Submitted by the creator, who says:

This map I created presents the NSW rural rail passenger network at its maximum extent in the CityRail style. The stations and lines that no longer provide passenger service (or have been disused completely) are greyed out – with the vast majority of stations and lines now falling into this category.

Transit Maps says:

This is great work, simultaneously showing NSW’s rail network as it currently exists (solid colours, black station names), and as it once did (ghosted colours, grey names). While the creator says the map is in the “CityRail style”, it actually mimics the previous CityRail map (September 2012, 3.5 stars), not the current “T-numbered” Sydney Trains map. However, it uses the red (northern), yellow (western) and green (southern) colours of that map very effectively, also adding purple for lines that don’t reach Sydney from Victoria. The inset for Sydney also works very nicely and reveals some long-lost branch lines and stations (Cream of Tartar station, anyone?) 

For me, there’s a little too much distortion in the overall shape of the state, especially down on the Victorian border near the ocean, but it’s not a deal breaker in any way.

What I’d really, really like to see on a zoomable map like this is dates of opening and closure for both entire lines and individual stations. That would make this map an even more compelling piece of information visualisation than it is now.

Our rating: Great fun to scroll around the zoomable map (website no longer active, unfortunately). Three-and-a-half stars!