OpenRailwayMap/Tagging in Belgium

Tracks

General

General tags in Belgium are:

railway=rail

operator=* in general operator =Infrabel
ref=* name of the railway line, ie. L162
usage=* usage=main

Milestones

The following tags might be sufficient:

railway=milestone
railway:position=* VALUE in km, decimals separated with "."
railway:milestone:catenary_mast=no

Gauge

The Belgian railways use the standard track gauge.

gauge=1435

Electrification systems

The following electrification systems are used in Belgium:

Non-electrified

electrified=no

DC-Tracks

AC-Tracks

Train protection

Domestic systems

railway:tbl=yes TBL train protection
railway:tbl=1+ TBL1+ train protection (remark: tbl=2 is possible, but TBL2 is discontinued and line 2 is now equipped with ETCS)
railway:etcs=yes European Train Control System
railway:etcs=1 lineside signals with Eurobalises - ETCS Level 1
railway:etcs=2 cab signalling through the combination of Eurobalises and a GSM-R link - ETCS Level 2

Signalling

Signalling in Belgium is relatively simple, because signals and distant signals can show the same aspects and their shape is the same. Signals on lines with 2 tracks are standing on the outside, while driving on double track lines is reguarly on the left side, those signals have a fixed light, those on the opposite right track have a flashing light.

Signals should be tagged with the following scheme:

railway:signal:main=BE:GSA where GSA is "grand signal d'arrêt"
railway:signal:direction=forward this signal is standing on the left side of the track "Voie normale"
railway:signal:position=left
railway:signal:main:form=light since this signal not a semaphore. Due to the fact that nearly all signals are lightend, I would skip this tag for data minimisation reason.
ref=* Name of the signal, ie. ref=S-L.74

additional informations above TBD: chrevron (changement de régime); répere de voie en impasse,

railway:signal:speed_limit_distant=BE:ARV advance speed limit, displayed with a yellow number (annonce de reduction de vitesse, nombre jaune)

railway:signal:speed_limit_distant:form=lightapplies, if a speed limit is added to the signal
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant:speed=VALUE value of the indicated speed limit in km/h, can be multiple values as well: 40; 60; 100

additional information below TBD: lettre rebroussement

railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:VIS applies, if a speed limit is added to the signal (vitesse imposé par le signal)
railway:signal:speed_limit:form=light
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=VALUE value of the indicated speed limit in km/h, can be multiple values as well: i.e. 40; 60; 100

In Belgium it's very common to have signals at the same place in the counter-direction.

Those should be tagged as follows:

railway:signal:direction=backward this signal is standing on the right side of the track "contre-voie"
railway:signal:position=left tag is left because of the direction of the track itself. From the point of view from the train-driver it's on the right side.
ref=* Name of the signal, mostly similar to the main driving direction, ie. ref=SX-L.74

smaller signals:

railway:signal:minor=BE:PSA where PSA means "petit signal d'arrêt"

small signals within marshalling yards:

railway:signal:shunting=BE:SAS where SAS means "signal d'arrêt simplifié"

Speed limits

The speed of a track is tagged with:

maxspeed=

Those speeds are indicated on the line side with speed limit sign, a distant sign or a marker for the beginnig / end of a restriction. As common in the railway sector, those speeds are displayed in a value*10 km/h

Sometimes, mostly on a single track line, it's necessary to add the direction of these signs:

railway:signal:direction=forward or backward, depending on the direction of the line.

General reference speed sign: