Does it include trains in Northern Ireland?

Not as a rule. The data is Irish Rail’s own, and services within Northern Ireland are run by Northern Ireland Railways. The Dublin to Belfast Enterprise is jointly operated by the two companies.

What is a train code?

Irish Rail’s identifier for one service on one date, so the same timetabled run has a different code on a different day.

Why can a train appear before it has left?

Irish Rail’s running-trains list includes trains due to start within ten minutes of the query, as well as those already between stations.

Irish Rail Live Screensaver

The Irish Rail Live screensaver shows every Irish Rail train currently in motion, gathered key-less by the pipeline: the service, where it just left and how many minutes late it is running. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the Irish Rail Live screensaver works

The background pipeline reads this from Irish Rail and saves a snapshot the saver loads.

Every Irish Rail train currently in motion, gathered key-less by the pipeline: the service, where it just left and how many minutes late it is running..

It refreshes on a schedule, so what you see stays current.

Colours can be changed in settings; nothing is stored beyond your own browser.

Reading Irish Rail's live train messages

Iarnród Éireann, known in English as Irish Rail, operates intercity, commuter and DART services in the Republic of Ireland, with intercity routes mainly radiating from Dublin. It publishes a real-time API, which describes itself as provided as is without support, and the saver draws on its list of running trains. Services within Northern Ireland are run by Northern Ireland Railways, which jointly operates the Dublin to Belfast Enterprise with Irish Rail.

Each train has a TrainCode, which Irish Rail defines as a unique identifier for a single service on a specific date. Its status text is a public message in a fixed layout, for example a code, a departure time and a route such as Waterford to Dublin Heuston, followed by a note of how many minutes late it is running. The direction field names the destination, such as To Limerick, except on a few lines where it simply says Northbound or Southbound.

The running-trains list covers trains travelling between origin and destination plus those due to start within ten minutes, so a train can appear just before it leaves. Each message is the latest status update for that train and is only as fresh as the last report. It is a snapshot of the network at a moment, not a journey planner.

A worked example

Every Irish Rail train currently in motion, gathered key-less by the pipeline: the service, where it just left and how many minutes late it is running.

Settings & tips

Accent and Background recolour the display.
Run automation/run.py irishrail to refresh the feed.
Press ESC to leave fullscreen.

Frequently asked questions

Is this real data?: Yes — it comes from Irish Rail and is refreshed on a schedule.
Is a key needed?: No. This source is fully key-less.
Is it free?: Yes — free, no download, in your browser.
Does it include trains in Northern Ireland?: Not as a rule. The data is Irish Rail’s own, and services within Northern Ireland are run by Northern Ireland Railways. The Dublin to Belfast Enterprise is jointly operated by the two companies.
What is a train code?: Irish Rail’s identifier for one service on one date, so the same timetabled run has a different code on a different day.
Why can a train appear before it has left?: Irish Rail’s running-trains list includes trains due to start within ten minutes of the query, as well as those already between stations.

← All World Live screensavers