sbb-tui: Swiss Transport Timetables Right in Your Terminal

If you've ever tried checking Swiss train schedules from the command line, you know the pain. Open a browser, find the SBB app, type your stations, wait for the page to load—it’s fine, but it breaks flow. Especially if you're already deep in a terminal session and just want to know when the next train to Bern leaves.

That's exactly why sbb-tui exists. It’s a terminal user interface (TUI) built in Rust that gives you live Swiss transport timetables without leaving your shell. No browser. No app. Just your terminal and a clean, keyboard-friendly interface.

What It Does

sbb-tui connects to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) public API and displays real-time departure and arrival information for any station in Switzerland. You search for a station, it shows you the next connections, including delays, platform changes, and even track numbers.

It’s built as a TUI — think htop or ranger — so you navigate entirely with your keyboard. Up/down arrows to scroll, Enter to select a connection for details, and q to quit. It’s fast, lightweight, and respects your terminal’s color scheme.

Why It’s Cool

A few things make this worth trying:

• Zero dependencies beyond Rust – No Electron, no web view, no API keys to configure. Install with cargo install sbb-tui, and you’re off.
• Offline-friendly for API failures – The tool caches the last known schedule data. If network hiccups happen, you still see something useful.
• Keyboard-first UX – Designed for people who live in the terminal. Tab autocompletes station names, and you can filter connections by time or platform.
• Clean codebase – The repo is small, well-structured, and the author provides a clear --help and config file for customizing behavior like default stations or language (DE/FR/IT/EN).

Use cases? Commuters checking their daily route without opening a browser. Developers integrating train data into scripts (you can pipe it with --json output). Travelers in Switzerland who want quick info without data-heavy apps.

How to Try It

All you need is Rust installed:

cargo install sbb-tui

Then:

sbb-tui

Or specify a station directly:

sbb-tui --station "Zürich HB"

You’ll see a live list of departures. Press ? for the keybindings cheat sheet. The README also shows how to run it in Docker, but honestly, the binary is so small you likely won’t need it.

Want to explore the source? Everything is on GitHub: Necrom4/sbb-tui

Final Thoughts

sbb-tui is one of those tools that feels obvious once you see it. It solves a real annoyance (checking public transport quickly) and does it in a way that respects your workflow. It’s not trying to be a full travel app; it just shows you what you need when you need it.

If you’re a developer in Switzerland, or even just passing through and like terminal tools, give it a shot. It’s free, it’s open source, and it’s the kind of project that makes you wonder why no one did it sooner.

Find more cool open source projects like this on Twitter: @githubprojects