OS Multi-modal Routing Network (OS MRN) is a fully connected routable network dedicated for the multi-modal routing of people and goods. The product is designed for use in routing applications and contains multi-modal connectivity between Road, Rail, Path, and Ferry networks, brought together by modal change points to enable transition between modes. 

OS MRN was designed and built using the OpenStreetMap schema to facilitate its use in a wide range of routing applications. It takes existing OS network and routing data (available in the OS National Geographic Database – OS NGD) and maps this to the OpenStreetMap schema. New connectivity is added in the form of modal change points, which are key interchange sites where you can transition between different transport modes. Additionally, the dataset contains road restriction information and speed data.

The pages in this Overview contain information and tips about the OS Multi-modal Routing Network (OS MRN) data and specific advice on how to make the most of the data provided by individual feature types:

Key features

• Fully connected Road, Rail, Path and Ferry networks across Great Britain

• Road routing information, including turn restrictions and vehicle access restrictions

• Road speed information, including maximum speed and average speed

• Modal change points to represent sites where you can change transport mode

• OpenStreetMap schema

• OSParentIDs containing the OSID of the feature in the OS NGD

Index

This overview includes the following sections:

• Product supply

• Coordinate reference system

• Feature types overview

• OpenStreetMap schema

• Modal change

• Grade separation

The coordinate reference system used by OS MRN is the World Geodetic System (WGS84: EPSG: 4326). This applies to both the PBF and GPKG formats.

The WGS84 spatial reference system uses the WGS84 geodetic datum. Positions on this projection are described as latitude and longitude, and coordinates are provided in decimal degrees.

OS Multi-modal Routing Network (OS MRN) is designed and built in the OpenSteetMap (OSM) schema to facilitate straightforward import into many routing software applications. The OpenStreetMap model has three core data elements: ways, nodes and relations. See Elements - OpenStreetMap Wiki for more information.

• A way represents a linear feature on the ground. In OS MRN, these are called Transport Links and are linear representations of where people can travel along a network.

• A node is a single point in space. In OS MRN, these are called Transport Nodes and build up the topology of the network, connecting ways together.

• A relation defines how other elements work together. In OS MRN, these are called Turn Restrictions and represent information about turn restrictions.

OSM uses a system of tags to apply information against different features. We have taken existing OS network and routing data and mapped this to the OSM schema. We will include all the values from the OSM schema in the OS MRN code lists, but not all values are populated in the first release of OS MRN.

Transport Links combine the following existing transport information into one feature type:

• OS NGD Road Links

• OS NGD Path and Connecting Links

• OS NGD Ferry Links

• OS NGD Railway Links

• OS NGD Access Restrictions

• OS NGD Speed data

Transport Nodes combine the following existing transport information and into one feature type:

• OS NGD Road Nodes

• OS NGD Path and Connecting Nodes

• OS NGD Ferry Nodes

• OS NGD Railway Nodes

Turn Restrictions take the existing OS NGD Turn Restrictions.

The OS Multi-modal Routing Network (OS MRN) premium product contains three feature types: Transport Link, Transport Node and Turn Restriction

The pages in this section contain additional details about of the attribution for each feature type in the OS MRN and should be read in conjunction with the corresponding feature type page in the technical specification.

Where Transport Nodes have been split apart due to grade separation, the original node keeps the existing OSID and the additional nodes are indicated with the suffix --1 or --2, depending on the grade separation value. Also, the geometries of grade separated Transport Nodes are offset (5 cm in both the X and Y axes) to prevent routing software failure due to point spatial objects being at the same position.

If a Transport Link has a different grade separation at the start and end node, the link is split. The OSID of the new Transport Node between the split links is indicated with a suffix of --S. One of the Transport Links keeps to original OSID and the other has the suffix of --S.

A Transport Link is a linear spatial object that defines the geometry and connectivity of a road, path, rail, or ferry network between two points in the network. Transport Links are split for connectivity purposes (for example, at junctions) and Transport Nodes connect the Transport Links together. Each Transport Link provides a reference to the Transport Nodes at the start and end of the Transport Link.

Transport Links contain information about the type of link (for example, highway='motorway') and information about the access restrictions for vehicles to indicate which modes can travel along the link (e.g motor_vehicle=’yes’). There is also a maximum speed attribute, and two average speed attributes:

• a conditional delimited list of all the speeds at different time periods

• a single average speed using the Mon-Fri 12-2 pm period.

Transport Links also incorporate Modal Change links which are a linear spatial object representing a logical connection between the transport network and a transport site. See the Modal Change page for more information.

The Transport Link is attributed with a unique (but not persistent) WayID, which routing software uses to build out the network. Transport Links are also attributed with the OSID of the corresponding OS parent feature that is published in the OS NGD Transport Theme.

OS Multi-modal Routing Network (OS MRN) contains Modal Change points to represent where you can transition between different transport modes. The OS MRN takes keys sites such as train stations, ferry terminals and car parks, and creates modal change points at these locations to enable connectivity.

Within the Transport Node feature type there are Modal Change nodes which are derived from transport sites. A node is created and sits within the primary building of the site. It is attributed with the os_nodetype of ‘Modal Change’.

Within the Transport Link feature type there are Modal Change links which are a linear spatial object representing a logical connection between the transport network and the transport site. These Transport Links connect between the network and the Modal Change node.

Modal change connectivity is only provided between sites and the road, rail and ferry network. Modal change points do not connect to the Path network as we do not currently capture access points from paths to sites in OS data.

A Turn Restriction provides line geometry that indicates turn restrictions for the given Transport Link (for example No right turn or No U turn).

Where the Turn Restriction applies to specific vehicle type (for example, bus or HGV), this is identified by the corresponding separate attribute as described below, along with conditional values for when the turn restriction only exists on specific times or days.

The Turn Restriction is attributed with the OSID of the corresponding OS parent feature that is published in the OS NGD Transport RAMI Collection.

Turn Restrictions are named following a from-to-via pattern, where:

• from is the wayid of the first Transport Link involved in the turn restriction.

• to is the wayid of the last Transport Link involved in the turn restriction.

• via is the nodeid of the Transport Node at the junction (when there are only two links involved in the turn restriction), or a wayid list of all the Transport Links which are not the from or to link (when there are more than two links involved in the turn restriction).

Available formats

OS MRN is available in two formats:

• Protocolbuffer Binary Format (PBF)

• GeoPackage (GPKG)

Protocolbuffer Binary Format overview

PBF is an open source transfer format for vector GIS data created by the OpenStreetMap (OSM) community. PBF is an alternative to the original OSM XML format. PBF files are generally much smaller than OSM XML files and are faster to read and write.

GeoPackage overview

GeoPackage is an open standard data format as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). GeoPackage is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy-to-distribute and ready-to-use file.

Supply mechanism

OS MRN is available as an online download from the OS Data Hub. You can select a data format (PBF or GeoPackage) during the download process.

It is available as a Full Supply only, and customers can order full Great Britain (GB) coverage or a customisable area of interest (AOI).

Currency

OS MRN is updated monthly, in-line with updates of OS transport network data.

Coverage

OS MRN covers Great Britain.

A Transport Node is a point spatial object that is used to break up the Transport Network for connectivity. The Transport Network splits at the following locations:

• Where an attribute changes.

• The intersection or crossing of Transport Links.

• The start / end of a Transport Link.

Transport nodes build up the topology of the network and connect Transport Links together. They also represent Modal Change points where you can change travel modes. See the Modal Change page for more information.

Transport Nodes are also present at every vertex along the network. These ‘vertex nodes’ don’t split the network; they are provided to enable software that reads in OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to build up the network vertex by vertex. The vertex nodes allow customers to convert from GeoPackage format to OSM.

The Transport Node will be attributed with a unique (but not persistent) Node ID and also the OSID of the corresponding OS parent feature that is published in the OS NGD Transport Network Collection.