SNCB / NMBS smart home integration, free and open source

Unofficial connector: next SNCB trains per station, delays, cancellations and disturbances.

• Published by LM1LC3N7
• Devices
• Version 0.1.1
• Requires Gladys >=5.1.0
• ★ 0

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Unofficial connector, not affiliated with SNCB/NMBS or iRail. It brings the Belgian trains into Gladys through iRail, the community API over the SNCB open data: no account, no key. SNCB/NMBS is a trademark of the Société nationale des chemins de fer belges.

What you get

Surface	Content
One device per watched station	minutes before the next departure, delayed and canceled trains, and for each of the next departures (3 by default): the countdown, the delay and a text line "IC 2514 → Dinant · platform 6 · +4 min"
The SNCB network device	the number of disturbances and planned works, the latest disturbance
Scene triggers	train approaching (1 to 15 minutes before departure), train delayed, canceled or moved (delay of at least 5 to 30 minutes, cancellation, platform change), disturbance published
Scene actions	next departures of a station (list, next train, destination, countdown, delay, platform), disturbances of the network
Dashboard widgets	SNCB departures (one station) and SNCB disturbances (the network, with the SNCB texts and links)

Setup

1. Install the integration. The stations closest to your house (the house location of Gladys) are suggested in Discovery right away: add the ones you use.
2. To watch other stations, type them in Stations to watch, separated by commas: a name (Namur, Brussel-Centraal and Bruxelles-Central both work) or an iRail id (BE.NMBS.008863008). The Search stations button finds the exact names.
3. Optional, per station: a destination filter after @ keeps only the trains going towards these places (Bruxelles-Central@Namur|Dinant), and a custom name after : names the device (...:Train home). Save, then open Discovery again and add the devices.
4. Put the SNCB departures widget on a dashboard and pick a station.

Every watched station is read every 60 seconds (option Refresh interval), the disturbances every 5 minutes. The departures stop being shown once the train has left.

Scenes

• Train approaching: pick the station and the number of minutes; the scene runs when a train of that station reaches the mark. With a destination filter on the station, only your trains count. Variables: the train, the destination, the platform, the delay, the minutes left.
• Train delayed, canceled or moved: pick the station and the event. For "Delayed", also the minimum delay: the scene runs once per train when its delay reaches it, not at every refresh.
• Disturbance published: the SNCB published a new notice. Needs the SNCB network device. Variables: the title, the description, the link.

The action next departures gives {{list}} (one line per train) and {{next_train}}, {{next_destination}}, {{next_minutes}}, {{next_delay}}, {{next_platform}} for a message or a condition; disturbances gives {{count}}, {{titles}} and {{latest}}.

Troubleshooting

• A station is not found: iRail knows the stations by their official names in each language; use Search stations with a part of the name.
• "iRail is unreachable": iRail is a volunteer-run service; it comes back by itself, the integration keeps trying every refresh.
• No departure in the next hour: iRail lists about an hour of departures; small stations may show nothing in the evening.
• Logs: the integration's log level is set with the LOG_LEVEL variable.

Privacy

The integration sends iRail only the station ids it reads. The house location is used inside the integration to pick the nearest stations and never leaves it.

Configuration settings

These are the settings SNCB / NMBS asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.

Setting	Type	Required	Description
Belgian trains in Gladys	section	No	Unofficial connector, not affiliated with SNCB/NMBS or iRail. It reads the public iRail API (no account, no key): one device per watched station with its next departures (train, destination, platform, delay, cancellation), a network device with the current disturbances, scene triggers when a train approaches, is delayed, canceled or changes platform, and two dashboard widgets. The stations closest to your house are suggested in Discovery; add others below.
Stations near my home (suggested in Discovery)	number	No
Stations to watch	string	No	Station names or iRail ids, separated by commas. Optional destination filter after @ (several with |) and custom name after : — e.g. "Namur, Bruxelles-Central@Namur|Dinant:Train home".
Departures per station	number	No	How many upcoming departures each station device exposes as features.
Refresh interval (s)	number	No	How often each watched station is read. iRail is a community service: 60 s is plenty.
Language of the station and disturbance names	select	No
Offer the "SNCB network" device (disturbances)	boolean	No

How to install SNCB / NMBS in Gladys

1. In Gladys, open Integrations: SNCB / NMBS appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
2. Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (ghcr.io/lm1lc3n7/gladys-sncb:0.1.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration).
3. Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
4. You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/LM1LC3N7/gladys-sncb.

SNCB / NMBS requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.

Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.

About external integrations

SNCB / NMBS is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by LM1LC3N7, not by the Gladys core team.

• Browse all external integrations
• Discover the native integrations built into Gladys
• Build and publish your own external integration
• Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation

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