About the Network Rail feeds
What are the feeds?
The following feeds are available:
| Feed | Type | Details |
|---|---|---|
| RTPPM | Real-time low volume | Real Time Public Performance Measure. This shows the performance of trains against the timetable, measured as the percentage of trains arriving at destination on time, and is updated every minute |
| Train Movements | Real-time high-volume | Messaging from the TRUST system, containing reports of train movements past timetabled calling and passing points |
| TD | Real-time high-volume | Berth-level data from the Train Describer system, showing raw data with train movements in more detail than the Train Movements feed |
| VSTP | Real-time low-volume | Late-notice train schedules which are not available through the Schedule feed |
| TSR | Low-volume | Temporary Speed Restriction data as published in the Weekly Operating Notice |
| SCHEDULE | Static data | Extracts of train schedules from ITPS in JSON format |
There are also several sets of reference data which are helpful when working with the data, as well as a page of advanced usage assistance.
NOTE: The Train Movements and TD messages are batched to reduce network overheads.
How do I get the data?
First, register for an account by visiting http://datafeeds.networkrail.co.uk. You will receive a confirmation email - follow the instructions: log in and change your password. When your account is active, you can connect to the service. Your account may be in one of three states.
The real-time feeds are available on message queue topics. You will need to use a Stomp or OpenWire client. Stomp clients are available in many languages.
The static feeds are available via authenticated HTTP GET requests.
Support
If you are having problems with the feeds:
- First, read this wiki - there's a lot of material here that will help you
- Check the FAQ to see if you have a common issue
- If you want to discuss your problem with other people working with the service, the openraildata-talk group on Google Groups will be useful
- Finally, if you're still having a problem, email nrod.support@rockshore.net
Good practice
Please bear in mind the following points when you use the service - they're here to make sure everyone gets a good service:
- Sign up with one account - it gives an accurate reflection of how many people are actually using the service.
- Connect to the service once - you can receive multiple feeds in a single connection. If you need to access the data more than once, you can do so - but be sensible!
- Don't leave a failed client running - if you can connect but get an authentication or authorization error, stop your client, don't leave it continually trying.
- Make sure your client handles failures - if your client fails to connect or is disconnected, use an exponential backoff and wait 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s etc. before trying to reconnect. Service problems sometimes occur, and if everyone tries to reconnect every second, the service will not recover quickly.
- Use a durable subscriber - if you want data to be queued in case you disconnect, request a durable subscription when you connect.
Background reading
It may be useful to understand the background to the sources of some of these data feeds. These links will help:
Examples
Example code is available for several common languages:
NOTE: This code has been written by members of the community as a starting point, and may not be a complete solution.