Irish Rail Realtime Scraper

Irish Rail Realtime Scraper

Scrape Irish Rail real-time train data from any station, route, or direction, up to a million trains per run. Every train comes with its scheduled and expected times, origin, destination, and status. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Irish Rail's official API needs a developer account and rate-limits you. This reads the public real-time train feeds directly, filtered by direction, and returns each train in one fixed schema. Get live departure boards, station activity, and route status without writing a line of code.

Who uses it	What they scrape Irish Rail for
Commuters	Check if their train is on time before leaving home
Travel app developers	Power a live departure board for Irish stations
Transport researchers	Analyze punctuality patterns across routes
Station staff	Monitor incoming trains and platform assignments

What it does

This Actor collects real-time Irish Rail train data by direction and returns each train as a flat row.

• 🚆 Real-time status: scheduled vs expected times, origin, destination, and current status for every train.
• 🧭 Direction filter: collect only Northbound or Southbound trains, or leave it blank for all directions.
• 📊 Flat rows: each train is one row, ready for spreadsheets, databases, or dashboards.
• ⚡ No API key: reads the public feeds directly, no registration or OAuth.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Irish Rail data

🚉 Build a live departure board.

A developer runs the Actor every minute for a specific direction and feeds the rows into a station display or mobile app.

📈 Track punctuality trends.

A transport researcher collects a week of trains and compares scheduled vs expected times to identify delay hotspots.

🔔 Alert commuters.

A hobbyist schedules the Actor before rush hour and sends a notification when a train is delayed or cancelled.

🗺️ Map train movements.

A data journalist scrapes all trains for a day and plots origins and destinations to visualize network load.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
Live departure boards	Build a real-time display for any station or route
Punctuality analysis	Compare scheduled vs actual times across days
No code needed	Run from the Apify console or API with one click

How it compares

This Actor focuses on real-time train status, while the competitor below also covers fares and schedules.

Feature	ParseForge	Irish Rail Scraper - Train Fares & Schedules
Real-time train status	Yes	Yes
Direction filter	Yes	Not listed
Train fares	Not listed	Yes
Train schedules	Not listed	Yes
No login required	Yes	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a direction filter and a maximum number of trains, and filters run as each train is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.85
1,000 results	$8.50
10,000 results	$85.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Irish Rail Realtime Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Irish Rail through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/irishrail-realtime-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your direction filter. If you selected Northbound or Southbound, there may be no trains currently running in that direction. Try setting it to Any and increasing the maximum number of trains.

Why are the times in a different timezone?

The feed returns times in Irish local time (Europe/Dublin). Convert to your timezone if needed.

Why did the run fail with a timeout?

The upstream feed may be slow. Try increasing the timeout in the Actor's run settings or reducing the maximum number of trains.

Why are some trains missing?

The feed only includes trains that are currently active or expected soon. Trains that have already departed may not appear. Run more frequently to capture all trains.

Can I get historical data?

This Actor only returns current real-time data. To build historical records, schedule regular runs and store the results.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need an Irish Rail API key?	No. This Actor reads the public real-time feeds directly, so no registration or key is required.
What data does each train row include?	Each row includes scheduled and expected times, origin, destination, direction, and current status. The exact fields are listed in the sample output.
Can I filter by station or route?	The input schema currently supports filtering by direction only. You can filter by station or route after export using tools like Excel or a database.
How many trains can I collect?	You can set the maximum number of trains per run, up to 1,000,000. The default is 10.
How often should I run the Actor?	For live data, schedule it every minute or every few minutes. The feed updates frequently, so more frequent runs give fresher data.
What formats can I export to?	You can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify console or API.
Is this legal to scrape?	Irish Rail provides public real-time data feeds for public use. Always check the website's terms of service and respect rate limits.
Can I run this on a schedule?	Yes, you can set up a recurring schedule in Apify to run the Actor automatically at intervals you choose.
What is the difference between this and the Irish Rail Scraper - Train Fares & Schedules?	That Actor focuses on fares and schedules, while this one focuses on real-time train status. Use this for live departure and arrival data.
Does this work for DART, Commuter, and Intercity trains?	Yes, the real-time feed covers all Irish Rail services, including DART, Commuter, and Intercity.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Iarnród Éireann. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.