Chainage / Stationing Calculator
Calculate cumulative chainage and surveying station notation along a road, rail or pipeline alignment — enter a starting chainage plus each point's distance from the one before it, in metric (km+m) or US customary (station+ft) stationing.
Input
Metric groups chainage into kilometres, e.g. "1+300.500"; US customary groups into 100-ft stations, e.g. "17+45.30".
Chainage of the first point (metres in metric, feet in US customary). Usually 0.
One point per line, as the distance from the point before it: "distance" or "Label, distance" (e.g. "PC of curve 1, 245.30"). The first line is usually the starting point with a distance of 0.
Output
| Point | Distance | Chainage | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| No data yet | |||
Total alignment length and the final station.
More ways to use this tool
REST API
curl -X POST https://api.iotools.cloud/v1/tool/chainage-stationing-calculator \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"unitSystem": "si",
"startingChainage": "0",
"points": "Start, 0\nPC of curve 1, 150\nPT of curve 1, 350.5…"
}'Swap in your own key from your account. The tool's fields are the body — no wrapper.
Ask an AI agent
Use the IOTools `chainage-stationing-calculator` tool (Chainage / Stationing Calculator) on this input:
YOUR_INPUT_HEREPaste this at any agent connected to the IOTools MCP server, then add your input.
Embed widget
<iframe
src="https://iotools.cloud/embed/chainage-stationing-calculator/"
width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" loading="lazy"
title="Chainage / Stationing Calculator — iotools.cloud"
sandbox="allow-scripts allow-forms allow-same-origin allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"
allow="clipboard-write"
style="width:100%;border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden"></iframe>
<script src="https://iotools.cloud/embed.js" async></script>Drop this into your own page — free, no key required, just a link back.
| Cost per API/MCP call | From 5 credits |
|---|---|
| Need more credits? | View pricing |
Also available with
Guides
The Chainage / Stationing Calculator reduces a survey alignment — a road, railway, canal or pipeline centerline — into cumulative chainage and standard surveying station notation for every point along it. Enter a starting chainage and each point's distance from the point before it, and it computes the running chainage and the formatted station for each one, in metric (km+m) or US customary (station+ft) notation.
How to use it
- Pick your unit system — metric (metres, grouped by kilometre) or US customary (feet, grouped by 100-ft "full station").
- Enter the starting chainage of the first point — usually 0.
- List the points along the alignment, one per line, as the distance from the point before it:
distanceorLabel, distance(e.g. "PC of curve 1, 245.30"). The first line is typically the starting point with a distance of 0.
Results update instantly. The table shows each point's distance, cumulative chainage and formatted station. A one-line summary gives the total alignment length and the final station.
What is chainage / stationing?
Chainage (called stationing in US practice) is the running distance measured along a survey alignment from a defined starting point, typically labelled "0+000" (metric) or "0+00" (US). It lets every feature along a route — a curve, a bridge, a culvert — be referenced by a single distance-along-the-line number instead of coordinates.
How is the station notation formatted?
- Metric: chainage is split into whole kilometres and the remaining metres, written as
km+m, e.g. 1300.5 m becomes1+300.500. - US customary: chainage is split into 100-ft "full stations" and the remaining feet, written as
station+ft, e.g. 1745.3 ft becomes17+45.30.
Both are the conventional decimal placements used in metric and US surveying practice respectively.
Is my data private?
Completely. Every calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored or sent to a server, so you can run as many alignment checks as you like in total privacy.