- name
- rail-cli
- description
- UK National Rail CLI — live departures, arrivals, station search, destination filtering, batch station search from stdin, and lightweight field selection for agents. Use when checking UK rail boards, resolving station names/CRS codes, filtering departures or arrivals, or when an agent needs machine-friendly station search via
rail search --stdinorrail search --select. - homepage
- https://rail-cli.xyz
- metadata
rail-cli
Use rail for UK National Rail data: live departures, arrivals, station search, destination filtering, and agent-friendly batch search.
Setup
npm install -g @shan8851/rail-cli- Get a free Darwin access token: https://realtime.nationalrail.co.uk/OpenLDBWSRegistration/Registration
export DARWIN_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_tokenor add to.env- Station search works without a token. Departures and arrivals require one.
Departures
- From a station:
rail departures KGX - By station name:
rail departures "kings cross" - Filter to destination:
rail departures "edinburgh" --to "york" - Include calling points:
rail departures KGX --expand - Limit results:
rail departures KGX --limit 5
Arrivals
- At a station:
rail arrivals "leeds" - By CRS code:
rail arrivals LDS - Filter from origin:
rail arrivals "leeds" --from "london" - Include calling points:
rail arrivals LDS --expand - Limit results:
rail arrivals LDS --limit 5
Station Search
- Search by name:
rail search "waterloo" - Return only CRS codes:
rail search "waterloo" --select crs - Return only names:
rail search "waterloo" --select name - Return explicit name + CRS projection:
rail search "waterloo" --select name,crs - Batch search from stdin: `printf "waterloo\
victoria\ " | rail search --stdin`
- Batch search as JSON: `printf "waterloo\
victoria\ " | rail search --stdin --json`
Output
- All commands default to text in TTY, JSON when piped
- Force JSON:
rail departures KGX --json - Force text:
rail departures KGX --text - Disable colour:
rail --no-color departures KGX - Success envelope:
{ ok, schemaVersion, command, requestedAt, data } - Error envelope:
{ ok, schemaVersion, command, requestedAt, error }
Agent Notes
rail search --stdinis pipeline-only and expects newline-delimited queries on stdinrail search --selectis intentionally narrow:name,crs, orname,crsrail search --stdinand a positional query cannot be used together- Search output stays stable unless projection flags are explicitly used
- Errors are structured and suitable for agent retry/self-correction
Configuration
DARWIN_ACCESS_TOKEN— required for departures/arrivals (free registration)RAIL_API_URL— optional, override Huxley2 instance URL (default: public instance)
Notes
- Accepts station names ("kings cross", "leeds") and CRS codes (
KGX,LDS,EDB) - CRS codes are 3-letter station identifiers
- Covers every National Rail station in Great Britain
- Data powered by National Rail Darwin via Huxley2
- Exit codes: 0 success, 2 bad input or ambiguity, 3 upstream failure, 4 internal error
- When a station name is ambiguous, the error includes candidate suggestions