iRail (Belgium) API

Free Belgian rail API with no key: stations, live departures, connections and vehicle tracking for NMBS/SNCB trains, with real-time delays. Tested example.

No API key requiredHTTPSFree tier

Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 20 Aug 2026

What is the iRail (Belgium) API?

iRail is a free, key-free API for Belgian railways, providing station lists, live departure boards, journey connections and individual train tracking for the NMBS/SNCB network, including real-time delay information.

iRail has been running as an open project for well over a decade, wrapping the Belgian railway operator's data in a clean REST interface with real-time delays rather than just scheduled times.

The maintainers ask that you send a descriptive User-Agent identifying your application. This is a volunteer-run service in front of an operator's system, so identifying yourself and caching are genuine courtesies rather than formalities.

Quick facts

Base URL: https://api.irail.be
Authentication: No API key, but a descriptive User-Agent identifying your application is requested.
Rate limit: No published hard limit; the project asks for reasonable use and caching.
Pricing: Free and open source.
CORS: Not enabled — call it from your server
Official docs: Read the docs

How to use the iRail (Belgium) API

Every request below was executed against the live API on 20 Aug 2026, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

1. List Belgian railway stations

GET https://api.irail.be/v1/stations?format=json

curl

curl 'https://api.irail.be/v1/stations?format=json'

JavaScript (fetch)

const res = await fetch("https://api.irail.be/v1/stations?format=json");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Python (requests)

import requests

res = requests.get("https://api.irail.be/v1/stations?format=json", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())

Response — HTTP 200 (truncated)

{
  "version": "1.4",
  "timestamp": "1787176810",
  "station": [
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008400319",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008400319",
      "name": "'s Hertogenbosch",
      "locationX": "5.294278",
      "locationY": "51.69042",
      "standardname": "'s Hertogenbosch"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008015345",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008015345",
      "name": "Aachen Hbf",
      "locationX": "6.105275",
      "locationY": "50.770832",
      "standardname": "Aachen Hbf"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008015199",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008015199",
      "name": "Aachen West",
      "locationX": "6.07055",
      "locationY": "50.78078",
      "standardname": "Aachen West"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008895000",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008895000",
      "name": "Aalst",
      "locationX": "4.039653",
      "locationY": "50.942813",
      "standardname": "Aalst"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008895125",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008895125",
      "name": "Aalst-Kerrebroek",
      "locationX": "4.024407",
      "locationY": "50.948377",
      "standardname": "Aalst-Kerrebroek"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008891140",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008891140",
      "name": "Aalter",
      "locationX": "3.447848",
      "locationY": "51.092295",
      "standardname": "Aalter"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://irail.be/stations/NMBS/008833209",
      "id": "BE.NMBS.008833209",
      "name": "Aarschot",
      "locationX": "4.824043",
      "lo

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`v1/stations`	path	Optional	All stations on the network. `v1/stations`
`v1/liveboard`	path	Optional	Live departures for a station. `v1/liveboard?station=Brussels-Central`
`v1/connections`	path	Optional	Journey planning between two stations. `v1/connections?from=X&to=Y`
`format`	string	Optional	json or xml. Default is XML. `json`
`lang`	string	Optional	nl, fr, en or de. `en`

Response fields

versionstring: API version.
timestampstring: Unix timestamp of the response.
stationarray: Stations with id, name and coordinates.
station[].@idstring: Linked-data URI identifying the station.
station[].locationX / locationYstring: Longitude and latitude, as strings.
(liveboard) departures.departure[].delaystring: Delay in seconds.
(liveboard) departures.departure[].timestring: Scheduled departure as a Unix timestamp.

What you can build with the iRail (Belgium) API

Build a Belgian train departure board
Add journey planning to a travel app
Alert commuters to delays on a specific route
Analyse punctuality across the Belgian network

Common errors and how to fix them

XML instead of JSON

XML is the default format.

Fix: Always pass format=json.

Station name not recognised

Names vary by language.

Fix: Fetch /v1/stations first and use the exact name or the station id.

Coordinates as strings

locationX and locationY are strings.

Fix: Parse before plotting; note locationX is longitude.

iRail (Belgium) API — frequently asked questions

Is the iRail API free?

Yes, free with no API key. The maintainers ask that you send a descriptive User-Agent identifying your application and that you cache responses.

Does it include real-time delays?

Yes, liveboard departures include a delay field in seconds alongside the scheduled time, so it is genuine real-time data.

Why am I getting XML?

XML is the default. Pass format=json on every request.

Which languages are supported?

Dutch, French, English and German, matching Belgium's official languages. Station names differ between them, so specify `lang` consistently.

Tools that pair with this API

JSON Formatter

Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.

Timestamp Converter

Convert timestamps to human-readable dates and dates back to timestamps. Auto-detects seconds vs milliseconds, shows local, UTC and ISO 8601 formats.

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iRail (Belgium) is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 20 Aug 2026; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.