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What is the GB Rail Distance API?

The GB Rail Distance API calculates the distance between any two National Rail stations in Great Britain using the operational rail network - not just a straight line on a map. It follows the actual line-of-route station chain, making it suitable for both distance lookups and as a routing guide in applications that need to display or validate the intermediate stations along the journey.

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Whether you’re building a journey planner, estimating emissions, generating ticket logic, or modelling transport performance, this API provides a trusted backbone for accurate route data.

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Unlike generic geodesic calculations, it uses official route topology, ensuring precise outputs for planning, pricing, and sustainability tools.

The distance between Looe and Lostwithiel is: 

  • 34 km

  • 21 miles

The journey travels via Sandplace, Causeland, St Keyne, Coombe (Cornwall), Liskeard, and Bodmin Parkway. 

How it works

The Distance API measures the station-to-station path between two stations.

API endpoints include:

  • The route-based distances in km and miles

  • Includes the full station path along the journey

Example: For a journey from Reston (RSN) to Haymarket (HYM):

  • Distance: 77.09 km / 47.9 miles 

  • Train path: RSN - DUN - ELT - DRM - LND - PST - WAF - MUB - EDB - HYM

The intermediate stations listed are those along the geographic rail path, not the scheduled rail service. This feature allows for more exact distance calculations using more granular waypoints.

Who it’s for

Journey planning & mapping platforms: Display realistic rail routes between any two stations, complete with intermediate stations along the official line of route - not just a straight line on a map

Disruption & travel information tools: Use the station sequence to visualise affected segments, helping passengers understand detours or closures

AI assistants & chatbots

Answer natural-language questions such as “How far is Leeds to London by train?” or “Show me the route between Birmingham and Brighton”

Transport consultants & planning teams:

Model corridor lengths, infrastructure usage, or route options

Fare calculators & retail platforms:

Support journey validation

This API supports the principle of using best-available data where it exists and makes it easy to compare routes.

Try it or subscribe

Available to subscribe accessed via CRS origin and destination stations.

DataWharf feeds are available via the Rail Data Marketplace with subscription offers tailored to suit rail industry organisations as well as general users. Full details are available on each product listing via the links below. Contact us to discuss bespoke packages.

Subscribe

Full access available through a license and usage credit model.

Discover

Try it Free

Limited access to this feed available with a capped volume test.

Explore more with DataWharf

The GB Rail Carbon Calculator works best when combined with other DataWharf APIs.

Popular combinations include:

Carbon Calculator - providing route-based carbon emissions for any passenger rail journey on the Great Britain rail network.

Find out more

Station Details - support multimodal journey planning, including station identifiers, active travel and comprehensive insights on passenger facilities.

Find out more

Fuzzy Station Search - to help users search for journey  origin or destination stations even if they input inaccurate or incomplete spellings.

Find out more

Explore our suite of APIs or contact us to discuss a custom bundle for your use case.

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