11 ms·

Looks like they are just interpolating the location between two stations using the expected arrival times. If no expected arrival times are available, they simp

Looks like they are just interpolating the location between two stations using the expected arrival times. If no expected arrival times are available, they simply simulate the location to match the planned arrival times. So this is not really "live". > VBB-Livekarte zeigt berechnete Positionen der Fahrzeuge zwischen zwei Stationen; falls kein Live-Fahrplan vorhanden, dann Position gemäß geplanten Fahrzeiten

TheBindingVoid 11y ago
Agreed, it's not really live, but still cool. There's a similar project for Swiss trains here: http://maps.vasile.ch/transit-sbb/ http://maps.vasile.ch/transit-sbb/ Source is available on Github (not my project).
- the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
  The same thing exists for Austria as well: http://zugradar.oebb.at/ http://zugradar.oebb.at/
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
peterjmag 11y ago
Good catch. I live in Berlin and use this sometimes, and I hadn't actually noticed that disclaimer before. (For future reference, it's under "Position der Fahrten" on [1].) Munich's live S-Bahn map[1] takes a slightly different approach: Um die Position der S-Bahnen auf der Karte anzuzeigen, werden die Positionsmeldungen der Züge an ausgewählten Signalstandorten erfasst und dazwischen hochgerechnet. Es handelt sich somit derzeit um keine GPS-Ortung. (from "So funktioniert's" on [2]) So they don't actually use GPS positioning either, but they do interpolate from data that comes from their rail signalling system, which I imagine is a bit more precise than using realtime departures and arrivals in hh:mm. [1] http://www.vbb.de/de/article/fahrplanauskunft/vbb-livekarte/20046.html http://www.vbb.de/de/article/fahrplanauskunft/vbb-livekarte/... [2] http://s-bahn-muenchen.hafas.de/bin/540/help.exe/dn?tpl=livefahrplan http://s-bahn-muenchen.hafas.de/bin/540/help.exe/dn?tpl=live... [3] http://www.s-bahn-muenchen.de/s_muenchen/view/fahrplan/echtzeit.shtml http://www.s-bahn-muenchen.de/s_muenchen/view/fahrplan/echtz...
kokey 11y ago
That shouldn't be a problem if the trains are on time.
- sneak 11y ago
  even if they're running late it should be fairly accurate; there are no express trains here in Berlin so it's never very long since a train has been in a station for a positional fix.
  - lbotos 11y ago
    Thats funny because I feel like I waited less time for trains to arrive in Berlin than I do in NYC (including express trains...)
    - TillE 11y ago
      Trains run every five minutes during normal business hours. It's great. Ten minutes at night, weekends, etc.
- erikb 11y ago
  That was either the best joke ever, or you haven't used German S-Bahn yet. (The "S" is supposed to be short for the German word for "city" but we jokingly refer to them as "standing still-train" instead of "city-train")
  - jusuchin 11y ago
    At least when I was in Berlin this September the U-Bahn worked perfectly.
  - ant6n 11y ago
    'Stand-Bahn'? Never heard that, although haven't lived in Berlin since before the 'meltdown' in 2008. Traditionally the S-Bahn is Berlin's favorite transit system (you can look out the window!), the most far-reaching, and the most interesting historically.

TheBindingVoid 11y ago

Agreed, it's not really live, but still cool. There's a similar project for Swiss trains here: http://maps.vasile.ch/transit-sbb/ http://maps.vasile.ch/transit-sbb/ Source is available on Github (not my project).

the_mitsuhiko 11y ago
The same thing exists for Austria as well: http://zugradar.oebb.at/ http://zugradar.oebb.at/

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

peterjmag 11y ago

Good catch. I live in Berlin and use this sometimes, and I hadn't actually noticed that disclaimer before. (For future reference, it's under "Position der Fahrten" on [1].) Munich's live S-Bahn map[1] takes a slightly different approach: Um die Position der S-Bahnen auf der Karte anzuzeigen, werden die Positionsmeldungen der Züge an ausgewählten Signalstandorten erfasst und dazwischen hochgerechnet. Es handelt sich somit derzeit um keine GPS-Ortung. (from "So funktioniert's" on [2]) So they don't actually use GPS positioning either, but they do interpolate from data that comes from their rail signalling system, which I imagine is a bit more precise than using realtime departures and arrivals in hh:mm. [1] http://www.vbb.de/de/article/fahrplanauskunft/vbb-livekarte/20046.html http://www.vbb.de/de/article/fahrplanauskunft/vbb-livekarte/... [2] http://s-bahn-muenchen.hafas.de/bin/540/help.exe/dn?tpl=livefahrplan http://s-bahn-muenchen.hafas.de/bin/540/help.exe/dn?tpl=live... [3] http://www.s-bahn-muenchen.de/s_muenchen/view/fahrplan/echtzeit.shtml http://www.s-bahn-muenchen.de/s_muenchen/view/fahrplan/echtz...

kokey 11y ago

That shouldn't be a problem if the trains are on time.

sneak 11y ago
even if they're running late it should be fairly accurate; there are no express trains here in Berlin so it's never very long since a train has been in a station for a positional fix.
- lbotos 11y ago
  Thats funny because I feel like I waited less time for trains to arrive in Berlin than I do in NYC (including express trains...)
  - TillE 11y ago
    Trains run every five minutes during normal business hours. It's great. Ten minutes at night, weekends, etc.
erikb 11y ago
That was either the best joke ever, or you haven't used German S-Bahn yet. (The "S" is supposed to be short for the German word for "city" but we jokingly refer to them as "standing still-train" instead of "city-train")
- jusuchin 11y ago
  At least when I was in Berlin this September the U-Bahn worked perfectly.
- ant6n 11y ago
  'Stand-Bahn'? Never heard that, although haven't lived in Berlin since before the 'meltdown' in 2008. Traditionally the S-Bahn is Berlin's favorite transit system (you can look out the window!), the most far-reaching, and the most interesting historically.