Symbols and codes used in the cartographic documentation of railway areas

The cartographic documents covering railway areas require additional specifi c cartographic symbols and codes because of the diversity of the existing railway infrastructure elements. Cartographic symbols represent objects featured in maps and schematic plans, according to their attribute characteristics and the scale of a given map. A cartographic code is a designation assigned to cartographic symbols featured in maps in scale ranges of 1:500 to 1:5000. The main purpose of the conducted study was to determine the extent of uniformity of cartographic symbols and codes used in railway areas in the light of the relevant applicable legal regulations, technical standards, industry-specifi c manuals, and the perception of space as presented in the cartographic documentation of railway areas. The condition of cartographic symbols and codes has been analysed, taking the characteristics of the target audience of cartographic documents as well as the intended use and content of such documents into consideration. The paper describes the patterns behind the processes of coding real elements of railway infrastructure in cartographic documents, and off ers tables including fi ndings of comparative analyses of cartographic symbols and codes according to the following requirements: • GK-1 of the technical standard “Organisation and performance of measurements in railway land surveying”, • Regulation of the Minister of Administration and Digitization of 2 November 2015 on the topographic objects database and the principal map, • Ig-10 (D-27) instruction on developing and updating schematic plans. The conducted studies have revealed a lack of consistency and discrepancies among the cartographic symbols and codes used and adopted in railway areas. These symbols should be consistent and harmonised with other symbols and elements of cartographic documents in order to function as a harmonious whole. It has also been found that there are no defi nitions for characteristic cartographic symbols and codes found across railway infrastructure elements. The paper offers new original cartographic symbols and codes for those elements which have not been defi ned so far. New definitions cover: animal protection device and stabilised fixed points of reference for observing the areas susceptible to creep of rails in a continuous welded track. The findings of the conducted studies contribute to the subjects raised in the contemporary domain of civil engineering and railway transport. The article contains author’s insights and conclusions. The paper has been developed as part of AGH’s statutory research no. 11.11.150.005.