Python + Cartopy: Render Trans-Siberian Railway & Pan-American Highway on a dark-theme world map

pan_american_highway.geojson

render_routes.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Render the World's Longest Railway & Highway Routes
===================================================
Visualize the Trans-Siberian Railway and Pan-American Highway
using Python, Cartopy, and Matplotlib.

Requirements: pip install matplotlib cartopy numpy
"""

import json
import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('Agg')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import cartopy.crs as ccrs
import cartopy.feature as cfeature
from matplotlib.lines import Line2D

# ────────────────────────────────────────────
# DATA: Waypoints along each route
# ────────────────────────────────────────────

TRANS_SIBERIAN_WAYPOINTS = [
    # European Russia
    [37.6176, 55.7558],  # Moscow
    [40.3960, 56.1365],  # Vladimir
    [44.0020, 56.3269],  # Nizhny Novgorod
    [49.6600, 58.5966],  # Kirov
    [56.2293, 58.0105],  # Perm
    [60.5975, 56.8389],  # Yekaterinburg
    # Siberia
    [65.5344, 57.1530],  # Tyumen
    [73.3703, 54.9893],  # Omsk
    [82.9346, 55.0302],  # Novosibirsk
    [92.8526, 56.0090],  # Krasnoyarsk
    [104.2968, 52.2864], # Irkutsk
    [107.6100, 51.8333], # Ulan-Ude
    # Far East
    [113.5007, 52.0330], # Chita
    [132.9250, 48.7925], # Birobidzhan
    [135.0852, 48.4802], # Khabarovsk
    [131.8735, 43.1056], # Vladivostok
]

PAN_AMERICAN_WAYPOINTS = [
    [-148.8782, 70.2568], # Prudhoe Bay
    [-147.7230, 64.8378], # Fairbanks
    [-149.8680, 61.2181], # Anchorage
    [-135.0563, 60.7212], # Whitehorse
    [-123.1216, 49.2827], # Vancouver
    [-122.3321, 47.6062], # Seattle
    [-122.6784, 45.5152], # Portland
    [-122.4194, 37.7749], # San Francisco
    [-118.2437, 34.0522], # Los Angeles
    [-117.1611, 32.7157], # San Diego
    [-117.0200, 32.5330], # Tijuana
    [-110.9772, 29.0757], # Hermosillo
    [-106.4100, 23.2167], # Mazatlán
    [-103.3500, 20.6767], # Guadalajara
    [-99.1332, 19.4326],  # Mexico City
    [-96.7264, 17.0732],  # Oaxaca
    [-93.1125, 16.7553],  # Tuxtla Gutiérrez
    [-90.5151, 14.6244],  # Guatemala City
    [-89.2184, 13.6929],  # San Salvador
    [-86.2734, 12.1149],  # Managua
    [-84.0833, 9.9333],   # San José
    [-79.5333, 8.9833],   # Panama City
    [-75.5758, 6.2170],   # Medellín
    [-74.0721, 4.7110],   # Bogotá
    [-78.5000, -0.2299],  # Quito
    [-77.0333, -12.0500], # Lima
    [-71.5375, -16.3989], # Arequipa
    [-70.6483, -33.4569], # Santiago
    [-67.4800, -45.8667], # Comodoro Rivadavia
    [-70.9327, -53.1667], # Punta Arenas
    [-68.3030, -54.8069], # Ushuaia
]


def smooth_path(coords, segments=2):
    """Add interpolated points between each waypoint for smoother curves."""
    result = []
    for i in range(len(coords) - 1):
        result.append(coords[i])
        for s in range(1, segments):
            t = s / segments
            result.append([
                coords[i][0] + (coords[i+1][0] - coords[i][0]) * t,
                coords[i][1] + (coords[i+1][1] - coords[i][1]) * t
            ])
    result.append(coords[-1])
    return result


def save_geojson(waypoints, name, filename):
    """Save waypoints as a GeoJSON LineString."""
    coords = smooth_path(waypoints)
    geojson = {
        "type": "FeatureCollection",
        "features": [{
            "type": "Feature",
            "properties": {"name": name},
            "geometry": {
                "type": "LineString",
                "coordinates": coords
            }
        }]
    }
    with open(filename, 'w') as f:
        json.dump(geojson, f)
    print(f"  GeoJSON saved: {filename} ({len(coords)} points)")


def draw_map(rail_waypoints, road_waypoints, output='railway_road_map.png'):
    """Render both routes on a dark-theme world map."""
    rail_smooth = smooth_path(rail_waypoints)
    road_smooth = smooth_path(road_waypoints)

    rail_lons = [c[0] for c in rail_smooth]
    rail_lats = [c[1] for c in rail_smooth]
    road_lons = [c[0] for c in road_smooth]
    road_lats = [c[1] for c in road_smooth]

    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(18, 9), facecolor='#0d1117')
    ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection=ccrs.PlateCarree())
    ax.set_facecolor('#0d1117')
    ax.set_extent([-170, 180, -58, 73], crs=ccrs.PlateCarree())

    # Base layers
    ax.add_feature(cfeature.LAND, facecolor='#161b22', edgecolor='#1a2332', linewidth=0.3)
    ax.add_feature(cfeature.OCEAN, facecolor='#0d1117')
    ax.add_feature(cfeature.COASTLINE, edgecolor='#1a2332', linewidth=0.4)
    ax.add_feature(cfeature.BORDERS, edgecolor='#1f2a3a', linewidth=0.2, alpha=0.5)

    # Gridlines
    gl = ax.gridlines(crs=ccrs.PlateCarree(), draw_labels=True,
                      linewidth=0.5, color='#1a2332', alpha=0.7)
    gl.top_labels = False
    gl.right_labels = False
    gl.xlocator = plt.FixedLocator(range(-180, 181, 30))
    gl.ylocator = plt.FixedLocator(range(-90, 91, 30))

    # Routes
    rail_line, = ax.plot(rail_lons, rail_lats, color='#f0883e', linewidth=2.2,
                         alpha=0.9, solid_capstyle='round', zorder=5,
                         transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())
    road_line, = ax.plot(road_lons, road_lats, color='#58a6ff', linewidth=2.2,
                         alpha=0.9, solid_capstyle='round', zorder=5,
                         transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())

    # Start/end markers
    ax.plot(rail_lons[0], rail_lats[0], 'o', color='#f0883e', markersize=7, zorder=6,
            transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())
    ax.plot(rail_lons[-1], rail_lats[-1], 's', color='#f0883e', markersize=7, zorder=6,
            transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())
    ax.plot(road_lons[0], road_lats[0], 'o', color='#58a6ff', markersize=7, zorder=6,
            transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())
    ax.plot(road_lons[-1], road_lats[-1], 's', color='#58a6ff', markersize=7, zorder=6,
            transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())

    # Title
    ax.text(0.5, 0.97, "World's Longest Railway & Highway Routes",
            transform=ax.transAxes, color='#e6edf3', fontsize=15,
            fontweight='bold', ha='center', va='top', fontfamily='monospace')
    ax.text(0.5, 0.93, 'Trans-Siberian Railway  ·  Pan-American Highway',
            transform=ax.transAxes, color='#8b949e', fontsize=9,
            ha='center', va='top', fontfamily='monospace')

    # Legend
    legend = ax.legend(
        handles=[
            Line2D([0], [0], color='#f0883e', linewidth=2.5,
                   label='Trans-Siberian Railway (9,289 km)'),
            Line2D([0], [0], color='#58a6ff', linewidth=2.5,
                   label='Pan-American Highway (~30,000 km)'),
        ],
        loc='lower left', framealpha=0.85, facecolor='#161b22',
        edgecolor='#2d3a4a', labelcolor='#c9d1d9', fontsize=8
    )

    plt.savefig(output, dpi=180, bbox_inches='tight', facecolor=fig.get_facecolor())
    plt.close()
    print(f"  Map saved: {output}")


if __name__ == '__main__':
    print("Rendering World's Longest Routes...")
    print()
    print("Step 1: Saving GeoJSON files")
    save_geojson(TRANS_SIBERIAN_WAYPOINTS, "Trans-Siberian Railway",
                 "trans_siberian_railway.geojson")
    save_geojson(PAN_AMERICAN_WAYPOINTS, "Pan-American Highway",
                 "pan_american_highway.geojson")
    print()
    print("Step 2: Rendering map")
    draw_map(TRANS_SIBERIAN_WAYPOINTS, PAN_AMERICAN_WAYPOINTS)
    print()
    print("Done! Files created:")
    print("  - trans_siberian_railway.geojson")
    print("  - pan_american_highway.geojson")
    print("  - railway_road_map.png")