Trams
 Feature page: Trams
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| Description |
| A form of public transport |
| Tags |
This page will document the tagging of tram systems in OSM.
Trams are unique among rail-based public transport systems in that, for at least some of their route, they travel along the road, rather than on a separate rail corridor. Where the tracks are embedded within the road, the trams may share the space with other road traffic, such as private motor vehicles, or perhaps buses and taxis only. Sometimes, for instance on wide roads, trams may have their own tracks on which only they can travel, separated from the main road traffic by a small island (in a similar way to some cycle paths). In other circumstances, road traffic and trams may share the same space, but different restrictions (turns, one-way, etc) may apply.
These complications mean that mapping tram tracks accurately requires a few different techniques from normal railways.
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Tram tracks
Tram tracks are tagged with railway=tram.
Most often there are two tracks, one track in each direction, running parallel to each other. Normally, we draw this as a single line representing both tracks (an example here). Stops are marked by a single node railway=tram_stop. You can tag the number of tracks using tracks=2. In an ideal world, we'd probably draw the tracks separately (an example here).
Tram tracks are sometimes embedded within the highway, and sometimes completely separate.
Where tram tracks are embedded, and other traffic is allowed to use the same space, mappers usually draw a new way for the tram tracks but reuse the nodes as the street where they run completely parallel. (Two similar methods that are not recommended: To draw a single way with both the highway=* and railway=* set at the same time; or to draw a the railway on top of the street, but using its own nodes.)
Where tram tracks separate the road into two carriageways (one for each direction), the road is usually mapped as two ways (each with oneway=yes), and the tram tracks are mapped as ways in the middle.
Where tram tracks run to the left or right of the road, each track is usually drawn as a separate way on the appropriate side.
See this section of the Karlsruhe, Germany map for examples of all these situations.
Tram stops
Stops are marked by a single node railway=tram_stop. At the simplest, this is a node on the track, but it can be to the side, at the position where passengers wait to catch the tram (an example here).
You can also add ways/areas that are tagged railway=platform or highway=platform to represent the boarding areas.
Tram service routes
Tram service routes can be added to OSM by adding all of the relevant ways to a relation. This should be tagged with type=route and route=tram. It's also useful to add the service number using ref=*, and the name of the service (eg "Blue line" or "A-B service") using name=*. The ways should ideally be ordered (not possible in Potlatch 1.4), and a list of stops added after the ways.
There is some debate about what should be in the list of stops. Some have proposed tagging and listing both stopping positions and boarding locations.
Tram routes can use separate relations for each direction, or combine the two directions (both methods are in use). If the service has two branches, it is generally simpler to use two relations, one for each branch, with the common section in both.
Tram systems by country
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