Key:voltage

+/- voltage Description For describing the voltage of power lines, cables and overhead wires. Group Power Element help Used combinations in World Australia/Oceania Europe (list) Asia (list) Central America (list) South America (list) Africa (list)

For describing the voltage of any high voltage power line and cable. This can be high-voltage transmission line or even a overhead wire of train tracks, or on a street for trolley busses. Used for e.g. powerlines and railway electrification.

Any value should be in Volts without unit itself and without thousand note/delimiter. Value for a 15 kV wire is "15000". Not "15 kV", nor "15,000" or combinations of this.

The ITO Map electricity layer shows power-lines by voltage, allowing for quick analysis of the OSM data. The voltage levels shown are currently designed with the UK power grid in mind, but at a minimum the layer will still show whether a voltage=* is present or not.

How to get the voltage of a line/cable without touching it? Simple safety rule for transmission lines is this. The length of the isolator (seperating wires from tower) is 1 meter per 100 000 Volt. 380 kV wires have isolators of ~4 meters long. Following this rule a 25 kV overhead wire use 0.25 m long isolators.

Core values

A high-voltage transmission line with a voltage of 110 kV would use the following keys and values.

• power=line
• name=* or ref=* for Line name or number.
• operator=
• voltage=110000

An electrified railway track in Germany with overhead power supply would use these keys and values.

• railway=rail
• electrified=contact_line
• voltage=15000

Nearly the same for a subway with seperate rail for power supply.

• railway=subway
• electrified=rail
• voltage=750

A street with overhead wires for trolley busses.

• highway=residential
• electrified=contact_line
• voltage=600

See also

• Railway electrification system (en)
• de:Bahnstrom (de)