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About This Site

The web site is developed by Australian Rail Maps. The site aims to promote rail travel in Australia by providing an integrated and easily accessible source of information spanning all rail operators. The site which was first developed in 1996, and has been maintained and updated continuously since, is not affiliated with any rail operator or tourism operator.

Australian Rail Maps (ABN 18 607 855 177) offers map development services for rail and other public transport modes. All maps on this website are copyright Australian Rail Maps. The maps on this web site may be used for non-commercial purposes. To enquire about commercial use of any maps on this web site, or for more information about map development, contact Australian Rail Maps by email at railmaps@optusnet.com.au

Unlike other transport modes such as road and air, rail travel is highly fragmented across the nation. There are numerous operators, each with their own fare and ticketing systems, booking agents, web sites, agents, technical and other practices. This means that for the average consumer it can be a mysterious and daunting task merely to travel by train outside his or her own region. When travelling by car or air no such problems arise because providers realise that familiarity of access is a key attraction - we have standard road rules, traffic management, navigation aids etc, we also have consistent boarding, ticketing and airport procedures nationally - if not internationally! So why is it such a drama to get a national view of rail travel?
This web-site aims in its own small way to redress this problem, by at least providing a single nationally consistent and complete source of information on rail travel in Australia. All passenger train routes are illustrated, and all passenger stations are shown. The conventions are consistent so that whether you are looking for a trans-continental train or a suburban tram - you can be sure its here in a form you will recognise - even if you're not familiar with the region you're looking at.
The site is intended as a first port of call for the travel planner. It doesn't include timetables - it does link to sites where timetables can be viewed - but this site does enable you to determine whether or not there is a train or tram that goes where you want to go, roughly how long it will take you to get there, and about how often trains come along. If you find the route you want - then click to view the detailed timetable.
This site is based on the premise that most people are more attuned to graphical representations than tabular, and that a train timetable is virtually indecipherable without some way of visualising it graphically. The aim is to enable the potential passenger to select his route and travel mode without having to look at a timetable - then to refer to the timetable for the simpler task of selecting the time of travel.
Maps are designed using Corel Draw and Corel PhotoPaint. All maps are drawn as vector graphics using Corel Draw (v12). This enables re-sizing and easy production of printer friendly pdf files. HTML is developed using Notepad!
Basic Design Principles for the maps:
1. Use solid dark colours for all lines
2. Use plain sans-serif fonts
3. Station names MUST ALWAYS be shown as strictly horizontal
4. Display all station names in Black
5. Route lines are shown as vertical, horizontal or 45 degree diagonal only.
6. Junctions and corners are shown as consistent radius smooth curves
7. Scale is less important than clarity
Since October 2001 this site has been hosted by
Railpage is the best source of on-line information on Australia's Railways.

RailMaps Site Reviews and feedback:

Network Rail Magazine, April 1997 A colourful site entirely about rail in Australia. The home page features a large map of Australia with links to the greater detail of train services nationally and in major cities. The site directs you to the main rail provider in the State you are interested in and provides links to useful sites with information about each capital city.
Netweek Magazine - 1st issue, September 1999 Excellent interactive map displaying metropolitan, rural and interstate railways throughout Australia, along with tram/light rail systems, and selected ferry/catamaran services. Includes regional rail news updates and fares and ticketing information.
Australian Map Circle Newsletter No 80 - March 2000. Excellent site covering the whole country, showing passenger trains, suburban and intercity, ferries, airport shuttles, tourist railways etc, with frequencies, some timetable information and much more. Check out the Melbourne city map for its veritable cornucopia of information. Beats the London Tube map hands down. One of my favourite sites, and frequently updated.
Sydney Morning Herald - Saturday 2nd June 2001This super-helpful and informative hub appears to be the work of a rail transport enthusiast who has put together details of every local and national train service around the country. It's very easy to explore with point and click navigation that provides regional overviews or more localised information. So you'll have no trouble finding what you're looking for - be it suburban services in Adelaide or the twice-weekly rattler in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Subject: praise and comment
From: Joe Brennan
Date: 4:12pm 12/1/2002

I just stumbled across Australian Rail Maps, and I want to tell you I am really impressed with organization and the graphics. Well done. I'd love to see this done for parts of the world closer to me.

There's one little thing, that viewed on my Macintosh the text is both very tiny and misshapen. It's from a css stylesheet so I can't see how it's coded, but it doesn't let me change the font or size, so I'm pretty frustrated looking at things besides the maps. I'm attaching part of a screenshot to show what it looks like to me.

(You might like to see my New York Subway Diagram at http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/subway/ showing some small work I've done along similar lines.)
Joe Brennan


Subject: Your Website
From: Peter Castle
Date: 10:22pm 20/6/2002

Let me congratulate you on a truly excellent website!
My wife and I did a rail trip half way around Australia in the early '90s and you can imagine the headaches we had in organising and fine tuning the details. If this website had been available then it would have been a breeze!!
I have been unable to find a page which gives actual distances between destinations. Does such a link exist?
Many thanks for the pleasure of browsing your site.
Regards,
Peter Castle


Subject: Your Website
From: Dion Riverlea
Date: 8:41pm 21/10/2002

I commend you for an excellent site. I printed out most of your maps about 2 years back, and have just gone through the exercise again: more thoroughly this time. This makes an excellent schematic Railway Atlas of Australia. The representation of service frequencies, ranging from 40+ per hour (in the case of trams down Swanston St. Melbourne) to once or twice a week out in the sticks is excellent. Anyone with half a brain can look at your maps and get a very specific impression of the overall density of passenger rail traffic across the entire continent.

I noticed in particular prior to my second printing of your maps tonight that you had improved the colour balance of the rather complex Melbourne & Sydney Maps (saving me quite a bit of cyan & magenta ink!). The previous version, on my printer, made Zone 2 of the Metcard system look like an arm of Bass Strait.

I also noted that you had added goods lines to most of your maps (I look forward to you updating your Queensland maps). I grew up as the son of a railwayman (a chemist, not an engine-driver) and for many years could probably have cited the names of every railway station in Victoria: and put it in its appropriate place on the network. I could still faithfully draw the network at its greatest extent. These days when I look at my ageing atlases, I wonder what is still alive and functioning, and what exactly has been converted to Standard Gauge: your maps certainly helped, which is why I printed them out again. I also found a few branch-lines I didn't know about in the Pilbara.

Yours,

Dion Riverlea


Subject: Congratulations
From: Gareth Powell
Date: 5:24pm 29/3/2003

I do not know who is responsible for this site but they have my sincere congratulations. It is a masterpiece of clarity and ease of use. Gareth Powell


Comments and feedback: email Australian Rail Maps