OpenRailwayMap/Tagging in Belgium
This tagging scheme is a work in progress. As such, it's best to not translate it to other languages yet.
Tracks
General
General tags in Belgium are:
operator=*
in general operator isInfrabel
. On industrial lines and heritage lines, this may not be true.ref=*
name of the railway line, i.e.ref=L162
usage=*
for exampleusage=main
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 electrification
electrified=contact_line
voltage=3000
frequency=0
AC electrification
electrified=contact_line
voltage=25000
frequency=50
Train protection
railway:tbl=yes
TBL train protectionrailway:tbl=1+
TBL1+ train protection (remark:railway:tbl=2
is possible, but TBL2 is discontinued and line 2 is now equipped with ETCS)railway:etcs=yes
European Train Control Systemrailway:etcs=1
ETCS Level 1 – Trackside signals are equipped with Eurobalises that transmit i.a. the state of the signalrailway:etcs=2
ETCS Level 2 – The state of signals is transmitted over a GSM-R link. Eurobalises only transmit static information, such as line speed, curves and distance to the next balise. Trackside signals are optional (exclusive cab signalling is possible)
Milestones
These are mapped as nodes on the railway line:
railway=milestone
railway:position=*
: value in km, decimals separated with "."railway:milestone:catenary_mast=yes
/no
: whether the milestone sign is mounted on a catenary mast
Signalling

railway=signal
railway:signal:main=BE:GSA
railway:signal:direction=backward
(the way should be drawn in the direction towards the camera)railway:signal:position=left
railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:VIS
railway:signal:speed_limit:form=light
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=50
(possibly also others, this is not visible on the image)railway:signal:route=ECS
railway:signal:route:form=light
railway:signal:route:states=BE:ECS-V;off
ref=CX-D.45
The main tag for any type of signal, whether light or sign, is railway=signal
.
Light signals have an identification sign with the name of the signal, which can be mapped with
To do: tag for signals mounted higher than normal on a gantry or catenary mast, probably with a new value for
railway:signal:*:height=*
Main signal
FR: grand signal d'arrêt, NL: groot stopsein
Signalling in Belgium is relatively simple, because the signals and distant signals have the same shape. The main signals, "big stop signals", have a white rectangular identification plate. Distant signals look almost identical but have a round yellow identification plate (see below). Most big stop signals can also show the aspects of distant signals: they can act as a stop signal and distant signal in one.
(You can learn what these aspects mean at several websites, such as railpassion.eu (FR), railpassie.eu (NL) or cooltrain.be (NL)
Regime

ref=*
.(FR: régime de voie normale / régime de contre-voie, NL: regime normaalspoor / regime tegenspoor)
Trains in Belgium are either in "normal regime" or in "opposite regime". Shunting operation is always in normal regime.
The form of big signals reflects the regime of trains that see it, see the drawing on the right or above.
From the point of view of the driver, by default normal regime signals are placed on the left side of the track, opposite regime signals on the right side. Exceptions to this are possible, in those cases a round blue sign with a white arrow points to the track the signal applies to.
In the vast majority of cases where there are 2 tracks next to each other, trains preferably drive on the left. On the left track, you will see exclusively normal regime signals and on the right track opposite regime signals.
While normally a track seems to have a canonical direction, this is not true in general: you can find big signals that are placed in opposing directions close by on the same track that are both normal regime.
Main tags
railway:signal:main=BE:GSA
where GSA is "grand signal d'arrêt" (NL: groot stopsein)railway:signal:main:form=light
since this signal not a semaphore. Due to the fact that nearly all signals are lights, this tag can be skipped for reasons of data minimisation.railway:signal:main:states=BE:V
/BE:VJH
/BE:VJV
/BE:2J
/BE:RB
/BE:R
railway:signal:direction=forward
/backward
for which direction the signal applies to, relative to the direction of the OSM way.railway:signal:regime=normal
/opposite
(See Regime above.)railway:signal:position=left
/right
with regard to the direction of the OSM way. For backward facing signals, this is the inverse of the side that the train driver sees the signal at.
With distant speed limit indicator
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant=BE:ARV
advance speed limit, displayed with a yellow number above the main signal image (annonce de reduction de vitesse, nombre jaune)railway:signal:speed_limit_distant:form=light
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant:speed=*
value of the indicated speed limit in km/h, can be multiple values as well: 40; 60; 100. You can often see what possibly values there are by looking at how the little lamps are arranged, even if they aren't on.
With speed limit indicator
railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:VIS
applies, if a speed limit is added below the main signal image (vitesse imposé par le signal)railway:signal:speed_limit:form=light
/sign
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=*
value of the indicated speed limit in km/h, can be multiple values as well: i.e. 40; 60; 100
With regime change indicator
railway:signal:route=BE:ECS
railway:signal:route:form=light
railway:signal:route:states=BE:ECS-V;off
With dead-end track access indicator
railway:signal:route=BE:ECS
railway:signal:route:form=light
railway:signal:route:states=BE:ECS-U;off
With CAB indicator
railway:signal:route=BE:ECS
railway:signal:route:form=light
railway:signal:route:states=BE:ECS-CAB;off
With ETCS zone start/end sign
These signs are mainly installed on stop signals, but can sometimes be installed as stand-alone signs.
Start of ETCS Level 1 Limited Supervision zone
railway:signal:train_protection=BE:ETCS-1LS
railway:signal:train_protection:type=start
railway:signal:train_protection:form=sign
Start of ETCS Level 1 Full Supervision zone
railway:signal:train_protection=BE:ETCS-1FS
railway:signal:train_protection:type=start
railway:signal:train_protection:form=sign
Start of ETCS Level 2 Full Supervision zone
railway:signal:train_protection=BE:ETCS-2
railway:signal:train_protection:type=start
railway:signal:train_protection:form=sign
End of ETCS zone
railway:signal:train_protection=BE:ETCS-end
railway:signal:train_protection:type=end
railway:signal:train_protection:form=sign
Distant signal
FR: signal avertisseur, NL: verwittigingssein
Distant signals have a round yellow identification plate.
railway:signal:distant=BE:SAI
Signal Avertisseur Indépendantrailway:signal:distant:states=BE:V
/BE:VJH
/BE:VJV
/BE:2J
railway:signal:regime=normal
/opposite
ref=*
The SAI has the same reference as the repeated signal but in small letters.
Repeater
Repeaters show a horizontal line or a diagonal line depending on the state of a nearby signal that is hidden around a corner. They are much closer to their signal than a distant signal.
railway:signal:main_repeated=BE:RTL
Répétiteur à Traits Lumineuxrailway:signal:main_repeated:form=light
ref=*
The repeater has the same reference as the repeated signal.
Simplified stop signals
railway:signal:minor=BE:SAS
where SAS means "signal d'arrêt simplifié" (NL: vereenvoudigd stopsein)railway:signal:minor:height=dwarf
/normal
, whether the signal is placed on the ground (dwarf) or if it's at normal height
You will find these mostly within marshaling yards, but they apply to all movements.
Shunting signals
These only apply to small movement (shunting, first movement after changing driver, etc.)
railway:signal:shunting=BE:PSA
where PSA means "petit signal d'arrêt" (NL: klein stopsein)railway:signal:shunting:form=light
/sign
Small stop signs can be lights or signs (e.g. always closed, at a dead end), so this tag cannot be skipped as with the big stop signals.
Substitute signals
Couronne de franchissement
railway:signal:[signal type]:substitute_signal=BE:CF
Oeilleton de franchissement
railway:signal:[signal type]:substitute_signal=BE:OF
Balise marker sign
railway:signal:fouling_point=BE:PRB
Panneau Repère de Baliserailway:signal:fouling_point:form=sign
This sign is used when the balises of a signal are more than 8 metres upstream.
Buffer stop signals
railway:signal:stop=BE:RH
Repère de Heurtoirrailway:signal:stop:form=sign
/light
Speed limits
The speed of a track is tagged with:
maxspeed=*
The speeds are indicated at the trackside with a signs. As is common in the railway sector, those values should multiplied by 10 to arrive at the speed in km/h.
It is always necessary to add the direction of these signs:
railway:signal:direction=forward
/backward
, relative to the direction of the OpenStreetMap way.
Note: if a sign has two dots on it, it's a temporary sign and should not be mapped! Example:
Reference speed
railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:PVR
panneau vitesse réferencerailway:signal:speed_limit:form=sign
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=*
speed indicated by the sign (×10 km/h)
Announcement of a speed limit
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant=BE:PVA
panneau d'annoncerailway:signal:speed_limit_distant:form=sign
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant:speed=*
Beginning of a speed limit
railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:PVO
panneau d'originerailway:signal:speed_limit:form=sign
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=*
New, higher limit, below the reference speed
railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:PVJ
panneau "fin de zone" jaune à bord vertrailway:signal:speed_limit:form=sign
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=*
New, higher limit for some traffic
railway:signal:speed_limit=BE:PVV
panneau "fin de zone" vert à bord jaunerailway:signal:speed_limit:form=sign
railway:signal:speed_limit:speed=*
This is the least common speed sign. It is placed between an announcement sign and and an
origin sign after a line where a lower speed limit was in effect joins. The trains coming from that line may increase their speed when passing this sign. For drivers who had passed the
announcement sign, this sign does not apply: they have to attain the lower speed only at the
origin sign
Speed sign for distant signal
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant=BE:PVSA
Panneau de Vitesse pour Signal Avertisseurrailway:signal:speed_limit_distant:form=sign
railway:signal:speed_limit_distant:speed=*
This sign is carried by a signal that can always show VJH. When the signal shows VJH, this sign indicates the minimum speed that can be imposed at the next signal if this speed is greater than 40 km/h.
Stations
Station announcement
railway:signal:station_distant=BE:PAPA
Panneau d'Annonce de Point d'Arrêtrailway:signal:station_distant:form=sign
railway:signal:station_distant:caption=*
(e.g. : JAM)
Stop position depending of number of carriages
railway:signal:stop=BE:PMQ
Plaque de Mise à Quairailway:signal:stop:form=sign
railway:signal:stop:carriages=*
End of platform
railway:signal:stop=BE:PREQ
Panneau Repère d'Extrémité de Quairailway:signal:stop:form=sign
Lines with stop markers

These markers are used to mark stop positions on lines where only cab signalling is used. Whether the train is allowed to pass them, is displayed on a display in the train's cab.
Stop markers
The stop markers can be tagged similar to the Netherlands:
railway:signal:train_protection=BE:PRA
Panneau Repère d'Arrêtrailway:signal:train_protection:type=block_marker
railway:signal:train_protection:form=sign
- Depending on the shape of the stop marker:
Traction
Contact line segmentation
railway:signal:electricity=BE:SLC
Sectionnement Ligne de Contactrailway:signal:electricity:form=sign
railway:signal:catenary_mast=yes
/no
End of contact line
railway:signal:electricity=BE:FLC
Fin de Ligne de Contactrailway:signal:electricity:type=end_of_catenary
railway:signal:electricity:form=sign
Panto distant
railway:signal:electricity=BE:PBA
Panto baisser annoncerailway:signal:electricity:type=pantograph_down_advance
railway:signal:electricity:form=sign
Panto down
railway:signal:electricity=BE:PBE
Panto baisser executionrailway:signal:electricity:type=pantograph_down
railway:signal:electricity:form=sign
Panto up
railway:signal:electricity=BE:PRL
Panto releverrailway:signal:electricity:type=pantograph_up
railway:signal:electricity:form=sign