this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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Why is train data shared with the Belgian gov? (lemmy.sdf.org)
submitted 4 months ago by ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io to c/Law@europe.pub
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(cross-posted from !opendata)

In Belgium, the national train service runs a protectionist bot-hostile tor-hostile website that chains users to an enshitified js-plagued GUI webapp. You can only query one day and one destination at a time. It’s the typical shit-show that consumers give in to for this kind of website.

HOWEVER, Belgium’s open data law requires the gov to share any data they get with the public. And for some reason the gov maintains a DB of the train routes and schedules -- which means everyone gets the raw data as a bullshit-free CSV file (but sadly no prices, which fucks everything up as far as being able to avoid the enshitified web entirely).

Does anyone know /why/ the gov gets that data? It would be useful to know what law compels SNCB to share the info because I wonder if other data can be liberated through the same mechanism (such as bus routes, flights, rideshares, etc). My first thought was customs and immigration must have a need-to-know, but the dataset covers both directions and IIRC it only has good coverage of domestic routes not international (strange).

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[–] ciferecaNinjo@fedia.io 1 points 4 months ago

currency has poisoned humanity,

Not sure what you mean by that.

Regarding pricing, trains are often not the cheapest. On long-haul trips airfare usually beats train fare. And on short hauls Flixbus pricing is unbeatable. Trains have their niche but for years I have quit checking train fare because of enshitification and shenanigans, making it hard to get pricing data.