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openpublictransport (Deutschland, Community Server)

Community Server

This provider uses a community-hosted OTP2 server at api.openpublictransport.net, backed by gtfs.de data (CC 4.0, Germany-wide). An API key is required — request one here.

The openpublictransport provider gives you Germany-wide real-time departures for all transit modes — S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Bus, Tram, Regional, IC/ICE — from a single unified endpoint. Static GTFS data is rebuilt weekly (every Sunday night) from gtfs.de and enriched with GTFS-RT realtime delays every 30 seconds from VBB, VRR, VRS, VRN, VVO, VBN, NVBW, DEFAS Bayern, VAG Nürnberg, Stadtwerke Münster, and more.

Coverage Area

  • All of Germany (461 agencies, 437 000+ stops)
  • Data source: gtfs.de Germany Full feed (CC 4.0)
  • Realtime: realtime.gtfs.de GTFS-RT (VRR, BSVG, NWL, MVV, S-Bahn Berlin, and more)

API Details

Property Value
Server https://api.openpublictransport.net/otp/routers/default
GraphQL Endpoint https://api.openpublictransport.net/otp/gtfs/v1
API Type OTP2 GraphQL
API Key Yes — request free key
Timezone Europe/Berlin
Data Source gtfs.de CC 4.0 + GTFS-RT
GTFS Refresh Weekly (Sunday ~2:00 AM) + Realtime every 30s
Maintenance Every Sunday ~2:00–3:30 AM Europe/Berlin (~80 min offline)

Scheduled Maintenance

The community server rebuilds its routing graph every Sunday at approximately 2:00 AM (Europe/Berlin). During this window (roughly 80 minutes), the API is completely offline.
Schedule Every Sunday, ~2:00 AM Europe/Berlin
Duration ~80 minutes (graph rebuild ~57 min + loading ~20 min)
Impact API unreachable; sensors show connection errors
After rebuild Fresh weekly GTFS data, realtime resumes within seconds

Tip

If you have Home Assistant automations that run on Sunday mornings, schedule them after 4:00 AM to ensure the API is back online.

Transport Types

OTP2 Mode Type Description
RAIL train Regional and long-distance trains (RE, RB, IC, ICE)
SUBWAY subway U-Bahn
TRAM tram Tram / Straßenbahn
BUS bus All bus services
FERRY ferry Ferry
COACH bus Coach / express bus

Configuration

Getting an API Key

  1. Go to openpublictransport.net/api-key
  2. Enter your name, email, and a brief description of your use case
  3. You will receive a key by email within a few hours

Setup Steps

  1. In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Integrations → Add Integration
  2. Search for Public Transport Departures
  3. Select Entry Type: Abfahrtsanzeige / Departure Monitor
  4. Select Provider: Deutschland — Community Server (api.openpublictransport.net, API Key)
  5. Enter your API key
  6. Search for your stop (see stop search tips below)
  7. Configure departure count, transport types, and scan interval

Stop Search Tips

The gtfs.de feed stores VRR/NRW stops with a city prefix. The integration handles this automatically — just search naturally:

What you type What it searches
Elbruchstraße Tries Elbruchstraße, then all city prefixes in parallel → finds D-Elbruchstraße
Düsseldorf Elbruchstraße Detects city → searches D-Elbruchstraße directly
Elbruchstraße, Düsseldorf Detects city → searches D-Elbruchstraße directly
Hauptbahnhof Found directly (no prefix needed)
Hamburg Hbf Detects no prefix needed, found directly

Tip

For NRW stops (VRR area), entering the city name together with the stop name (e.g. Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof) gives the fastest result.

Multi-Platform Stop Merging

GTFS stores one entry per platform/direction. The integration automatically groups stops by name and creates compound IDs (gtfsde:537545|gtfsde:568685). When fetching departures, all platforms are queried in parallel and merged — the sensor shows a complete view of the station.

Lovelace Card

The openpublictransport-card provides four layouts for visualizing departure data:

Layout Best for
table Classic departure board — all departures at a glance
compact Space-efficient chip view for dense dashboards
next Single large "next departure" widget for quick glance
trip Multi-leg A→B journey planning display

Line badge colors are applied automatically — the openpublictransport provider returns line_color and line_text_color for many lines (e.g., VBB Berlin, where U-Bahn lines show their official colors).

Card-side line filter — the card's line_filter option lets you show only specific lines per card instance, independently of the integration's own line filter:

type: custom:openpublictransport-card
entity: sensor.dusseldorf_hbf_departures
layout: table
line_filter: "U79, U75"   # show only U79 and U75 in this card

Tip

The integration's line_filter (set during HA config) reduces API load for all entities from that stop. The card's line_filter is purely visual — use it to show different subsets of the same sensor in multiple cards.

Self-Hosting

You can run your own OTP2 instance with gtfs.de data using the Docker image:

docker pull ghcr.io/nerdysoftpaw/otp-gtfsde:latest

See github.com/NerdySoftPaw/otp-gtfsde for the full setup guide. Once running, use the OTP2 Custom provider instead and point it at your server.

Realtime Data

The community server polls realtime.gtfs.de/realtime-free.pb every 30 seconds (update frequency on the source side: every 10 s). This single aggregated feed combines data from the following regional providers:

Verbund / Provider Region Modes
VBB Berlin & Brandenburg All modes
VRR Rhein-Ruhr (NRW) All modes (bus partially)
VRS Rhein-Sieg (Köln/Bonn) All modes
VRN / RNN Rhein-Neckar Local transit
VVO Dresden & Chemnitz (Oberelbe) All modes
VBN Bremen, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein All modes
NVBW Baden-Württemberg All modes (bus partially)
DEFAS Bayern Bavaria (incl. MVV, S-Bahn München) All modes
VAG Nürnberg Nürnberg city Urban transit
Stadtwerke Münster Münster city Local transit
opentransportdata.swiss Baden-Württemberg / Swiss border Cross-border
OVapi Netherlands / German border Cross-border
DELFI SIRI feeds Various states Multiple regions

Note

Realtime coverage depends on what each Verbund contributes to the feed. If your stop shows no delays, the operator may not yet provide GTFS-RT data. Scheduled departure times are always available regardless of realtime coverage.

See gtfs.de/de/realtime for the full feed list and licensing details.

Troubleshooting

API Offline on Sunday Morning

If all sensors fail with connection errors on Sunday between 2:00–4:00 AM (Europe/Berlin), this is the scheduled weekly maintenance window. No action needed — the API recovers automatically after ~80 minutes.

HTTP 401

Your API key is invalid or not passed. Make sure you:

  1. Entered the key in the integration setup step (not left blank)
  2. Deleted and re-added the integration if you previously added it without a key

No Stops Found

  • Try entering the city name together with the stop: Köln Hbf instead of Hbf
  • Some very small stops may not be in the GTFS feed
  • Check openpublictransport.net for server status

No Departures

The stop exists but shows no departures:

  • The stop may be a platform-only ID — try searching again to pick the compound stop
  • Check if the stop has service at the current time
  • Night / low-frequency service may not appear within the default time window