End of Life Notice – OS Detailed Path Network
The End of Life notice for the OS Detailed Path Network product, containing key dates, the reasoning behind the product withdrawal, product migration guidance, and FAQs.
Overview
The OS Detailed Path Network (DPN) product will become End of Life on 30 September 2026. As of this date, Ordnance Survey will cease to maintain or publish updates, and access to the product will be removed from the OS Data Hub, OS Features API and OS Vector Tile API.
Key dates
Final publication of the product: October 2025
Full withdrawal date: 30 September 2026
Why is this happening?
As part of our strategic product roadmap, we are committed to the evolution of geospatial data and services in order to meet customers’ needs. As a result, some of our existing products will become out of date and reach the end of their life.
The following factors were major drivers behind the decision to withdraw the product:
Low usage and adoption: Usage of the OS DPN product is low due to its restricted geographical coverage (National Parks only). Most use cases can be met by other OS products, making continued support and maintenance of this product no longer sustainable.
OS product consolidation: The withdrawal of this product is part of a broader initiative to streamline and consolidate our product offering, ensuring our products are sustainable and better aligned with current and future customer needs.
We understand this change will impact customers, and we are committed to providing guidance and support to facilitate a smooth transition.
What's the product migration path?
There is no direct replacement for OS DPN in OS’s product offering.
While there is no direct migration path to a comparable single product, some use cases may be served by OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD) Transport Theme data: Road Link and Path Link Feature Types (both part of the OS NGD Transport Network Collection) and the Highway Dedication Feature Type (part of the OS NGD Routing and Asset Management Information Collection).
Path Links represent the Path Network across Great Britain where routes cannot be inferred from the Road Network.
Roads and paths which can be inferred from the road are represented by Road Links.
Highway Dedication is derived from the National Street Gazetteer and provides an indication of the type of highway user who has access to a particular road or path.
What are the benefits to using OS NGD Transport Theme data?
Data is accessed through the OS Data Hub and is available to download from OS Select+Build (the bespoke OS NGD download service) in two widely adopted and simple to use formats – GeoPackage and CSV (comma-separated values). Data is also available via two OS NGD APIs: OS NGD API – Features and OS NGD API – Tiles.
Improved data updated frequency: the three OS NGD transport feature types (Road Link, Path Link and Highway Dedication) are updated monthly, compared to annual updates of the OS DPN product.
The three OS NGD transport feature types (Road Link, Path Link and Highway Dedication) cover all of Great Britain, compared to national park-only coverage provided by the OS DPN product.
Cross reference information to and from Road Link and Path Link features allows you to link the road and path data with other OS NGD feature types, such as Street and Highway Dedication.
Connecting Links and Connecting Nodes allow you to visualise the connectivity between the Road and Path Network and create a more complete, connected network for routing and connectivity analysis.
The Path Link Feature Type provides information on the elevation gain, presence of street lights, surface type, function of paths and the names associated with paths.
The Highway Dedication Feature Type provides information as to whether a path is a Restricted Byway, Bridleway, Footpath, Byway Open to All Traffic or if the dedication is unknown, where this information has been provided by the Local Highway Authority.
The Highway Dedication Feature Type also identifies where a path is a Public Right of Way or part of a National Cycle Route, where this information has been provided by the Local Highway Authority. (Please note that this data is incomplete as it is subject to the Local Highway Authority submitting this information to the National Street Gazetteer.)
What information from OS DPN is not available in OS NGD Transport Theme data?
OS DPN contains route links which represent rights of way, but which have no physical evidence of a path in the real world (i.e. no physical manifestation). In the OS NGD Transport Theme, only paths which can be seen from the ground or an aerial survey are captured, so rights of way route links without physical manifestation will not be included in the data. Paths without physical manifestation are still present in other OS raster products, such as 1:25 000 Explorer mapping and the Leisure style in OS Maps API.
Public right of way information in the OS NGD Transport Theme is published only where the Local Highway Authority has provided this information in the National Street Gazetteer. As a result, not all public rights of way in all national parks are included, and their representation may be inconsistent in OS data.
OS DPN contains information on long distance recreational routes and National Cycle Routes within national parks; these are shown in other OS raster products (such as 1:25 000 Explorer mapping and the Leisure style in OS Maps API), but are not currently part of OS NGD Transport Theme data.
OS DPN indicates if a route link is on Access Land or not within national parks. Access Land information is shown in other OS raster products (such as 1:25 000 Explorer mapping and the Leisure style in OS Maps API), but is not currently part of OS NGD Transport Theme data.
OS DPN indicates if a route link crosses an MoD Firing Range / Danger Area within national parks. Danger Area information is shown in other OS raster products (such as 1:25 000 Explorer mapping and the Leisure style in OS Maps API) and can be found for roads only in the OS NGD Transport Theme (Routing Hazard Feature Type).
Further information
Reach out to our support team if you have any concerns or questions.
FAQs
Last updated
Was this helpful?