Key:railway:preserved

The tag railway:preserved=yes is used for a preserved railway running historic trains or other forms of rail transport, usually as a tourist attraction. They are usually privately owned and preserved as cultural heritage. While these lines may offer incidental or periodic rides to the public, they usually do not provide public transportation in any meaningful sense. Also known as a Heritage railways. See  Heritage railway.

How to map

Map a linear way along the centre of the railway tracks and tag with:

• railway=rail/narrow_gauge/tram/etc. (required)
• railway:preserved=yes

Additional tags - optional

• electrified=*
• gauge=*
• operator=*
• service=*
• usage=*
• draisine=yes

railway:preserved=no can be used to specify that a railway is not a heritage or preserved railway. Usually though, this is only needed on stretches where it isn't directly clear that those tracks are not (only) part of a preserved railway line. In most cases railway:preserved=no should be omitted.

Comparison with other approaches

railway:preserved=* was introduced as an alternative to railway=preserved; the rationale being that running historic trains is not a primary characteristic of railway track, and many various railway types (railway=rail, railway=tram, and railway=miniature for instance) may be preserved. Using railway:preserved=yes allows these different types of preserved railway to be distinguished.

The old tag railway=preserved is increasingly falling into disuse, in favour of railway:preserved=*.

Evolution-graphs of the both tagging schemes: https://taghistory.raifer.tech/#***/railway/preserved&***/railway:preserved/yes