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what is esp32departures fr?

oktaneza/esp32departures — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

3CAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

tl;dr

Firmware for a cheap ESP32 board that shows live UK train departure times on a small color screen, no computer needed.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((ESP32Departures))
    What it does
      Live train departures
      On device color display
      No signal fallback
    Tech stack
      C++
      ESP32-S3
      PlatformIO
      ArduinoJson
    Use cases
      Home departure board
      Commuter desk display
      Hardware hobby build
    Audience
      Hobbyists
      UK commuters

Code map

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filefunction / class

what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Build a small desk display that shows live departures for your regular train station.

VIBE 2

Set up a low-cost alternative to the original Raspberry Pi version of this project.

VIBE 3

Learn how to build an ESP32 hardware project that fetches and renders live data over wifi.

what's the stack?

C++ESP32-S3PlatformIOArduinoJsonLovyanGFX

how it stacks up fr

oktaneza/esp32departuresamichail-1/orbination-whisper-aiandrewrk/libogg
Stars333
LanguageCCC
Last pushed2026-03-31
MaintenanceMaintained
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/54/52/5
Audiencegeneraldeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · easy time til it works · 30min

Needs a specific LilyGo T-Display-S3 board (about £10) and a free National Rail API key, no coding required via the Windows installer.

No license information is stated in the README.

in plain english

ESP32Departures is a small device project that shows live UK train departure times on a tiny color screen. It is a rewrite of an earlier version the same author built for a Raspberry Pi, redone to run on a much cheaper ESP32 microcontroller board instead. There is no computer, server, or Docker container involved: the small board connects to wifi on its own, fetches the current departures for a chosen train station, and draws them directly on its built in screen. The display shows the next three departures in large text, including the destination, whether the train is on time or delayed, and which platform it leaves from, with long station names scrolling across the screen. It also shows a clock rendered in a dot matrix style font that automatically adjusts for daylight saving time. If the live data feed cannot be reached, the screen keeps showing the last known departures along with a "no signal" warning rather than going blank, and it can also be told to turn its screen off during certain hours to save power. Setting it up does not require any programming for most people. There is a self contained Windows installer program that walks a user through connecting the board over USB, entering wifi details, a free rail data API key, and which station to show, all without touching any code. Anyone who wants to change the firmware itself instead needs PlatformIO, a common tool for building code for small hardware boards like this one. The whole project is built around one specific piece of hardware, a LilyGo T-Display-S3 board with a built in 1.9 inch color screen, and the author estimates the parts cost around ten pounds. The train data itself comes from National Rail's official free data marketplace. The project credits an earlier dot matrix train board design by another developer as the original inspiration for the layout and fonts.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Walk me through using the Windows installer to set up this ESP32 departure board for my local train station.
prompt 2
Explain how the exponential back-off and "no signal" fallback in this firmware work when the API call fails.
prompt 3
Help me install PlatformIO and build this firmware from source so I can change the display layout.
prompt 4
How do I get a free LDBWS API key from the Rail Data Marketplace to use with this project?

Frequently asked questions

what is esp32departures fr?

Firmware for a cheap ESP32 board that shows live UK train departure times on a small color screen, no computer needed.

What language is esp32departures written in?

Mainly C. The stack also includes C++, ESP32-S3, PlatformIO.

What license does esp32departures use?

No license information is stated in the README.

How hard is esp32departures to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is esp32departures for?

Mainly general.

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