Trains.fyi
Infrastructure
live transit map
SHOW HN2023
How HN took it
11 positive, 39 neutral or asking, 6 mixed, 13 critical, out of 69 comments about the project. Thread score -0.01.
Execution: 0 for, 8 againstIdea: 2 for, 3 againstDesign: 3 for, 0 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean, easy-to-understand UI
From 2 comments
love the UI! So easy to understand
eclo on HNThis is so cool! It'd be nice to get some more info on the info windows. Like a photo of the train would be awesome (similar to the plane trackers)!
jmac01 on HN
Interesting project showing live train positions
From 2 comments
Love this project! Can you tell us a bit about what stack you used to build this? Were there easy-to-use APIs to get this data in realtime?
svarlamov on HNVery nice! A companion to Rachel Binx' Amtrak Explorer, which shows routes. https://amtrakexplorer.com/
NelsonMinar on HN
Objections
Missing many trains, such as NJ Transit, MARC and light rail
From 4 comments
This is cool, but you are missing NJ Transit which has passenger trains separate from LIRR and Metro North. You are also missing Septa and MTA internal city light rail and subway…
ecshafer on HNNo NJ Transit trains?
alienreborn on HNThis is pretty cool. I hope you'll add MARC and Brightline trains as well, as your app evolves.
Galacta7 on HNI guess this is only Amtrak? Because it doesn't seem to show the active passenger light rail systems in several cities and metro areas.
sneed_chucker on HN
Train positions lag by about a minute
From 1 comment
Yeah, I'm going to add a disclaimer about this. I've been watching the GO trains from my window this morning and they lag about a minute behind. My site grabs data on a minute…
ryry on HN
Some trains appear to move very slowly or stop oddly
From 2 comments
I don't think it's working properly. Most (if not all?) trains are going at around 40-20 km/h. Why would they all stop in the middle of nowhere like this ?
Fiahil on HNAre you sure this is complete? There are really few trains and most are driving at a very low speed.
s-xyz on HN
Requests
Add freight train tracking
From 3 comments
It would be cool to see an equivalent map for freight rail. These threads always focus on the lack of passenger rail service in the US but ignore that the US also has one of the…
quartz on HNNice! Is there a way to track every freight train as well?
hnthrowaway0315 on HNIs there something like this project but for cargo trains?
flockonus on HN
Add attribution for OpenStreetMap
From 2 comments
A lovely map — thanks for using Leaflet and keeping that little Ukrainian flag in the corner! Probably needs an attribution for the map added too (looks like it's Carto with an…
mourner on HNWould you please add an OpenStreetMap attribution[0]? It looks like you're using OSM data via OpenRailwayMap (which also requires its own attribution[1]) and Carto basemaps…
chandlerswift on HN
Show more info and photos in train popups
From 1 comment
This is so cool! It'd be nice to get some more info on the info windows. Like a photo of the train would be awesome (similar to the plane trackers)!
jmac01 on HN
Questions
Where does the data come from and can it be self-hosted
From 1 comment
Cool! Super cool! Would love to see where the data's coming from -- with enough detail that I can spin up my own instance and shove the geo data in a database. (Unless you plan…
loxias on HN
Why only commuter and long-distance rail, not light rail
From 1 comment
What was behind the decision to include just commuter rail and long-distance passenger rail, but not local rapid transit? Is it a resource issue drawing that many vehicles? I…
achileas on HN
Alternatives named
Amtrak Explorer
From 1 comment
Very nice! A companion to Rachel Binx' Amtrak Explorer, which shows routes. https://amtrakexplorer.com/
NelsonMinar on HN
Amtrak Track Your Train
From 1 comment
This is very cool. For US inter-city rail there is also Amtrak’s official Track Your Train: https://www.amtrak.com/track-your-train.html
divbzero on HN
Signalbox UK train map
From 1 comment
It shows the sad state of the public train system in the US. For comparison, here is a similar map for the UK: https://www.map.signalbox.io/
vzaliva on HN
Trainscanner / carto.graou.info (France)
From 2 comments
Here is THE MAP for France ! https://carto.graou.info/46.90174/1.83822/5.4455/0/0 Shameless plug : we are developping Trainscanner to travel accross Europe…
gadcam on HNThere is a very nice french version which has been running for years: https://carto.graou.info/
aFrenchy on HN
TRAVIC
From 1 comment
There is also TRAVIC (https://travic.app) by the University of Freiburg, Germany which visualizes transit data worldwide, both live and interpolated from timetables.
com1 on HN