.

Agreed. I assume the 'normal' speed (lower) is freight and the 'raised' one if passenger. Even though in places like Hull you can have the raised as Sprinter trains and the lower as everything else. Hopefully the next update of data contains the information. Fingers crossed!

 

[WiredUp]

Unfortunately the source data only differentiates between normal and raised speeds and doesn't include the type Wish it did though.



That's on every page regardless of the data source but should read "The data cannot be used for commercially without permission or safety-critical purposes." - so I will change that soon. Thank you for pointing that out! EDIT: Fixed.

Quite a bit of my data (non-public) is actually safe to use in a safety-critical situations due to the amount of validation and automation of the data maintenance, but I still rather they didn't.

No problem. I would suggest to prevent ambiguity you write this disclaimer: 'This data may only be used for commercial purposes with permission. It should not be relied upon for safety critical purposes."

Good work though.