# Amtrak.com API?



## DowneasterPassenger (May 28, 2010)

I'm wondering about 3rd party sites like Amtrak Delays and Amtrak Status Maps.

Do they make use of an API to get that information or "scrape" the Amtrak.com web site?

I thought about trying to write a program that can search for fares, but I wouldn't want to violate the TOU if I tried it:



> Code of ConductWhile using the Site, Materials and/or Software, you agree not to:...
> 
> Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application or other manual or automatic device or process to retrieve, index, “data mine” or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site or its contents;


I suppose you would need a business relationship with Amtrak to develop an idea like that. Or is there some other API that I am not aware of?

Thanks!


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## PRR 60 (May 28, 2010)

I believe the amtrakdelays site uses an automated data retriever, but only gets the specific data that a user requests. If you ask for #4 arriving ABQ, it goes to amtrak.com and gets the five available days of data for #4 at ABQ, and that's it. It saves that data, so if a few days later another #4 ABQ request is made, it gets the new data, and also has the older data stored so it can now show more than five days.

The site does not go to amtrak.com and pull all data everyday. Since they are no more of a burden on amtrak.com than a normal user asking for the arrival data on amtrak.com, they hope Amtrak leaves them alone. So far, that has worked.


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## DowneasterPassenger (May 28, 2010)

PRR 60 said:


> I believe the amtrakdelays site uses an automated data retriever, but only gets the specific data that a user requests. If you ask for #4 arriving ABQ, it goes to amtrak.com and gets the five available days of data for #4 at ABQ, and that's it. It saves that data, so if a few days later another #4 ABQ request is made, it gets the new data, and also has the older data stored so it can now show more than five days.
> The site does not go to amtrak.com and pull all data everyday. Since they are no more of a burden on amtrak.com than a normal user asking for the arrival data on amtrak.com, they hope Amtrak leaves them alone. So far, that has worked.


Thousands of Robot calls to Julie? :lol:


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## DowneasterPassenger (May 28, 2010)

> Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application or other *manual* or automatic device or process to retrieve, index, “data mine” or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site or its contents;


IANAL but that seems a bit strange. If I *manually* access the Amtrak.com web site and get fare info for 5 days in a row, and copy and paste that data to a spreahsheet, then I'm manually retrieving and indexing.

If I paid 30 minimum wage employees in a third world country to do it full time, that would be another thing.


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## Ryan (May 28, 2010)

I'm curious about this as well, I'd like to start scraping the MARC Tracker (http://www.marctracker.com/PublicView/status.html) and compiling on-time stats.


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## John Bobinyec (May 28, 2010)

I'd personally prefer to answer this offline. Send me a note.

John Bobinyec

[email protected]

Amtrak Status Maps


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