# Signalboarder

> Turn any device into a live UK train departure board, with a matching physical ESP32-S3 board.

## What it is

Signalboarder shows live departure times, expected times, platforms and calling points. The browser fetches a small, normalised departure model from Signalboarder's gateway, which reads National Rail's Darwin data. There is no account and no user database. A chosen station may be remembered only in that browser's local storage.

## Pages

- [Turn any device into a live UK train departure board](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev): Live UK train departures in a full-screen station board. Search any National Rail station, see platforms, expected times and calling points. No account required.
- [London Waterloo departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/london-waterloo): Live departures from London Waterloo (WAT), with platforms, expected times and calling points on a full-screen station board.
- [London Victoria departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/london-victoria): Live departures from London Victoria (VIC), including platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [London Liverpool Street departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/london-liverpool-street): Live departures from London Liverpool Street (LST), with platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [London King's Cross departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/london-kings-cross): Live departures from London King's Cross (KGX), including platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [Birmingham New Street departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/birmingham-new-street): Live departures from Birmingham New Street (BHM), with platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [Manchester Piccadilly departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/manchester-piccadilly): Live departures from Manchester Piccadilly (MAN), including platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [Glasgow Central departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/glasgow-central): Live departures from Glasgow Central (GLC), with platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [Edinburgh Waverley departures](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/edinburgh-waverley): Live departures from Edinburgh Waverley (EDB), including platforms, expected times and calling points.
- [About Signalboarder](https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/about): How Signalboarder turns National Rail live departure data into a browser board and a physical ESP32-S3 departure board, without storing journeys or personal data.

## Details

- Search supports station names and three-letter CRS codes.
- Platform view shows the next three trains and calling points; tapping the clock opens the longer concourse view.
- Polling stops when the tab is hidden. A failed refresh leaves the last good board visible and labels it stale.
- Live data is powered by National Rail Enquiries. The station list credits Dav Wheat and Trainline EU under the ODbL.
- Signalboarder stores no journeys or personal data.

## MCP

- Endpoint: https://signalboarder.alcun.dev/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no account or API key).
- find_station: query (station name, partial name or CRS), limit (1–20, default 5). Returns query and stations [{name, crs}]. Search “Kings Cross” to get KGX; ask the user to resolve ambiguous matches.
- get_departures: crs (three letters), rows (1–10, default 2), optional time_offset (0–119 minutes ahead) and time_window (1–120 minutes, default 120 minus offset). Offset plus window must be at most 120; departures beyond two hours are unsupported. Returns a readable board and structured JSON with station, crs, generatedAt, stale, services and attribution.
- Scheduled/estimated times are Europe/London, 24h. expected is “On time”, “Delayed”, “Cancelled”, an HH:MM estimate, or “No report”.
- stale: true means older cached data after refresh failure or budget exhaustion. generatedAt is response time, not the provider observation time. Preserve National Rail attribution.
- Both tools share request limits. Station search uses no provider calls; departures share the board’s cache and daily budget. Follow Retry-After on HTTP 429. Future “On time” is a current report, not a guarantee. No arrivals or journey planning.
- [Connection instructions](https://github.com/alcun/signalboarder/blob/main/edge/README.md#mcp-setup).

## Related

- [alcun.dev](https://alcun.dev): the maker.