GleisHüter
A cycling and pedestrian route planner for Germany that flags unguarded railway crossings, warns riders on approach with real-time train timing, and routes them around known hazards using a crowdsourced hazard map.
German cyclists and pedestrians commuting in rural or suburban areas with many unguarded rail crossings
- GPS-triggered audio warning when approaching an unguarded crossing, timed to the next scheduled train
- Route planner that prioritizes barrier-protected crossings and reports an estimated safety score for each option
- Crowdsourced hazard map where riders log sight-line obstructions, poor surfaces, and near-misses
- Heatmap view of recent incidents and reports per crossing for trip planning
More than 57% of Bavaria's roughly 2,900 railway crossings remain unguarded, and a recent cyclist fatality at the Kahlgrundbahn is driving public concern and policy debate about retrofitting barriers.
Recent cyclist fatalities at Willstätt-Legelshurst (2024) and near Barth, plus recurring WELT coverage of 'Gefahrenzone Bahn-Übergang' confirm an active safety concern, but audience is a narrow rural/suburban commuter subset and 'bahnübergang' search volume (500+) is modest.Cyclist Fatality at Closed Railway Crossing Amid Germany's Record Heatwave ↗Verkehrsunfälle: Gefahrenzone Bahn-Übergang - katastrophale Crashs und ein großes Dunkelfeld ↗
No competitor among Komoot, Naviki, BikeMap, Outdooractive or Strava appears to specifically surface unguarded-railway-crossing warnings or hazard-aware routing; closest generic planners dominate on routing/OSM, leaving this narrow feature gap open but easily closed by an incumbent.Komoot Alternatives: Top 12 GPS Navigation & Map Services ↗Alternative zu Komoot: 3 gute Optionen für Fahrradfahrer ↗
Komoot proves German cyclists pay ~3.99 €/month for premium cycling navigation, but a niche safety-only feature is unlikely to support a standalone subscription; freemium with add-on or B2G (municipal) sales more plausible.Komoot | Kaufoptionen: Weil die Welt entdecken nicht die Welt kosten muss ↗Was kostet komoot? Preise & Pakete im Check ↗
Thousands of unguarded crossings remain (post-retrofit timeline runs into the 2030s), so the hazard data stays relevant for years; however, regulatory retrofitting or barrier mandates could erode the use case over the long term.Verkehrsunfälle: Gefahrenzone Bahn-Übergang - katastrophale Crashs und ein großes Dunkelfeld ↗
Buildable on OSM railway-crossing tags plus a crowdsourced overlay, but real-time train arrival depends on Deutsche Bahn API access (rate-limited/partner-only) and route-around-hazard graph algorithms add non-trivial engineering for limited audience.Komoot Alternatives: Top 12 GPS Navigation & Map Services ↗