Reference Data

Three sets of reference data are available from Network Rail. The All Reference Data topic must be selected and subscribed to in the My Feeds tab of the data feeds site to be able to access the CORPUS and SMART data. The Train Planning data is available from this site. See the about the feeds page for more details.

Other useful reference sources are also listed.

Geospatial data

Network Rail have published a number of datasets containing geospatial data. These are licensed under the OGL and are available on the openraildata GitHub organisation.

The repository contains ESRI shapefiles and will be updated by means of an FOI request every three months. Additionally, Geopackage files have been created and are available in a separate release.

CORPUS: Location Reference Data

This is provided from the CORPUS system (Codes for Operations, Retail & Planning – a Unified Solution). The data is a periodically-updated snapshot of the CORPUS database. This can be used to translate STANOX, TIPLOC, NLC, UIC and 3-alpha (CRS) codes to location descriptions.

Downloading CORPUS Data

To download the data, visit https://publicdatafeeds.networkrail.co.uk/ntrod/SupportingFileAuthenticate?type=CORPUS

CORPUS Data Format

CORPUS data is supplied as a plain text file containing a JSON representation of the data. Entries comprise the following fields (not all fields may contain data):

Field	Description
STANOX	STANOX code
UIC	UIC code
3ALPHA	3-letter location code
TIPLOC	TIPLOC code
NLC	NLC code
NLCDESC	Description of the NLC
NLCDESC16	NLC description (16-character version)

SMART: Berth Stepping Data

The SMART database contains details of train describer berths and allows movements into berths to be translated into arrivals and departures from locations. The data feed contains a periodically-updated snapshot of the SMART database.

Downloading SMART Data

To download the data, visit https://publicdatafeeds.networkrail.co.uk/ntrod/SupportingFileAuthenticate?type=SMART

SMART Data Format

SMART data is supplied as a plain text file containing a JSON representation of the data. Entries comprise the following fields (not all fields may contain data):

Field	Description
TD	Train describer area
FROMBERTH	TD berth that movement is from
TOBERTH	TD berth that movement is to
FROMLINE	Line which the movement is from
TOLINE	Line which the movement is to
BERTHOFFSET	Difference between the time the berth event occurs and the time to be recorded in TRUST, in seconds
PLATFORM	Platform
EVENT	One of A, B, C, D
ROUTE
STANOX	STANOX code for location
STANME	Abbreviated description of location
STEPTYPE	One of B, F, C, D, I, T, E
COMMENT

EVENT	Description
A	Arrive Up
B	Depart Up
C	Arrive Down
D	Depart Down

STEPTYPE	Description
B	Between
F	From
T	To
D	Intermediate First
C	Clearout
I	Interpose
E	Intermediate

An in-depth overview of how to use SMART data is available.

BPLAN Geography

Twice a year, a set of geographical data is released from Network Rail which contains data to be used when planning trains. It also includes other data, such as platform numbers at stations, and details of activity codes used in CIF.

The files are uploaded to the wiki, including an archive of some historical files, and are available on a separate page.

BPLAN was previously available through the separate Network Rail API Platform, but registrations are suspended, and users are now directed to use the public datafeeds platform. This feature of public datafeeds was undocumented at launch, and does not currently (June, 2023) work, redirecting users to an AWS-hosted file which doesn't exist.

When/if it works, it'll be available at: https://publicdatafeeds.networkrail.co.uk/ntrod/SupportingFileAuthenticate?type=BPLAN

Train Planning Network Model

The Train Planning Network Model contains very detailed information on the network model used by ITPS, the Integrated Train Planning System.

Downloading the data

To download the data, visit https://publicdatafeeds.networkrail.co.uk/ntrod/SupportingFileAuthenticate?type=TPS

The raw data is XML in tarred bzip2 (tar.bz2) format

The current schema for the Network Model is available here.

The previous schema, valid until an unknown date in 2020, is available here.

Other Sources

• Phil Deaves has compiled a reference site listing location codes (CRS, STANOX and TIPLOC) as well as a comprehensive listing of other railway codes
• NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) is provided by the Department for Transport and is the single government source for all public transport stops/stations in the UK, also including bus stops, ferry terminals, airports, metro stations, and heritage railways, as well as associated metadata, including the location of entrances to stations, and platform locations in some circumstances. Contains ATCO, CRS and TIPLOC codes and latitude/longitudes.

Programmatic Download

The CORPUS, SMART and TPS reference data can be downloaded programmatically using the command

curl -L -u '<USERNAME>:<PASSWORD>' -o '<FILENAME>' 'https://publicdatafeeds.networkrail.co.uk/ntrod/SupportingFileAuthenticate?type=<DATASET>'

where

• <USERNAME> and <PASSWORD> are from your NR Open Data login
• <FILENAME> is what you want the locally downloaded file to be called
• <DATASET> is one of CORPUS, SMART, BPLAN or TPS

This allows you to automate download of the data when it is updated