Let's have a 'Google Railview' like Streetview!
 

While over in Cork for Christmas Holidays, it occurred to me that although Google has created a magnificent resource with its Streetview, there is no rail equivalent as yet. A quick web search I made located an interesting suggestion on a Rail-Related forum in... New Zealand! A quick look at their discussions shows much in common with Rail Users Ireland; See the 'Google Railview?' thread at: http://www.bettertransport.org.nz/fo...php?f=4&t=1897

The easiest way to integrate the Rail Network into Google Streetview would be to scan it in a similar way to Streetview, with a similar type of camera, but this camera would have to be mounted on a road-rail vehicle or some other specialist rail vehicle; another alternative might be to map it in detail from the air: However, the most likely way of including Rail Routes in Google Streetview is for Rail Operators/networks themselves to integrate their own mapping of their network into Streetview. Many Rail Networks must already have extensive up-to-date digital photo records of their routes for engineering and staff training purposes, so integrating them with Streetview should be pretty straightforward. This would enable everything from being able to view every signal, gradient and milepost of every route for driver-familiarisation, to what kind of views travellers can expect during their journey.
As an experiment, I have already photographed the main landmarks, stations and views from the Cork-Midleton line over the Christmas holidays, and I hope to put up a kind of basic prototype 'Railview' of this line on my website (See my signature).

While searching thoroughly through the thread on the NZ forum, I also sound a link to 'Firxt' (Surely they can find a more catchy name than this?) at: http://firxt.com/trains.php
firxt is about the closest thing to a Railway equivalent of Streetview and it certainly has potential.

Irish Rail internally have hours of video from the front and rear of trains plus some limited side view as well.

The new Irish Rail website underdevelopment will make extensive use of google or similar mapping technology to deliver information

There is an existing google map http://www.irishrail.ie/realtime/

The members area has a link to a demo of some pretty awesome passenger information/journey planner. Irish Rail has a license for this for there new website