SBB Open Data MCP Server

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An Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) open data via data.sbb.ch. No API key required.

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What is this?

This server connects AI models (Claude, GPT-4, Llama, etc.) directly to public SBB data — no copy-pasting or manual API calls required. A question like "How many passengers passed through Zürich HB every day in 2024?" is answered with real measured data.

The server is model-agnostic and works with any MCP-compatible client.

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Available Tools (10)

Tool	Description	Data Update
sbb_get_passenger_frequency	Boardings/alightings by station and year (daily avg.)	Annual
sbb_get_rail_disruptions	Live rail traffic messages	Every 5 min.
sbb_get_infrastructure_construction_projects	Infrastructure construction (stations, lines)	Ongoing
sbb_get_real_estate_projects	SBB real estate development projects	Daily
sbb_get_trains_per_segment	Train counts per route segment (SBB, BLS, SOB …)	Annual
sbb_get_platform_data	Platform data (length, type, area)	Ongoing
sbb_get_rolling_stock	Rolling stock (capacity, year built)	Ongoing
sbb_compare_stations	Compare up to 10 stations (multi-dataset)	–
sbb_search_stations	Search stops (Swiss DiDok register, all CH)	Ongoing
sbb_list_datasets	List all ~89 SBB open datasets	–

All tools support response_format: "markdown" (human-readable) and "json" (machine-readable), plus pagination.

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Installation

Prerequisites

Install uv:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Claude Desktop (stdio)

Open the config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sbb-opendata": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["sbb-opendata-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The server is downloaded automatically on first use.

Other MCP Clients

Works with Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code + Continue, LibreChat, Cline and self-hosted models via mcp-proxy — same configuration as above.

Cloud Deployment (Streamable HTTP)

For remote servers (e.g. Render.com):

git clone https://github.com/malkreide/sbb-opendata-mcp
cd sbb-opendata-mcp
pip install -e .
python -m sbb_opendata_mcp.server --http --port 8000

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/malkreide/sbb-opendata-mcp
cd sbb-opendata-mcp
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Unit tests (no network required)
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/ -v -m "not live"

# Live API smoke tests
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/ -v -m live

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Example Queries

"How many people boarded at Zürich HB daily in 2024?"
→ sbb_get_passenger_frequency(station_name="Zürich HB", year="2024")

"Are there any current disruptions on the Swiss rail network?"
→ sbb_get_rail_disruptions(limit=10)

"Compare Zürich HB, Bern and Basel SBB by passenger frequency and platform capacity."
→ sbb_compare_stations(stations=["Zürich HB", "Bern", "Basel SBB"], year="2024")

"Which SBB construction projects are active in Zürich?"
→ sbb_get_infrastructure_construction_projects(city="Zürich")

"How many trains run daily on the Zürich–Winterthur route?"
→ sbb_get_trains_per_segment(line_name="Zürich", operator="SBB", year="2025")

"Which stops exist in Wädenswil?"
→ sbb_search_stations(query="Wädenswil", canton="ZH")

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Data & License

All data is sourced from the SBB Open Data Portal (OpenDataSoft REST API v2.1).
Data license: NonCommercialAllowed-CommercialAllowed-ReferenceRequired

This server is released under the MIT License and is part of the open source MCP portfolio at github.com/malkreide.

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Relationship to Other MCP Servers

Server	How SBB Open Data Complements It
swiss-transport-mcp	Historical depth: passenger context for real-time timetable queries
swiss-road-mobility-mcp	Multimodal view: rail hub + micromobility/EV charging
zurich-opendata-mcp	Cross-reference: Zurich stops combined with city population and school data

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Technical Details

• Framework: FastMCP + httpx + Pydantic v2
• Transport: stdio (local) and Streamable HTTP (cloud)
• Python: 3.11, 3.12, 3.13
• Tests: 34 unit tests + 5 live API smoke tests
• API: OpenDataSoft REST v2.1 — no authentication needed