Fares lookup websites that are similar to BR Fares for other countries.

[swt class 450]

Does anyone know of any similar website to - http://www.brfares.com/#home - for any other countries? Is such a website available in any other countries? I am basically looking for websites where you can simply enter where you are travelling from and where you are travelling to (without having to put in a date and time) and it will show you what the normal on the day fares are. Most websites i find for other countries are basically journey planners which require you to put in dates and times to find out the fares and often those fares are special advance tickets. So i am just looking for simple fares lookup websites like what - http://www.brfares.com/#home - currently offers on theirs. Many thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Groningen]

There are no reduced ticket when bought in advance. There is a discountcard after 9 and not between 16 and 18.30. Cost 52 euro a year and you can have 3 persons extra with you. Prices are on www.NS.nl and go for the English flag.

 

[Quakkerillo]

For Belgium, you just go to https://www.belgiantrain.be/en and act as if you're buying your ticket. Start on the left, choose plan your journey, and subsequently "Buy train ticket". Then on the next screen click 'choose your tickets' (don't choose "see a list of al products" as that just lists *ALL* ticket types that exist in Belgium, not for your journey per se). Below the first few ticket options that show up now, select "show more tickets" and you get to see all options for that journey.
This only works for journeys within Belgium and to selected cross-border stations (Roosendaal, Aachen/Aix-la-Chapelle, Maastricht). And you can't buy tickets for ICE/Thalys journeys within Belgium (Brussels-Antwerp/Liège) or to 'Germany' (Brussels/Liège-Aachen).

 

[radamfi]

The only reason we have a need for brfares.com is because there are so many different ticket types. Other countries don't really need such a website.

 

[paddington]

The only reason we have a need for brfares.com is because there are so many different ticket types. Other countries don't really need such a website.

BRFares uses simple fast scripts and a clutter-free interface that load quickly. I can nearly instantly find out the fares between two GB stations with 12 key presses once I know the station codes. Even bahn.de which is pretty good requires a minimum of 30 key presses (fewer if I use the mouse), and you have to at least change the time otherwise it will tell you the train is in the past, and it takes 2-3 seconds to load.

I suppose the actual question is which countries release their fare data in a public format such that a developer could make a site like BRFares?

(Also brfares.com doesn't use HTTPS so it is my current go-to page when wifi signin pages don't work... hope they get some money from the ads when I do this )

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Some countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, still have distance-based fares, and the table will be buried in their web site somewhere.
But then they have supplements for this, that and the other, mandatory seat reservations etc, so it's no easier than here really.
Foreign railways tend to discriminate between train types more than we do.
eg knowing the TER fare from Nice to Marseille won't help you if a TGV shows up.
Most discounted tickets are on a quota basis like our advances, so you can't guarantee what they will be on a particular day.
Most city regions have their own zonal fare systems, separate from the national operator.
Plus an increasing number of open access operators with their own rules.

 

[swt class 450]

Thanks for the replies. I think that one of the main advantages of BR Fares is just how quick it is as paddington has said. I can easily find a fare in about ten seconds using that website. That is why it would be good to see websites like this for other countries.

 

[krus_aragon]

The only reason we have a need for brfares.com is because there are so many different ticket types. Other countries don't really need such a website.

BRFares uses simple fast scripts and a clutter-free interface that load quickly. I can nearly instantly find out the fares between two GB stations with 12 key presses once I know the station codes. Even bahn.de which is pretty good requires a minimum of 30 key presses (fewer if I use the mouse), and you have to at least change the time otherwise it will tell you the train is in the past, and it takes 2-3 seconds to load.

The venerable https://traintimes.org.uk/ is a good example of this. It was originally designed to scrape National Rail Enquiries for accessibility reasons (long before the days of "open data"), but it also makes for a quick, lightweight interface. I see no reason why that kind of approach couldn't be repeated overseas.

Admittedly, it's not exactly the kind of fare lookup website that the OP was looking for.

 

[dutchflyer]

There is not, or not that I am aware of, and most likely becse its a British problem as such, as explained above how most other countries railways work.

 

[Groningen]

In the Netherlands there is only 1 operator per line. Price is full or with 40 % discount in the quiet hours.

 

[Quakkerillo]

Not true per se. Arnhem-Doetinchem has 2 (Breng and Arriva), and the part of this Arnhem-Zevenaar even 3 operators (add Abellio NRW, although all on the same tarrif scheme). Enschede-Almelo (Intercity) and Almelo-Wierden (local services) have two operators (NS and Blauwnet), as does Arnhem-Elst (NS and Arriva). Lastly also the Groningen - Groningen Europapark with NS and Arriva. And these have different fares on the same route depending on the operator.

 

[Groningen]

But the pricedifference between between 2 same stations with 2 different operators will be not that large to worry about.