Configuration

The integration uses an intuitive multi-step setup wizard with autocomplete functionality.

Setup Wizard

When you add the integration, you'll first see a confirmation dialog:

Click OK to start the setup wizard.

Step 1: Select Provider

Choose your transit provider from the descriptive dropdown. Each entry shows the provider's full name and region (e.g. "VRR — Rhein-Ruhr (NRW)" instead of just "vrr"). You can also select the entry type: Departure Monitor, Trip Planner, or Multi-Stop. Trip Planner only works with EFA and OTP2 providers — see the supported providers; other providers are rejected with a message when you pick that entry type.

All 28 providers are available — see the full provider list for details.

Note

Most providers require no API key. Trafiklab (Sweden), NTA (Ireland), and RMV (Frankfurt) require a free API key — you'll be prompted to enter it in the next step.

Step 2: API Key (if required)

For Trafiklab and NTA providers, you'll need to enter your API key.

See the provider-specific documentation for instructions:

• Trafiklab API Key
• NTA API Key

Step 3: Search for Stop

Enter your stop/station name. The integration will search and suggest matching stops.

Tips for better search results:

• Use the "Stop, City" format for precise results (e.g. "Holthausen, Düsseldorf") — the integration splits this into a stop name and city filter automatically
• You can also enter the city name along with the stop name (e.g., "Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof")
• The search is case-insensitive — "karlsruhe hauptbahnhof" works just as well as "Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof"
• For OTP providers (openpublictransport.net, custom OTP2): you can also enter an address or place of interest (e.g. "KIT Karlsruhe") — the integration geocodes it and finds nearby stops automatically
• The search handles typos and umlaut variations automatically
• For Swedish/Irish stops, use local naming conventions

Step 4: Select Stop

If multiple stops match your search, you'll be presented with a list to choose from. Each entry shows:

• Stop name
• City/place (in parentheses)

Step 5: Configure Settings

Setting	Default	Range	Description
Number of departures	10	1-20	How many departures to fetch
Transportation types	All	Multi-select	Filter by transport type
Scan interval	60	10-3600 seconds	How often to update
Use provider logo	Off	On/Off	Show provider logo instead of transport icon

After completing the settings, the integration will create a device with all entities:

The integration will now appear on your Integrations page:

Adding Multiple Stops

To monitor multiple stops:

1. Go to Settings > Devices & Services
2. Find the "Public Transport Departures" integration
3. Click Add Entry
4. Follow the setup wizard again

Each stop will create its own sensor and binary sensor entities.

Adding the Same Stop Twice

You can add one stop more than once — for example one entry for the outbound direction and one for the inbound direction of the same S-Bahn station — as long as the two entries differ in at least one of the line, destination or platform filters.

The filter is appended to the entry title and the device name, so the two are easy to tell apart:

VVS Stuttgart - Vaihingen (→ Plochingen)
VVS Stuttgart - Vaihingen (→ Herrenberg)

Two entries with identical filters, or two unfiltered entries, are still rejected as already configured — there would be nothing to distinguish them.

Note

The filters you set during setup determine the entry's entity IDs, and they stay fixed afterwards. Changing a filter later under Configure takes effect immediately and updates the device name, but deliberately does not rename any entity, so your dashboards and automations keep working. If you want the new filter reflected in the entity IDs too, remove the entry and add it again.

Tip

Entries created before this feature keep their existing entity IDs and their existing device names exactly as they were, even if they have filters configured. Nothing is renamed by upgrading.

Modifying Settings

After initial setup, you can modify settings:

1. Go to Settings > Devices & Services
2. Find your stop entry
3. Click Configure
4. Adjust settings as needed

Tip

You can change:

• Number of departures
• Transportation type filter
• Scan interval
• Provider logo display

Configuration Options Reference

Number of Departures

Controls how many upcoming departures are fetched from the API.

• Minimum: 1
• Maximum: 20
• Recommended: 5-10

Higher values provide more information but increase API usage.

Transportation Types

Filter departures by transport type:

Type	Description
train	All trains (ICE, IC, RE, RB)
subway	Subway/Metro (U-Bahn)
tram	Tram/Streetcar
bus	All bus types
ferry	Ferry services
taxi	Taxi/On-demand

Scan Interval

How often the integration fetches new data from the API.

• Minimum: 10 seconds
• Maximum: 3600 seconds (1 hour)
• Recommended: 60-120 seconds

Warning

Setting very low intervals may trigger rate limiting on some providers.

Use Provider Logo

When enabled, the entity picture shows the provider's logo instead of the dynamic transport type icon.

Departure Filters

Three optional filters narrow the departure list. All are comma-separated, all are applied after the data is fetched, and leaving one empty disables it. When any filter is active the integration fetches a larger raw board so filtered results aren't starved at busy stops.

Filter	Matching	Example
Line filter	Exact line name, case-insensitive	U79, RE5
Destination filter	Substring of the destination, case-insensitive	Duisburg, Airport
Platform filter	Exact platform/track	3, 4

Platform filter

Filtering by platform is often more stable than filtering by destination: the same direction can appear under many different destination strings (shortened names, special services, temporary changes), while the track number usually stays put.

The value is matched against the provider's technical platform identifier — the same value you see in the platform attribute of the departures list. Common labels are stripped before comparing, so 3, Gleis 3 and gleis 3 all match the same track.

Note

At larger stations the same platform number can exist more than once — track 3 for rail and stop position 3 for buses, for example. The filter cannot tell those apart on its own; combine it with the Transportation types selector when the number is ambiguous.

Tip

Not every provider returns platform data. Check the platform attribute of your departures sensor first — if it is empty, this filter will match nothing.