DB Fahrplan API

Name: DB Fahrplan API API
Brand: DB Fahrplan API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentMaps GeolocationRouting DirectionsapiKey4 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Resolve German rail station names, pull live departure and arrival boards, and fetch journey detail records from Deutsche Bahn's timetable API.

Quickstart

Get started with DB Fahrplan API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"find the next departures from a german rail station"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with DB Fahrplan API API.

Resolve a station name to a stop ID via GET /location.name

Retrieve upcoming departures at a stop via GET /departureBoard

Retrieve upcoming arrivals at a stop via GET /arrivalBoard

Pull the full journey detail for a train via GET /journeyDetail

Drive travel apps, expense tools, and rail dashboards with live German rail data

GET STARTED

Start building with DB Fahrplan API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for DB Fahrplan API, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

The DB Fahrplan API is Deutsche Bahn's open timetable interface for the German rail network and connecting European services. The four endpoints cover the canonical journey-planning flow: resolve a station name to a stop ID, retrieve a board of upcoming departures or arrivals at that stop, and pull the detail view for a specific journey. Authentication is a single authKey query parameter. Travel apps, expense tools, and AI travel agents use it to surface live train timetables without operating a dedicated rail-data feed.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use DB Fahrplan API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Travel App Train Lookup

Travel and ticketing apps call DB Fahrplan to surface live train times for users planning journeys across Germany. The flow starts with GET /location.name to convert a station name into a stop ID, then GET /departureBoard to render a board of next trains. Most apps integrate this in a couple of days.

Resolve 'Berlin Hauptbahnhof' to a stop ID via GET /location.name, then call GET /departureBoard for the next 60 minutes and return the next 5 trains

Expense Reconciliation

Travel-expense platforms use GET /journeyDetail to pull canonical Deutsche Bahn route detail (origin, destination, departure time, train number) and reconcile employee-submitted train tickets against the actual scheduled service. This catches typos and date errors before reimbursement and keeps audit logs accurate.

Given an ICE train number and date, call GET /journeyDetail to confirm origin, destination, and departure time match a submitted expense

Station Display Board

Public information displays in offices, hotels, and retail premises near major German stations call GET /departureBoard and GET /arrivalBoard on a polling schedule to surface a live train board for visitors. The simple authKey query parameter keeps the integration trivial to deploy on signage hardware.

Poll GET /departureBoard for stop ID 8011160 (Berlin Hbf) every 60 seconds and render the next 12 trains

AI Travel Agent

AI travel agents booking or advising on German rail journeys call DB Fahrplan through Jentic to confirm specific train times, validate platform numbers, and resolve station names mentioned in user messages. Jentic isolates the authKey in its vault, so the agent only handles stop IDs and timestamps.

Given the user query 'next ICE from Berlin to Munich', resolve both stations via GET /location.name, then return the next direct ICE departure with platform and arrival time

Key Endpoints

4 endpoints — the db fahrplan api is deutsche bahn's open timetable interface for the german rail network and connecting european services.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/location.name

Resolve a station name to a Deutsche Bahn stop ID

GET

/departureBoard

Live upcoming departures at a stop

GET

/arrivalBoard

Live upcoming arrivals at a stop

GET

/journeyDetail

Detail for a specific train journey

GET

/location.name

Resolve a station name to a Deutsche Bahn stop ID

GET

/departureBoard

Live upcoming departures at a stop

GET

/arrivalBoard

Live upcoming arrivals at a stop

GET

/journeyDetail

Detail for a specific train journey

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

DB Fahrplan authKey query parameter values are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents receive scoped access tokens — the raw authKey never enters the agent's context or appears in request URLs in logs.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g. 'find the next train from a German station' or 'resolve a station name') and Jentic returns matching DB Fahrplan operations with their input schemas, so the agent runs the resolve-then-board flow without browsing the DB Open Data portal.

Time to first call

Direct DB Fahrplan integration: a few hours for authKey handling, station resolution, and board parsing. Through Jentic: under 30 minutes — search, load schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Transport for London

TfL exposes live London transport data with a similar arrivals/departures shape but for London modes.

Choose TfL for London transport data; choose DB Fahrplan for German national rail.

Alternative

Transit

Transit aggregates real-time public transport data across many cities globally.

Choose Transit for cross-city transit aggregation; choose DB Fahrplan when you need authoritative German rail timetable data direct from the operator.

Complementary

HERE Maps

HERE provides geocoding and routing for the legs around a train journey (taxi, walk, drive).

Use HERE for the door-to-station legs of a trip; use DB Fahrplan for the rail segment in between.

FAQs

Specific to using DB Fahrplan API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the DB Fahrplan API use?

DB Fahrplan uses an API key passed as the authKey query parameter on every request. Through Jentic, the authKey is stored encrypted in the MAXsystem vault, so AI travel agents never handle the raw secret in URLs.

Can I get live German train times with the DB Fahrplan API?

Yes. GET /departureBoard and GET /arrivalBoard return live upcoming departures and arrivals at a Deutsche Bahn stop. Resolve the stop ID first via GET /location.name.

What are the rate limits for the DB Fahrplan API?

Deutsche Bahn does not publish hard per-key rate limits in this spec; the open API portal asks integrators to be considerate with polling cadence. For high-frequency display boards, contact DB Open Data for a partnership-grade key.

How do I look up the next train between two stations through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'find departures from a German rail station', load the GET /departureBoard operation, and execute it with the resolved stop ID. Resolve the station name to an ID first via GET /location.name. Jentic injects the authKey automatically.

Does the DB Fahrplan API include ticket prices or booking?

No. This is a timetable and journey detail surface only — for fares, ticket purchase, and seat reservation, use a separate Deutsche Bahn product such as the bahn.de buchung flow.

Does the DB Fahrplan API cover services outside Germany?

It covers the German rail network and integrated cross-border services (e.g. ICE to Switzerland, France, Austria) where Deutsche Bahn carries the timetable. Pure foreign-operator services are not covered.