National Train Map: Interactive train route map with better UI than official railway provi

What it does

National Train Map is an interactive map for tracking trains in Bulgaria. It displays real-time train positions, delays, timetables, and station information. The tool builds on data from BDZ, Bulgaria's national railway carrier, which does not provide a public API. The creator built a scraper and visualization layer to show train routes and status in a more usable format than BDZ's official map.

Who it is for

Passengers planning train journeys in Bulgaria who need reliable, current information about train locations and delays. The tool serves anyone frustrated with the official railway provider's outdated interface and performance issues.

Pricing

The site does not show prices.

How it stands out

BDZ's official map has a dated user interface, performance problems, and does not display full route context. National Train Map addresses these specific pain points with a cleaner design built from the ground up. The creator is an individual junior developer working on this as a side project, so it has no corporate overhead or legacy technical constraints.

The project sidesteps the lack of an official API by using web scraping to extract real-time data. This means the service runs independently of BDZ's platform decisions or willingness to share data.

What a founder should check

First, verify how fragile the data source is. Since BDZ provides no official API, the scraper depends on the railway's website structure remaining stable. Any major redesign of BDZ's site could break the tracker. Understanding the long-term viability of screen-scraping as a strategy is essential before investing in a similar approach.

Second, assess switching costs and user lock-in. Train tracking is a low-switching-cost service; users will jump to any official or better alternative instantly. If BDZ ever launches a usable app or API, this project loses its main advantage. Check whether there are network effects, saved preferences, or other retention mechanisms that would keep users coming back.

Third, examine the competitive moat. An official BDZ mobile app or API would eliminate this product's reason for existing. The market also includes Google Maps transit directions and other general travel planning tools that bundle train info with flights and buses. A solo project has no defensibility against these incumbents if they decide to improve their own offerings.

Thinking of building something like this?

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