Transport Network

The OS Transport Network Collection provides a topologically structured link and node representation of Great Britain's road, ferry, rail and path networks. This collection provides information on road classification; road and path function; primary routes; road node classification; names associated with the road and path networks; path surface type, and connectivity between the road network and the ferry, rail, and path networks.

Images showing the majority of the feature types available in the collection are shown below:

Example image showing what a selection of the feature types that comprise the routable network in the OS Transport Network Collection look like in the data. A background map has been included to provide context.

Example image showing what a selection of the rail network feature types in the OS Transport Network Collection look like in the data. A background map has been included to provide context.

Recent updates to the collection

In September 2023, a rail network was added to the OS Transport Network Collection with the addition of three feature types: Railway Link, Railway Link Set, and Railway Node. Furthermore, the presence of pavements on the road network was supplied against Road Link features, and the Pavement Link Feature Type was also added to the collection.

From March 2024, tram track attribution indicating the presence of tram tracks on a road has been supplied against Road Link features, and the Tram On Road Feature Type was added to the collection.

From March 2025, street light attribution indicating street light coverage on a road or path has been supplied against Road Link and Path Link features. (A new Street Light Feature Type was also added to the OS Transport Features Collection at this time.) 

From September 2025, bus lane and cycle lane attribution indicating the presence of bus and cycle lanes has been supplied against Road Link features; cycle lane attribution indicating the presence of cycle lanes has also been supplied against Path Link features. Two new feature types were added to the OS Transport Network Collection at this time: Bus Lane and Cycle Lane Feature Types. Together these feature types provide a consistent and maintained dataset of bus lanes and cycle lanes for the whole of Great Britain.

Collection key elements, supply mechanism, summary and FAQs

Key elements

The OS Transport Network Collection provides:

• Monthly updates to data.

• Plug and play – the data is simple and quick to implement as you don't need to pre-process it before you use it.

• Rich attribution ensures the data is straightforward to navigate and query.

• Simplified attribute naming helps make names easier to understand.

• Persistent unique identifiers with lifecycle information.

• New cross-references make it easy for you to link data in this collection with data from other OS NGD collections.

• Geometry available for every feature.

• Feature types representing Cycle Lanes and Bus Lanes, and attribution against the Road Links and / or Path Links these features relate to.

Supply mechanism

Summary

FAQs

Collection applications

The OS Transport Network Collection allows you to:

• Ensure your transport data is always up to date with monthly updates.

• Identify the authority responsible for naming, numbering and maintaining a street.

• View ferry routes which start and end in Great Britain.

• Create statistics for evidence-based policy making, such as school transport allocation, funding distribution and meeting sustainable transport policies.

• Visualise the connectivity between the road network and path network.

• Examine the surface type, function and names associated with paths.

• Visualise a simplified topographic representation of rail networks across Great Britain, thereby providing better understanding of connectivity for passengers and freight.

• Identify Road Links which have pavements associated with them and visualise the extent of pavements on the road network.

Example images showing what a selection of the Pavement Link features in the OS Transport Network Collection look like in the data. The images indicate the presence of pavement on the left and right side of roads, respectively. Background maps have been included in both images to provide context.

• Identify Road Links which have a tram track on them and visualise the extent of tram tracks on the road network.

• Identify and visualise how well-lit Road Links and Paths Links are from Street Light coverage to support the identification and planning of safe routes for active travel (such as home-to-school routing).

Example visualisation showing street light coverage on Path Links and Road Links to show how well-lit they are (using the Presence of Street Light Coverage attribute). A background map has been included to provide context.

• Visualise bus and cycle lanes across Great Britain and understand the type of segregation of the lane from the road carriageway or footway to support active travel.

• Identify the presence of cycle and bus lanes along Road Links.

Example image showing bus lane presence along a Road Link. A background map has been included to provide context.

• Identify the presence of cycle lanes along Path Links.

Example image showing cycle lane presence along a Path Link. A background map has been included to provide context.

Useful links

• Introductory guides to OS Transport Network Collection data are available on our More than Maps site; these guides detail the layers, formats and attribution available for data in the collection, along with additional helpful information on recent enhancements to tram, pavement, bus lane and cycle lane data.

• Further information on the tram, pavement, bus lane and cycle lane data enhancements and tips on how to get the most out of the data are also available from the OS NGD Transport pages.

• Analysing pavement widths using OS Select+Build case study: Learn how to determine pavement widths in OS NGD data.

• Supporting Active Travel and public safety: Discover how cycle lane data supports local authorities and central Government in promoting Active Travel and public safety.

• Identifying and mapping areas most vulnerable to climate-related flooding events: Learn how OS NGD Transport Theme data was combined with the latest Environment Agency flood data to map the commuter corridors, economic routes and access points most vulnerable to river and sea flooding.