Blog
Switching to Vector Tiles
Recently, I completed the migration of the maps to a new library and data source. Previously, I used Leaflet and raster tiles from various providers. As the site grew in popularity, this became a problem — I was consuming free tile provider limits far too quickly. For example, in July, the 100k free tiles from Thunderforest that they give per month ran out in just two weeks. My plan B was to switch to free tiles from OpenStreetMap, but that was only a temporary solution. First, these tiles are strongly discouraged for production use. Second, they use the local language, and in the case of Georgia, a significant portion of users cannot read a single toponym. Classic OSM Tiles
September 9, 2025
Train to Yerevan Added
On June 14th, an extended train route to Armenia was launched. Previously, it ran from Tbilisi to Yerevan, but during the summer period it now starts from Batumi. On this occasion, I finally added the first international train to the website. Please welcome: 201 Batumi → Yerevan, 202 Yerevan → Batumi. I was hesitant to tackle this task for a long time, as the entire website was originally designed only for Georgian Railway trains. You might think, a train is a train, what’s the difference? But there is one, and it’s fundamental. Georgian Railway trains in the schedule always have only one timestamp - the departure time, which for the final station means the arrival time. International trains have two such timestamps, more familiarly: both departure and arrival. As a result, I had to dig into the code of every frontend page and all data generators.
June 18, 2025
Major Schedule Update
Today I managed to update and supplement the schedule for all active routes. Recently, stations and arrival times for almost all trains appeared on the GR test site, so I transferred them here before they disappear or break again. Most of the data looks good, but there are a few suspicious points. The numbering of electric trains between Khashuri and Zestafoni does not match the numbering on the official website. I made a note to check this when possible. Also, on the train route between Kutaisi and Sachkhere, which was restarted yesterday after a winter break, there seem to be fewer stations than there should be (I rode it once and had the impression that we were stopping at every house along the way).
March 26, 2025
Schedule and Other Data
We have figured out the geodata. Now I’ll tell you about the rest: the schedule and various details about routes and stations. The starting point is the schedule on the main website. It does not contain intermediate stations, but it does have all current routes and times at the terminal stations. It is regularly updated. I check this schedule every hour with a custom parser and compare it with its local copy. When changes occur, a bot in Telegram notifies me about them. Something like this:
March 11, 2025
Official websites of Georgian Railway
Georgian Railway’s online presence is quite complicated. There are two official websites, and to get the full picture, you need to visit both of them. This is one of the reasons why georailway.com was created. Here, I’ll briefly describe what each site offers. https://www.railway.ge/ This is the main Georgian Railway website. The homepage is filled with images and outdated news, so the really useful information is buried deeper, making it unclear at first glance. The most relevant section is here: https://www.railway.ge/en/passenger-traffic/. This page contains the current, albeit brief, schedule, contacts, and regulations.
February 27, 2025
Geodata
The main challenge of this project is, of course, finding and collecting data. Here, I’ll talk about geodata: the railway network, stations, and routes. This entire website started as a small local exercise: I was curious about implementing a map using data from OpenStreetMap. To put it briefly and simply, OSM is an open geodata database of the entire planet. It’s open in the sense that anyone can make changes to it, like Wikipedia. I started by adding the outline and information about my house. OSM is used in hundreds of applications and on hundreds of websites. For example, in Organic Maps, one of the most popular offline map and navigation apps.
February 20, 2025
Why georailway.com
Hello. I decided to start a blog where I’ll talk about the development of this website (it’s not as simple as it seems) and about the Georgian railway. Yes, both at the same time. Let’s see what comes out of it. First, I’ll tell you why georailway.com is needed in the first place. Georgian Railways (GR) is not the largest or most developed railway network in Europe. I probably won’t be wrong if I say that most tourists only encounter GR when using the Tbilisi - Batumi express trains, the double-decker Stadlers. Beautiful, relatively modern, and they teleport you from the capital to the sea and back in 4-5 hours. Tickets for these trains are sold on many websites, no problem there.
February 18, 2025