Tag:route=power

This feature has been labeled as deprecated. The recommended replacement is: power=circuit.
The reason is documented in Deprecated features. You are still free to continue to use or interpret this tag as you see fit since OpenStreetMap does not have “banned features”.
Under no circumstances should you (semi-)automatically change “deprecated” tags to something else in the database on a large scale without conforming to the automated edits code of conduct. Any such change will be reverted.

There are the two main points of view which had been expressed on OSM so far regarding power circuits modelling.
This one is in favour of using type=route + route=power to map circuits since the power exchange is not so different of public transportation networks.

It has been discussed in two different proposals, the power routing proposal and the power circuits routing, and finally deprecated by the last in 2025.

Tagging similar to Transportation routes

Thus power lines span across the country and electricity always take the shortest way it's transportation behavior is similar to a passenger in a bus. They can only travel at the offered routes (physical cable) and it's only possible to change the bus line at bus stops (distribution facilities). One difference is there are three passengers (phases) which only can travel together (3 cables = 1 electric system) but hate each other so much, nothing work when they connect (short circuit). ;-) So if 2 systems share the same power tower (6 cables are 2 systems) they have to reach the next power station to meet physically. Relations are a good way to show this in OSM. Put every way and power station connected with this system in one relation and tag as following example shows:

• type=route
• route=power
• wires= (see wires=*)
• voltage=220000 (no point or colon)
• operator=XY Corp.
• cables= (see cables=*, mostly 3 or 6)
• frequency=50 (for 50 Hertz)

Simple example

	Nodes and ways in OSM reflect the physic infrastructure. But is this near enough on reality? Like many lanes of a road are only represented by one way, many wires on a power tower are only represented by one way in database. But logic infrastructure is more complex. The picture on the left show the difference. A standard relation include all ways (lines or cables, may be planned) and areas (sub stations), which are directly connected to it.
	1, 2, 3 type=route route=power wires=single cables=6 frequency=50 voltage=110000 operator=local op.	4, 5 type=route route=power wires=triple;single cables=6 frequency=50 voltage=380000;110000 operator=Transmission op.;local op.
blue (members: 1,2,3,5 as role line and Poldi, Puff, Horntail as role sub_station (or substation)) type=route route=power color=blue from=Poldi via=Horntail(;more) to=Puff voltage=110000 frequency=50	green (members: 1,2,3,4 as role line and Poldi, Errol, Horntail as role sub_station (or substation)) type=route route=power color=green from=Poldi via=Horntail(;more) to=Errol voltage=110000 frequency=50	red (members: 4,5 as role line and Errol, Puff as role sub_station (or substation)) type=route route=power color=red from=Errol to=Puff voltage=380000 frequency=50

Picture and key:value	Name in language	describtion en	Beschreibung de
type=route route=power		The route of a system from start to end can be shown with a relation. Like a bus route use streets (highway=*) power systems (=3 cables) using ways (power=line). But changing the line is only possible at stops (power=station)! So it is not possible to change your direction during traveling along the line. To represent these physical fact on a logical map you can use relations. Include all power lines and stations (incl. generator) in the relation and tag it with voltage=*, operator=* etc. These informations are also on the way itself, so relations are only needed in case systems separate during their journey.	Der Verlauf eines Systems vom Start zum Ende kann mit relationen gezeigt werden. Genauso wir Busse die Straßen benutzen, benutzen Systeme die Hochspannungsleitungen. Jedoch kann man nur an Umspannwerken (power=station) umsteigen. Es ist nicht möglich während der Fahrt die Linie zu wechseln. Um diese physikalische tatsache auf einer logischen Karte zu repräsentieren kann man mit Relationen arbeiten. Füge alle Hochspannungsleitungen (ways) und Umspannwerke der Relation hinzu und tagge diese mit voltage=*, operator=* usw. Diese Informationen sind bereits auf der power=line vorhanden, sodass Relationen nur notwendig werden falls sich Systeme in ihrem Verlauf trennen.

Why it should be deprecated

Power line routes are not similar to transportation routes. Power lines have exactly two end point and have no "stops" in the middle. The beginning and the end (source and consumer of energy) of the line may exchange sometimes (e.g. in case of emergency switching). A power line may have T-shape connection to another one, but it is not an intermediate stop, it is a beginning of the other line. Also there are no travelling things like buses, passengers or travellers as in "common" routes. A travelling of electrons is rather physical abstraction, and it is not so simple as "small moving balls".

See also

• type=power - statistics/distribution: https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/type=power#chronology