Renfe Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for querying Renfe (Spanish national railway) train schedules using official GTFS data. Integrates seamlessly with Claude Desktop and other MCP-compatible clients.

Python 3.12+ FastMCP License: MIT

✨ Features

• 🔍 Search trains between any two Spanish cities on a specific date with pagination
• 💰 Check prices - real-time price scraping from Renfe website with pagination support
• 🚉 Find stations in any city (Madrid has 7 stations!)
• 📅 Flexible date parsing - accepts ISO, European, and written date formats
• 🔄 Auto-updates - automatically downloads latest GTFS schedules from Renfe
• ⚡ Fast & accurate - uses official Renfe GTFS data with complete timetables
• 🎯 Smart filtering - handles service calendars, holidays, and exceptions
• 🛠️ Claude Desktop ready - works out of the box with MCP clients

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12 or higher
• uv (recommended) or pip

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/renfe_mcp.git
   cd renfe_mcp
   

2. Install dependencies

   uv sync
   

3. Run the server (GTFS data downloads automatically)

   uv run python -m renfe_mcp.server
   

📖 Usage

Standalone Testing

Test the search functionality directly:

from renfe_mcp.schedule_searcher import ScheduleSearcher
from renfe_mcp.price_checker import check_prices

# Search trains
searcher = ScheduleSearcher("renfe_schedule")
trains = searcher.search("Madrid", "Barcelona", "2025-11-20")

# Check prices
prices = check_prices("Madrid", "Barcelona", "2025-11-20")

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

Windows (%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "renfe": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "C:\\Users\\YourName\\path\\to\\renfe_mcp",
        "run",
        "python",
        "-m",
        "renfe_mcp.server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

macOS (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "renfe": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/renfe_mcp",
        "run",
        "python",
        "-m",
        "renfe_mcp.server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Linux (~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "renfe": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/renfe_mcp",
        "run",
        "python",
        "-m",
        "renfe_mcp.server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop, and you can ask:

• "Show me trains from Madrid to Barcelona tomorrow"
• "What's the earliest train from Barcelona to Valencia on December 1st?"
• "What train stations are in Madrid?"
• "How many trains run between Madrid and Sevilla in the afternoon?"
• "Check prices for trains from Madrid to Barcelona on December 1st"
• "What are the ticket prices for the first 5 trains?"

🛠️ MCP Tools

1. search_trains

Find trains between two cities on a specific date with pagination support.

Parameters:

• origin (string): Origin city name (e.g., "Madrid", "Barcelona")
• destination (string): Destination city name (e.g., "Valencia", "Sevilla")
• date (string, optional): Travel date in flexible formats:
  • ISO: "2025-11-28"
  • European: "28/11/2025"
  • Written: "November 28, 2025"
  • Default: today's date
• page (integer, optional): Page number to display (default: 1)
• per_page (integer, optional): Results per page (default: 10, max: 50)

Example Output:

Found 36 train(s) total
Showing page 1 of 4 (10 trains)

  1. AVE
     Madrid Pta.Atocha - Almudena Grandes → Barcelona-Sants
     Departs: 6:16:00 | Arrives: 9:05:00
     Duration: 2h 49min

  2. AVE
     Madrid Pta.Atocha - Almudena Grandes → Barcelona-Sants
     Departs: 6:27:00 | Arrives: 9:25:00
     Duration: 2h 58min
  ...

─────────────────────────────────
To see more trains, use page=2
Total pages: 4

2. find_station

Search for train stations in a city.

Parameters:

• city_name (string): City name to search (e.g., "Madrid")

Example Output:

Found 7 stations:

All stations found:
  1. Madrid-Chamartín-Clara Campoamor (ID: 17000)
  2. Madrid - Atocha Cercanías (ID: 18000)
  3. Madrid Pta.Atocha - Almudena Grandes (ID: 60000)
  ...

3. get_train_prices

Check actual ticket prices by scraping the Renfe website with pagination support.

Parameters:

• origin (string): Origin city name (e.g., "Madrid", "Barcelona")
• destination (string): Destination city name (e.g., "Valencia", "Sevilla")
• date (string, optional): Travel date (same formats as search_trains)
• page (integer, optional): Page number to display (default: 1)
• per_page (integer, optional): Results per page (default: 5, max: 20)

Example Output:

PRICE CHECK RESULTS
From: Madrid -> Barcelona
Date: 2025-11-17
Showing 5 train(s)

  1. AVE
     Departs: 06:16 | Arrives: 09:05
     Duration: 2h 49min
     Price: 94.90 EUR | [Available]

  2. AVE
     Departs: 06:27 | Arrives: 09:25
     Duration: 2h 58min
     Price: 118.60 EUR | [Available]
  ...

To see more prices, try page=2

Note: This tool scrapes the Renfe website and may take a few seconds to complete. Pagination now matches search_trains so you can get prices for trains on any page (e.g., page 2 shows prices for trains 6-10).

📊 Data Updates

The server includes automatic GTFS data updates from Renfe's open data portal.

Automatic Updates

On server startup, it checks for new data and downloads if needed:

uv run python -m renfe_mcp.server
# [CHECK] Checking data versions:
#         Server: 2025-11-15T00:40:21
#         Local:  2025-11-10T00:30:15
# [UPDATE] Server has newer data
# [DOWNLOAD] Downloading GTFS data...
# [OK] GTFS data updated successfully!

Manual Updates

Check and update if needed:

uv run python -m renfe_mcp.update_data

Force update (download regardless of version):

uv run python -m renfe_mcp.update_data --force

The update system:

• ✅ Compares server version with local version
• ✅ Only downloads when new data is available
• ✅ Stores version info in renfe_schedule/.last_updated
• ✅ Automatically extracts GTFS CSV files

🏗️ Architecture

renfe_mcp/
├── pyproject.toml           # Dependencies & build config
├── README.md                # This file
├── src/renfe_mcp/           # Main package
│   ├── __init__.py          # Package exports
│   ├── server.py            # FastMCP server implementation
│   ├── config.py            # Pydantic configuration
│   ├── exceptions.py        # Exception hierarchy
│   ├── logging.py           # Structured logging
│   ├── security.py          # Auth & rate limiting
│   ├── price_checker.py     # Price checking module
│   ├── schedule_searcher.py # GTFS schedule search
│   ├── station_service.py   # Unified station lookups
│   ├── update_data.py       # GTFS data updater
│   └── scraper/             # Price scraper package
│       ├── __init__.py      # Package exports
│       ├── scraper.py       # RenfeScraper with DWR protocol
│       ├── dwr.py           # DWR utilities
│       ├── models.py        # Pydantic models
│       ├── exceptions.py    # Scraper exceptions
│       └── stations.json    # Station code database
├── tests/                   # Test suite
│   ├── test_final_integration.py
│   ├── test_security.py
│   └── ...
└── renfe_schedule/          # GTFS data (auto-downloaded)
    ├── stops.txt            # Station information
    ├── routes.txt           # Train routes
    ├── trips.txt            # Trip schedules
    ├── stop_times.txt       # Arrival/departure times
    ├── calendar.txt         # Service schedules
    ├── calendar_dates.txt   # Holiday exceptions
    └── .last_updated        # Version tracking

How It Works

1. City to Station Mapping: Fuzzy matches city names to station IDs
2. Date Filtering:
   • Checks calendar.txt for service schedules (day of week)
   • Applies exceptions from calendar_dates.txt (holidays, special dates)
3. Route Finding:
   • Joins trips, stop_times, and stops tables
   • Validates stop sequences and pickup/dropoff permissions
   • Ensures origin comes before destination
4. Results: Returns all trains sorted chronologically with proper numeric time sorting

Key Implementation Details

• ✅ Handles multiple stations per city (e.g., Madrid has 7)
• ✅ Respects service exceptions (holidays, maintenance)
• ✅ Validates passenger boarding/alighting permissions (pickup_type, drop_off_type)
• ✅ Fixed sorting bug: Proper numeric time sorting (not lexicographic!)
• ✅ CSV column whitespace handling (strips on load)
• ✅ Complete result sets (no truncation)

🗺️ Supported Routes

The server supports any route in the Renfe network:

• High-Speed (AVE): Madrid-Barcelona, Madrid-Sevilla, Madrid-Valencia
• Long-Distance (ALVIA, Intercity): Major city connections
• International (AVE INT): Cross-border services
• Regional: Local routes across Spain
• Commuter (Cercanías): Urban networks

Popular Cities:

• Madrid (7 stations), Barcelona, Valencia
• Sevilla, Málaga, Bilbao, Zaragoza
• Alicante, Córdoba, Granada, Murcia
• 100+ cities across Spain!

Use find_station to discover available stations in any city.

🔧 Development

Project Setup

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/renfe_mcp.git
cd renfe_mcp
uv sync

# Run the server
uv run python -m renfe_mcp.server

# Run tests
uv run python tests/test_final_integration.py

Dependencies

• fastmcp (>=0.7.0) - MCP server framework
• pandas (>=2.3.3) - GTFS data processing
• pydantic (>=2.11.7) - Data validation and models
• pydantic-settings (>=2.0.0) - Environment-based configuration
• httpx (>=0.27.0) - Modern HTTP client for price scraping
• python-dateutil (>=2.8.2) - Flexible date parsing
• json5 (>=0.12.0) - JavaScript object parsing for DWR responses
• python-dotenv (>=1.0.0) - Environment variables

Configuration

Configure via environment variables (prefix RENFE_) or .env file:

# Authentication
RENFE_ENABLE_AUTH=true
RENFE_API_KEY=your-secret-key

# Rate Limiting
RENFE_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED=true
RENFE_MAX_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE=30
RENFE_MAX_REQUESTS_PER_HOUR=200

# Development
RENFE_DEV_MODE=false
RENFE_LOG_LEVEL=INFO

📝 Data Source

GTFS data from Renfe's Open Data Portal:

• API Endpoint: https://data.renfe.com/api/3/action/resource_show
• Resource ID: 25d6b043-9e47-4f99-bd91-edd51d782450
• Update Frequency: Updated regularly by Renfe (checked on server startup)
• Format: GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification)
• Size: ~800 KB compressed, ~40 MB extracted

🐛 Known Issues

• Windows console may show encoding errors with Unicode characters (functionality not affected)
• Very large result sets (100+ trains) can be verbose but complete

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Ideas for Contributions

• Add price information (✅ Implemented via web scraping)
• Support for train status/delays
• Multi-leg journey planning
• Visualization of routes on maps
• Additional query filters (train type, duration, etc.)
• Return trip price checking

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Renfe Operadora for providing open GTFS data
• FastMCP by @jlowin for the excellent MCP framework
• Anthropic for Claude and the Model Context Protocol
• The GTFS community for standardizing transit data

📮 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• MCP Docs: Model Context Protocol

🔗 Related Projects

• SNCF MCP Server - Similar server for French railways
• FastMCP - The framework powering this server
• MCP Servers - Official MCP server implementations

🙏 Sources & Inspiration

• renfe-bot by @emartinez-dev - Telegram bot for Renfe train ticket monitoring. The DWR (Direct Web Remoting) protocol reverse-engineering and price scraping techniques were inspired by renfe-bot's implementation. This MCP server features a custom-built scraper using modern Python (httpx, pydantic) while preserving the core DWR protocol logic.

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Built with ❤️ using FastMCP and Claude

Travel smart, travel by train! 🚄