Making sense of mobility
What is the GB Rail Fuzzy Station Search?
An API that helps users find the right station — even when they don’t know how to spell it.
It removes a common barrier in digital travel tools: needing exact station input before a digital journey can begin.
Designed to reduce digital friction in journey planning, the Fuzzy Station Search API takes in partial, inaccurate, or misspelt station names and returns high-confidence matches from the GB rail network. It’s built with inclusivity in mind: helping voice assistants, users with dyslexia, tourists, and those unfamiliar with UK geography to navigate confidently.
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Results include the official station name, its CRS code, and postcode - all ranked by relevance.
How it works
The API uses AI-powered fuzzy matching logic to handle inaccurate or partial inputs, offering suggested close match stations which the user can choose to continue their journey planning. In many current journey planners and travel information sites, the user must enter either the exact station spelling or the correct start to the spelling for an auto-complete list to appear.
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For example, a search input like "lester" returns LEI - Leicester, even if spelled phonetically or mistyped.
DataWharf's Fuzzy Station Search can provide suggested close match either as an option to auto-complete or if no valid station is found at upon submitting their desired station.
Users can customise results by adjusting:
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The search pool of stations
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The number of results preferred (top 5 or 10 matches etc)
​​​The result includes:
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Close match station names and CRS
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Station postcodes to support geofencing of results
Example: a user types burminham, and selects up to 10 results.
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GB Rail Fuzzy Station Search offers these close match stations:
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BSW, Birmingham Snow Hill, B3 2BJ / BHM, Birmingham New Street, B2 4QA / BMO, Birmingham Moor Street, B4 7UL / BHI, Birmingham International, B40 1PA / BIN, Bingham, NG13 8TF / BNM, Burnham (Buckinghamshire), SL1 6JT / UNI, University (Birmingham), B15 2AG / HIG, Highbridge & Burnham, TA9 3BT / BAA, Barnham, PO22 0ER / HSD, Hamstead (Birmingham), B42 1NJ​
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Unlike many standard station lookup tools, this API avoids returning grouped “All Stations” entries like London (All Stations). Instead, it surfaces specific, usable station names, helping ensure compatibility with other journey planning APIs.
Who it’s for
The Fuzzy Station Search API is designed for products that aim to make transport usable, inclusive, and accessible.
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Helping make journey planning feel human
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The Fuzzy Station Search API removes a common yet invisible barrier in digital journey planning: the need to spell and enter a station name perfectly. By handling misspellings, phonetic guesses, and unfamiliar terms, this product empowers a wider range of travellers to get the right result quickly, and without second-guessing their input.
Inclusive journey planning apps serving users with dyslexia, visual impairments, or lower digital confidence
Voice assistants and chatbot interfaces that rely on natural language input and speech-to-text
Tourism and hospitality platforms helping international visitors navigate unfamiliar networks
Retail and transport brands that want to reduce input friction and prevent user drop-off
Developers building next-gen mobility platforms that value adaptability over precision typing
Public sector journey tools and mapping platforms aiming to meet digital accessibility obligations under WCAG or the Equality Act
The Fuzzy Station Search helps organisations meet their legal and ethical obligations around digital inclusion and equal access.
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Making digital tools more accessible isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s often the legal thing to do.
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Equality Act 2010
Helps meet duties to make reasonable adjustments and avoid indirect discrimination, especially for users with dyslexia, cognitive conditions, or limited digital confidence.
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Public Sector Accessibility Regulations (2018)
Supports compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards by allowing error-tolerant input and improving usability for assistive technologies and voice interfaces.
Inclusive Procurement Standards
Aligns with best practice guidance such as BSI PAS 1899 and TfL’s Digital Accessibility Framework. May strengthen bids or procurement responses under accessibility scoring.
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​By reducing friction in search inputs, this API empowers a wider set of users to plan journeys confidently - supporting both user satisfaction and compliance reporting.​​​​
Designed for Conversational AI and Agentic Tools
The Fuzzy Station Search API integrates smoothly into agentic systems, including AI copilots, journey assistants, and voice-activated tools. It helps agents interpret and correct imprecise user input, ensuring accurate location resolution in natural-language or multi-turn interactions, making it ideal for use in Bedrock Agents, LangChain pipelines, or proprietary AI applications focused on travel, mapping, or customer support.
Try it or subscribe
The API is designed to be used directly in live customer-facing environments — including chatbots, voice assistants, journey planners, and web search fields to improve how users find stations in real time.
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.
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