Some national railway infrastructure operators issue rather good atlases of their system. In other nations, trying to understand the details of their rail network can be a rather awkward problem. That is where rail atlases come handy. One of the publishers of such information is “Schweers + Wall” in Cologne (D).
A good example of these maps can be found on the previous pages: An excerpt from the “Genova 1:50,000” pages of the atlas for Italy, here slightly adjusted in scale for layout reasons, and reprinted with friendly permission of the publisher.
The following editions are available:
- Atlas ferroviaire de la France Tome I NORD (2015)
- Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (10th edition, 2017)
- Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz (2nd edition, 2012)
- Eisenbahnatlas Österreich (2nd edition, 2010)
- Atlante ferroviario d’Italia e Slovenia (currently out of print)
- Eisenbahnatlas EU (2nd edition, 2017)
- Coming soon: Eisenbahnatlas Griechenland (scheduled for November 2018)
The author of this article is well known among his colleagues to carry the appropriate “Schweers + Wall” along whenever he is to debate questions of rail links within and between regions. He has used them for the following questions, among others:
- How is a container terminal linked to the main rail lines?
- Are there other terminals nearby?
- How is a certain region linked to the European rail network?
- Are there alternative lines nearby and what is their likely capacity?
- Are there former rail lines that may still be visible in the landscape and could be used as bicycle paths?
And indeed, the author has in the past used the atlas for Italy in Genova port (among other places), which helped a lot e.g. in understanding the port layout while taking the photos on the previous pages, some years ago.
Of course, the atlas just helps with first questions, and answers usually cannot be found in the maps alone. But it is important to know what to ask. It is hard to imagine how basic the questions about rail infrastructure can be, and how difficult they are to be answered without maps. Even rail professionals often have little understanding of the network outside their own region or off the relations they serve.
And while probably all information also can be found somewhere on the internet, the kind of overview gained from these traditional maps cannot be gained from screen.
All information is given at least in German and English, plus of course the language of the nation covered. Prices are well within the range of typical reference books.
