What’s new – 1st May 2017

There isn’t a big update this time unfortunately – it’s hard to justify sitting in a cottage in North Yorkshire doing work when you could be out having fun – which is exactly what’s been happening! However, we have some significant things that have just gone live on the site.

  • You can now search for locations and find the right map instantly! No more having to remember which map has Long Buckby on it – just click on the Maps link, enter a station name in the "Jump to a location" box, and click the "Show map" link to go straight there. We’re still working out how to make it such that you can click on the location and it’ll jump to the map – but we wanted to release this feature early since it’s been requested many times
  • The last ten maps you’ve viewed on a device are now shown in the "Recently used maps" part of the maps page. The last map you visited is at the top, with the nine previous ones beneath it. Useful when you need to refer to several maps during the day
  • The route-based listing of maps is now tidied and the maps in each route are now hidden. Don’t panic – clicking on "East Midlands" or any of the other routes on the maps page will bring up the familiar map listing
  • And finally, the Romford to Ingatestone and Billericay map now reflects the changed track layout at Shenfield, which will be in passenger use soon. Further signals on this map will also now show a signal aspect

Minor things, worthy of a mention but not a fanfare, include Ilkeston station being added to the East Midlands maps, platform numbers fixed at Preston, route indications and Lea Bridge station added to the Bethnal Green to Chingford, Enfield Town and Cheshunt map and some signals on the East Coastway map being put in the right place.

We’re still hard at work in the lab, working on new maps, enhancements to existing maps and the next big thing. All our maps are drawn by hand during non-working hours, and we think they’re the best darned looking maps out there! We always want to bring you more, but we have to go to bed sometimes…

Until next time, stay safe!

11 thoughts on “What’s new – 1st May 2017

  1. Top man Squire – all the hard work you put in during your own time is much appreciated – may I beg a Soton map when you have the time and inclination please ?

  2. Now LM has introduced free wifi on Birmingham Cross City, the North section from Proof House Jn. to Lichfield Trent Valley would be a great addition particularly in the many times of perturbation when services are shortened to Blake St.

  3. Thanks for the ‘Station Search” feature. Another suggestion to aid finding your map:- could the maps be listed in geographical order in eg. West coast main line?

    • Yes, it would be useful if maps were listed in a more logical geographical order, maybe even with a clickable map of the UK as well, showing sections that have detailed maps. ECML, WCML, MML, GWML etc would be a good starting point.

      What is the long-term aim? To link together as many maps and to cover as many lines as possible? Join Leeds to York, and show York-Scarborough would be useful for me; I’m sure many other people have their own pet lines.

      What criteria do you use for deciding whether a given train headcode (eg 1S45) can be decoded into a working timetable? There are many cases where an ID is unlinked but it is very obvious which one is the correct one, where there are multiple trains that use this ID, based on which line and/or which stations it serves. If a headcode matches both MML and ECML, and the train is displayed between stations on the ECML, odds-on its the ECML train! Can you code some of this human intelligence into the maps so more train headcodes can be linked to their timetables?

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