Key:crossing:surface

crossing:surface
Description
Describes the surface material of the panels or structure between and immediately adjacent to the rails at a railway crossing.
Used on these elements
Useful combination
railway=crossing railway=level_crossing
See also
surface=*
Status: in use
crossing:surface=* More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag
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The key crossing:surface=* is used on railway crossing nodes to explicitly specify the physical material used to construct the running surface between and directly adjacent to the rails.

On nodes where a highway and a railway intersect (railway=level_crossing or railway=crossing), using the generic surface=* tag creates semantic ambiguity, as it remains unclear whether the value describes the overall road surface or specifically the track interface. More importantly, the engineering material used for a crossing structure is frequently entirely different from the surrounding road or walkway surface.

Because of this common material divergence, routing engines and data consumers cannot reliably imply or predict the crossing's physical surface from the highway's tags alone—even if the two surfaces happen to coincide on some occasions. By isolating the specialized engineering materials of the track interface, this namespace provides unambiguous data that can be valuable for bicycle routing, pedestrian accessibility assessments, and infrastructure maintenance tracking.

Common values

Tag	Description	railway=crossing	railway=level_crossing	Usage
crossing:surface=wood	Traditional timber planks or heavy wooden blocks laid between and outside the rails.
crossing:surface=rubber	Heavy-duty, vibration-absorbing modular rubber panels designed for a smooth transition.
crossing:surface=concrete	Cast-in-place concrete or large continuous concrete foundations built around the rails.
crossing:surface=concrete:plates	Pre-cast concrete panels or slabs dropped between the rails for easy removal during maintenance.
crossing:surface=asphalt	Standard asphalt poured directly up to the rail web or flangeway guards.
crossing:surface=paving_stones	Interlocking or decorative manufactured paving stones flanking the rails. Often seen in pedestrian zones or tram tracks.
crossing:surface=sett	Traditional quarried stone blocks (cobblestones) embedded between the tracks.
crossing:surface=plastic	Synthetic or composite polymer panels. Often used on pedestrian crossings for high slip-resistance.
crossing:surface=metal	Solid metal structures, including diamond plate, industrial safety grating, or panels treated with anti-slip coatings.
crossing:surface=gravel	Compacted gravel or crushed stone leveled to the height of the rails to provide a passable crossing surface, typically on minor roads or tracks; not to be confused with crossing:surface=no.
crossing:surface=ground	Packed natural earth, dirt, or mud leveled to the height of the rails to provide an unpaved crossing surface, typically on informal paths or farm tracks.
crossing:surface=no	An unimproved crossing consisting of raw, exposed ballast and sleepers. Because it is impassable for wheeled traffic, it should not be used in conjunction with vehicular crossings (railway=level_crossing).
crossing:surface=<user defined>	Any other specific surface material. Mappers should check and use common values established under the general-purpose surface=* key.			All commonly used values according to Taginfo.

See Also

• surface=* – For the general surface material of highways and tracks.
• railway=level_crossing – For intersections between railways and roads.
• railway=crossing – For intersections between railways and pedestrian paths.