Amtrak.js/Amtraker API

Legal Disclaimer

This library and its creator have no relation to Amtrak. Amtrak and the Amtrak Logo are trademarks of The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC).

Headers

When using the Amtraker API, please use a User-Agent that identifies your project. If no User-Agent is provided, your request will be blocked.

Attribution/Licensing

Amtraker API data is licensed under the Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) v1.0. The full license text is available here and a summary is available here. These terms were adopted on August 19th, 2026 at 3:00am America/Chicago. As API documentation is not frequently visited by some, any projects created before this date are given a grace period until October 31, 2026 to be in compliance with attribution requirements.

Attribution Guidance

API/Database

Within the distributed API docs or Database files, the main information file (ie README.md or README.txt) should include attribution to Amtraker in compliance with the ODC-By and linking to https://api.amtraker/docs. If you have any questions regarding this licensing, please email me at [email protected].

Apps/Websites

It is up to where you would like to provide attribution within your app/site, but the following from the ODC-By should be noted:

...You must include a notice associated with the Produced Work reasonably calculated to make any Person that uses, views, accesses, interacts with, or is otherwise exposed to the Produced Work aware that Content was obtained from the Database, Derivative Database, or the Database as part of a Collective Database, and that it is available under this License.

TLDR: it is your responsibility to make sure a user is aware the data is coming from Amtraker. It should be in a prominent position in your app/site, like the home screen or on a startup popup. Link to https://amtraker.com within your attribution. Please note that hiding the attribution within your settings or FAQ is not within compliance of the ODC-By license.

Interactive Maps

Similar to OpenStreetMap, attribution should appear in the bottom right corner, though can be automatically collapsed if the screen is too small or after the user interacts with the map.

Research Papers

Please provide attribution within your sources, linking to https://api.amtraker/docs.

News Articles

Please refer to Apps/Websites. If your article is to be printed, simply stating the information/data came from "Amtraker" along with the "amtraker.com" being printed (ie: Per Amtraker (amtraker.com), train 48 was 4 hours late departing Albany.) will suffice.

Other

If where you're using Amtraker data isn't on this list, please try your best to use personal judgement. If you are unsure, please email me at [email protected] and I'll do my best to get back to you.

Historical Data

Bulk historical location data, starting November 2nd, 2025, is available by request only via [email protected].

Installation

Using NPM:

npm install amtrak

Using Yarn:

yarn add amtrak

Using PNPM:

pnpm add amtrak

CLI Usage

Not complete, check back later.

oEmbed

The Amtraker oEmbed endpoint is https://api.amtraker.com/v3/oembed, following the standard oEmbed Spec.

Functions

Amtrak.js has a pretty basic schema with 4 different functions:

• fetchAllTrains(): Fetches all active Amtrak trains.
• fetchTrain(trainId: string): Fetches a train by its number or ID.
• fetchAllStations(): Fetches metadata for all Amtrak stations.
• fetchStation(stationId: string): Fetches metadata for a station by its ID.

fetchAllTrains()

• Fetches all active Amtrak trains.
• Returns Promise<TrainResponse> where each key is a train number and the value is a list of Train objects.
• Associated endpoint: https://api.amtraker.com/v3/trains

Example

const { fetchAllTrains } = require("amtrak"); // CommonJS
import { fetchAllTrains } from "amtrak"; // ES6

// JS
fetchAllTrains().then((trains) => {
  console.log(trains);
});

// TS
fetchAllTrains().then((trains: TrainResponse) => {
  console.log(trains);
});

fetchTrain(trainId: string)

• Fetches a train by its number or ID.
• Returns Promise<TrainResponse> with a single key (the train number) and the value is a list of Train objects.
  • If a valid Train ID is provided, the value will be a list of length 1.
• If the train number/ID is not found, the promise will resolve with an empty array.
• A train ID is comprised of the train number and the day of the month the train originated.
  • For example, a California Zephyr train (train #5) that originated on 02/09/2023 would have an ID of 5-9;
• Associated endpoint: https://api.amtraker.com/v3/trains/:trainId

Example

const { fetchTrain } = require("amtrak"); // CommonJS
import { fetchTrain } from "amtrak"; // ES6

// JS
fetchTrain("5-9").then((train) => {
  console.log(train);
});

// TS
fetchTrain("5-9").then((train: TrainResponse) => {
  console.log(train);
});

fetchAllStations()

• Fetches metadata for all Amtrak stations.
• Returns Promise<StationResponse> where each key is a station ID and the value is a StationMeta object.
• Associated endpoint: https://api.amtraker.com/v3/stations

Example

const { fetchAllStations } = require("amtrak"); // CommonJS
import { fetchAllStations } from "amtrak"; // ES6

// JS
fetchAllStations().then((stations) => {
  console.log(stations);
});

// TS
fetchAllStations().then((stations: StationResponse) => {
  console.log(stations);
});

fetchStation(stationId: string)

• Fetches metadata for a station by its ID.
• Returns Promise<StationResponse> with a single key (the station ID) and the value is a StationMeta object.
• If the station ID is not found, the promise will resolve with an empty object.
• Associated endpoint: https://api.amtraker.com/v3/stations/:stationId

Example

const { fetchStation } = require("amtrak"); // CommonJS
import { fetchStation } from "amtrak"; // ES6

// JS
fetchStation("CHI").then((station) => {
  console.log(station);
});

// TS
fetchStation("CHI").then((station: StationResponse) => {
  console.log(station);
});

fetchStaleStatus()

• Fetches info on the state of the Amtraker API.
• Returns Promise<StaleStatusResponse>.
• Associated endpoint: https://api.amtraker.com/v3/stale

Example

const { fetchStaleStatus } = require("amtrak"); // CommonJS
import { fetchStaleStatus } from "amtrak"; // ES6

// JS
fetchStaleStatus().then((status) => {
  console.log(status);
});

// TS
fetchStaleStatus().then((status: StaleStatusResponse) => {
  console.log(status);
});

Types

There are a handful of types that are used throughout the library. Below is a list:

Train

interface Train {
  routeName: string; // Name of the train route
  trainNum: string; // Train number
  trainNumRaw: string; // Train number, minus any prefix (ie v for via rail and b for brightline)
  trainID: string; // Train ID
  lat: number; // Latitude of the train
  lon: number; // Longitude of the train
  trainTimely: string; // Deprecated
  iconColor: string; // Calculated icon color for the frontend
  stations: Station[]; // List of stations the train has and will pass through
  heading: string; // Direction the train is heading in the 8 cardinal directions
  eventCode: string; // Upcoming/current station
  eventTZ: string; // Timezone of the upcoming/current station
  eventName: string; // Name of the upcoming/current station
  origCode: string; // Origin station code
  originTZ: string; // Timezone of the origin station
  origName: string; // Name of the origin station
  destCode: string; // Destination station code
  destTZ: string; // Timezone of the destination station
  destName: string; // Name of the destination station
  trainState: string; // Either "Predeparture" or "Active"
  velocity: number; // Speed of the train in MPH
  statusMsg: string; // Status message associated with the train, if any
  createdAt: string; // Timestamp of when the train data was stored in Amtrak's DB
  updatedAt: string; // Timestamp of when the train data was last updated
  lastValTS: string; // Timestamp of when the train data was last received
  objectID: number; // ID of the train data in Amtrak's DB
  provider: string; // The provider of this train, either "Amtrak", "Via", or "Brightline"
  providerShort: string; // A shortened version of `provider`, 4 or less characters, either "AMTK", "VIA", or "BLNE"
  onlyOfTrainNum: boolean; // If this is the only train with its number (IE if there is only a single 3 active)
  alerts: TrainAlert[]; // Array of alerts
}

Train Alert

export interface TrainAlert {
  message: string;
}

Station

interface Station {
  name: string; // Name of the station in plain english
  code: string; // Station code
  tz: string; // Timezone of the station
  bus: boolean; // Whether or not the station is a bus stop
  schArr: string; // Scheduled arrival time
  schDep: string; // Scheduled departure time
  arr: string; // Actual arrival time
  dep: string; // Actual departure time
  arrCmnt: string; // Deprecated
  depCmnt: string; // Deprecated
  platform: string; // Platform name/number, if available
  status: string; // One of "Enroute", "Station", "Departed", or "Unknown"
}

StationMeta

interface StationMeta {
  name: string; // Name of the station in plain english
  code: string; // Station code
  tz: string; // Timezone of the station
  lat: number; // Latitude of the station
  lon: number; // Longitude of the station
  hasAddress: boolean; // Whether or not the station has address data. Usually true for Amtrak, usually false for Via Rail.
  address1: string; // Address line 1 of the station
  address2: string; // Address line 2 of the station, *usually* empty
  city: string; // City of the station
  state: string; // State of the station
  zip: number; // Zip code of the station
  trains: string[]; // List of train IDs that pass through the station
}

TrainResponse

interface TrainResponse {
  [key: string]: Train[];
}

StationResponse

interface StationResponse {
  [key: string]: StationMeta;
}

StaleData

interface StaleData {
  avgLastUpdate: number; // Average time in milliseconds since train data was last updated in Amtrak's database
  activeTrains: number; // Number of trains that are currently active
  stale: boolean; // Whether or not the data is stale
}

Endpoints

As mentioned above in the Functions section, each function is associated with an endpoint. Below is a list of all endpoints used by the library, where the associated function returns the same data as the endpoint, allowing you to use the library with your own HTTP client.

• https://api.amtraker.com/v3/trains
  • Associted with fetchAllTrains()
• https://api.amtraker.com/v3/trains/:trainId
  • Associted with fetchTrain(trainId: string)
• https://api.amtraker.com/v3/stations
  • Associted with fetchAllStations()
• https://api.amtraker.com/v3/stations/:stationId
  • Associted with fetchStation(stationId: string)
• https://api.amtraker.com/v3/stale
  • Associted with fetchStaleStatus()