On a linear network \(L\), the “geodesic distance function”
  of a set of points \(A\) in \(L\) is the
  mathematical function \(f\) such that, for any 
  location \(s\) on \(L\),
  the function value f(s)
  is the shortest-path distance from \(s\) to \(A\).
The command distfun.lpp is a method for the generic command
  distfun
  for the class "lpp" of point patterns on a linear network.
If X is a point pattern on a linear network,
  f <- distfun(X) returns a function
  in the R language that represents the
  distance function of X. Evaluating the function f
  in the form v <- f(x,y), where x and y
  are any numeric vectors of equal length containing coordinates of
  spatial locations, yields the values of the distance function at these
  locations. More efficiently f can be called in the form
  v <- f(x, y, seg, tp) where seg and tp are the local
  coordinates on the network. It can also be called as
  v <- f(x) where x is a point pattern on the same linear
  network.
The function f obtained from f <- distfun(X)
  also belongs to the class "linfun". 
  It can be printed and plotted immediately as shown in the Examples.
  It can be 
  converted to a pixel image using as.linim.