bahn.de API failure / fahrplan2 from chum

[ehdis]

Version: fahrplan2 2.0.46 installed from chum

It seems that bahn.de changed the API. The application can not query the API anymore (since ~Jan2025).

Error message: "Mit der Datenquelle ist ein Fehler aufgetreten"

Can you confirm this?

[poetaster]

Yup. The old binary apis are finally dead. A very sad thing. I'm working on the new apis.

[RaphaelWimmer]

FWIW (also for others stumbling across this issue):

The new DB alternative seems to be the 'vendo' APIS. More info: https://github.com/public-transport/db-vendo-client/blob/main/docs/db-apis.md.

Implementations in other programming languages: https://github.com/public-transport/db-vendo-client , https://github.com/emmaboecker/railboard-api

However, maybe we should have a look at adding MOBY as a backend, the journey planner for Bavaria. Unlike some other journey planners, it does not link to a Hafas API but uses an unauthenticated HTTP API that seems to follow the EFA API but returns JSON-encoded trip information (seems to be called "rapidJSON"). (Some slides on EFA-JSON API). (The bwegt journey planner for Baden-Württemberg also seems to use the same API and data - they also explicitly mention that they include data from Austria, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.)
The current EFA backend in fahrplan only parses XML responses and would need to be extended.

Based on a few experiments, it seems that MOBY knows about trains stations and bus stops in all of Germany, some international trains stations, and POIs in Bavaria and some other places. It also can resolve arbitrary addresses.

There does not seem to be any info about acceptable use or rate limits for the MOBY backend.

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There is also TRIAS, an XML API standard that seems to be supported by many local transport providers in Germany:

• https://www.vdv.de/vdv-431-2-ekap-schnittstellenbeschreibung.pdfx
• e.g. https://www.bayerninfo.de/datenangebot/daten-oev

However, I think that there is no public, authentication-less API.

(Links to all journey planners offered by the federal states in Germany - most of them seem to use a HAFAS backend that does not know about bus stops in other parts of Germany.

[poetaster]

I'm currently working on a moc using https://api.transitous.org/ Which uses motis as a backend. The main reason is that it supports many transport providers around the world.

Initial test with German data are very promising. My approach is to reuse the fahrplan QML to see if I get to a cross-border system that has anything like accuracy. Simple tests in Germany have been promising. But I know that real time delay information, for instance, is missing for England.

[RaphaelWimmer]

Yes, Transitous looks cool. But AFAIK, Transitous does not currently offer real-time information about delays/cancellations. That makes it rather useless for commuters who want to know whether their bus/train is on time (e.g., me).