Open Rail Foundation - Strasbourg 2022 Hackaton
Disclamer : This page is under construction.
The Open Rail Foundation
Together SBB, SNCF, DB and UIC are building the Open Rail Foundation as an umbrella for joint Open Source development, collaborative projects.
2022 OpenStreetMap hackaton in Strasbourg
Pilot OSM as Open Source collaboration between SNCF, DB, UIC and SBB.
Context and goals
The challenge
Create an OSM data model covering the complex reality of entrances and levels in train stations to combine indoor and outdoor routing and develop an automatic quality assurance tool for this data.
The outcome
- Define/complete/clarify the Data Model to be used.
- Contribute to an OpenSource quality assurance tool which ensures the data entered is correct.
- Define the next steps on how the data is to be collected. For example, by a community or by companies.
Data Model
Definition of an access
The members of the hackaton collectively agreed to use the word access rather than entrance (as they often are an exit too). The collectively defined the term as follows.
A railway station access is a location where the station area can be entered or left.
It can be associated with :
- equipment (door, turnstile, signpost, ground marking, ...);
- availability (opening times);
- directions (entry and/or exit);
- transport modes (walking, cycling, drinving, ...);
- roles (passengers, emergency service, taxis, retail companies, ...);
- other restrictions.
Tagging
A railway station access railway=train_station_entrance or railway=subway_entrance is a location where the station can be entered or left. It must be defined by a Node. It can also be defined by a Way, for instance for a large opening in a building, a rack of turnstiles, or a direct access from a pedestrian area to the railway railway=platform. In that case there must be also be a node, this node must be part of the way and the node should hold all the descriptive tags.
A railway station access can be located on a physical equipment such as a building door=* or a barrier=turnstile, it can be fully indoor and located at any level. It can also be located outside the building, for instance on a barrier=gate, near a signpost or a ground marking. If there is no visible information indicating one enters or leaves the station, the access can be located on the edge of a railway=platform.
A single access should be crossed when entering or leaving the station : if one crosses a door then passes a signpost, the access should be located on the outermost position.
A railway station access should hold the following tags :
- entrance=* describes its importance and usage : entrance=main, entrance=secondary, entrance=service, entrance=emergency...
- name=* holds the name of the access if it has one, otherwise noname=yes should be added.
It can also hold the following information :
- ref=* holds the reference of the entrance, if displayed on signposts and information panels
- the direction : exit=* - also consider the exit proposal
- the opening times : opening_hours=*
- the transport modes access=*, for instance access=private for personnel only access, access=delivery for caterers, access=no and vehicle=destination for a parking entrance...
- wheelchair accessibility : wheelchair=*
All railway station accesses must be a member of the public_transport=stop_area relation of the station. In complex stations composed of several substations, an access located on the border between two substations should be a member of both stop_area relations.
Examples
Strasbourg
Access node (Door) : https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/3072554412
Bern
Access node (Stairs) : https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/818634919
Access node (Lift) : https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/9979765730
The access in this case is an elevator that connects an underpass with the surface area. It is not ideal to simply place an elevator node at the end of the underpass (previous state), because it is not clear that the station can be accessed through this elevator. Instead the elevator can be mapped as a room or building (See https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Guidelines_for_pedestrian_navigation#Elevator_and_elevator_shaft). This way, the doors of the elevator can be mapped explicitly on each level:
- An elevator node, with Key:level describing the levels the elevator connects, including the access level.
- The elevator building (area)
- Door on the -1 level, connecting the existing underpass
- Door on the street level (0), connecting e.g. to an existing footway
- Internal connections (footways) between the elevator doors and the elevator node, on the respective levels
- The door on the street level can then be classified as station access.
Olten
Access node (Directions): https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/3876305750
Access way (Platform) : https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1089448648
The station building is between the tracks. Coming from the west, the station can be accessed by simply walking onto the platform and taking the stairs and escalators on the platform.
Google Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.3515847,7.9068295,3a,75y,71.15h,81.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLIzjQTVySkvKqk54dRsxgA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
This is mapped as one access node that is part of the platform, and a way which contains the access node as well as other nodes of the platform along the length of where passengers can walk onto the platform.
Falkenberg (Elster)
Access node (Directions) : https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/2923559997
Access way (Platform) : https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1089449632
Freiburg
Access objects inside the stop_area relation : https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/6311483#map=19/47.99785/7.84218
Quality Assurance
Divided in two sub-topics:
- how to make sure the data is usable for us, as data users : create QA analysis to find issues in the data. We choose Osmose QA for that.
- how to help the OSM community to create accurate and usable data. We choose StreetComplete for that.
StreetComplete
Lots of our idea are actually already implemented in StreetComplete.
We have proposed a quest about missing ref on train platform : https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/pull/4315
Osmose
We have proposed some analysis about Simple Indoor mapping:
- indoor = room/area/corridor/level is only on polygon
- indoor room should have a door
- indoor = room/area/corridor/level should a level tag
- indoor shop should in rooms only
- all indoor = room/area/corridor should be connected to either another indoor surface or a footpath
Check out the results in 
Osmose (list, map, stats)
Data collection
Define the next steps...
How data could be collected ?
We need people, tools, time and money to collect the indoor data, control their quality and maintain the dataset. The Open Rail Foundation should have an operating budget to organize events with the community (hackathon, mapathon, workshop…). And we should organize a mapathon in three train stations (1 at SBB-CCFF, 1 at DB and 1 at SNCF, maybe near the borders if it's more convenient) to experiment concretely all we did and talked at this 1st hackaton in Strasbourg.
What are the tools, equipments, guidelines for cartoparties, mapathons ?
There’s a special equipment (backpack equipped with a 360° immersive camera...) and a methodology, guidelines that could be interesting to document on the OSM wiki
Who to collect the data ?
People who could collect could come from the community (OpenStreetMap contributors, students from Geographic, Transport or Computer science, ferrovipath citizens, associations), from firms (SBB-CFF, SNCF, DB…) and from OSM professionals (like in France for exemple, and probably in Germany and Switzerland / GeOPS, Cartocité, JungleBus this time,…) from different countries. It could be interesting to organise a mapathon in a train station (maybe near the borders if it’s more practical) and mix people from different countries, to learn and share knowledge.
Who to control the quality ? Who to maintain the data ?
People from the firms and OSM professionals should control the data using adapted tools based on Osmose and Streetcomplete.
What are our common tools to communicate, work, exchange informations, keep in touch after this first hackathon ?
OSM Wiki page about Open Rail Foundation
Open Rail Foundation Github repo
Teams / Sharepoint Group
Open Rail Foundation forum
Geo Commons Forum (OpenStreetMap France and IGN French geographical institute) https://forum.geocommuns.fr/t/bienvenue-sur-forum-geocommuns-fr/7
Fabrique des mobilités wiki https://wiki.lafabriquedesmobilites.fr/wiki/Accueil or forum https://forum.fabmob.io/
Any other ideas welcomed ! ;-)
Another OpenStreetMap hackaton in 2023
Why another hackaton
Possible objectives
- Confirm and document data model evolutions : update the wiki, add pictures, produce diagrams
- Experiment data model evolutions on the routing engines (access as a way, access to sub-stations)
- Cross-test routing engines and data (DB engine on SNCF railway stations and vice-versa)
- Extend OsmoseQA checks to cover data model evolutions
- Share practices for collecting data : surveying tools, JOSM configuration, maintaining the quality, etc.
- Include other railway companies (e.g. SNCB)
- Explore new subjects : railway infrastructure, signals, indoor, etc.
Expected benefits
- Improved routing engines
- Increase skills for producing quality data
- Better know each other
What is required to meet the objectives
- A nice venue easy to get to
- Skilled people : routing engine developers, experienced mappers
- Time and money : before, during and after the hackaton
- Talk to the OSM community (Tagging list) to find out whether the full proposal process is required for the data model evolution