ATCO-CIF To GTFS

Converts ATCO.CIF (ATCO-CIF) public transport schedule files to static GTFS format. ATCO (Association of Transport Coordinating Officers) CIF (Common Interface File) was the United Kingdom standard for bus timetable data transfer for the first decade of the 2000s, but has since been largely replaced by TransXchange. ATCO-CIF differs from the CIF format used by UK railways.

The converter supports ATCO-CIF version 5 (the only version ever deployed) but the current implementation focuses only on the core schedule/stop information that characterises most networks: There is no support for interchange (transfers), clustering (stop parents), journey associations (blocks), or most AIM data extensions (including hail-and-ride). By default, bank (public) holiday variations are ignored, and all dates are assumed to be in school term-time - but both assumptions can be overridden if the user provides bespoke lists of dates (via command line arguments -b and -s). Stop grid coordinate conversion is included, but the (EPSG) grid must be defined (via command line argument -e).

Install

Install Python 3. Then (command prompt):

pip install atcociftogtfs

Getting Started

The most basic usage is from the command prompt:

python -m atcociftogtfs

followed by one or more space-separated ATCO.CIF data sources (ATCO.CIF file, directory or zip file containing ATCO.CIF files, or internet URL of the same). By default, the converter will output a gtfs.zip to your current directory.

If you do not understand the data you are importing, initially add two switches: -u (which protects against common gotchas, such as one bus operator with two identically numbered routes in different places) and -v (which gives feedback on processing and data).

To output comprehensive GTFS information you will need to specify -b (with a file listing bank holidays), -e (29903 in Ireland, 27700 in Great Britain), and -s (with a file listing school term time periods) - all detailed under Command Line Usage below.

Example files containing Northern Ireland bank holiday and school term dates can be found in the samples subdirectory. These files are provided as examples only, and may now not be accurate.

Command Line Usage

python -m atcociftogtfs [optional arguments] source [source ...]

where source is one or more ATCO.CIF data sources: directory, cif, url, zip (mixed sources, or sources containing a mixture, are fine). Possible optional arguments:

• -b [BANK_HOLIDAYS], --bank_holidays [BANK_HOLIDAYS]: Filename (directory optional) for text file containing yyyymmdd bank (public) holidays, one per line. Optional, defaults to treating all days as non-holiday.
• -d, --directional_routes: Uniquely identify inbound and outbound directions as different routes. Optional, defaults to combining inbound and outbound into the same route.
• -e [EPSG], --epsg [EPSG]: EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset code. For Ireland, 29903. For Great Britain, 27700. Optional, but GTFS stop lat and lon will be 0 if argument is omitted.
• -f [FINAL_DATE], --final_date [FINAL_DATE]: Final yyyymmdd date of service, to replace ATCO-CIF's indefinite last date. Optional, defaults to conversion date +1 year.
• -r [GRID_FIGURES], --grid [GRID_FIGURES]: Number of figures in each Northing or Easting grid reference value. ATCO-CIF should hold 8-figure grid references, but may contain less. Optional, defaults to best fit.
• -g [GTFS_FILENAME], --gtfs [GTFS_FILENAME]: Output GTFS zip filename (directory optional). Optional, defaults in gtfs.zip.
• -l [LOG_FILENAME], --log [LOG_FILENAME]: Append feedback to this text filename (directory optional), not the console. Optional, defaults to console.
• -m [MODE], --mode [MODE]: GTFS mode integer code. Optional, defaults to 3 (bus).
• -u, --unique_ids: Force IDs for operators, routes and stops to be unique to each ATCO-CIF file processed within a multi-file batch. Safely reconciles files from different sources, but creates data redundancies within the resulting GTFS file. Optional, defaults to the identifiers used in the original ATCO-CIF files.
• -v, --verbose: Verbose feedback of all progress to log or console. Optional, defaults to warnings and errors only.
• -s [SCHOOL_TERM], --school_term [SCHOOL_TERM]: Filename (directory optional) for text file containing yyyymmdd,yyyymmdd (startdate,enddate) school term periods, one comma-separated pair of dates per line. Optional, defaults to treating all periods as school term-time.
• -t [TIMEZONE], --timezone [TIMEZONE]: Timezone in IANA TZ format. Optional, defaults to Europe/London.

Single arguments -h or --help show help, while -V or --version shows version.

Module Usage

The converter can also be integrated into any Python script as a module, for example:

from atcociftogtfs.atcocif import atcocif
my_instance = atcocif()  # Initialise (optional args=Namespace, as below)
my_instance.file(filename="source.cif")  # Process file source.cif
my_instance.file(filename="another.cif")  # And so on, until
my_instance.dump(filename="output.zip")  # Finally, create GTFS
del my_instance  # Cleanup temporary database

Such an instance can be initialised with an args Namespace, in which values are keyed using the long-form command line argument (less its initial --).

The instance's internal Sqlite database can be queried directly using a cursor created as my_instance.db.cursor(). The structure of this database mimics that of the GTFS output, except table names are filenames stripped of their .txt (detailed by _gtfs_structure in atcocif.py).

Northern Ireland Railways

At the time of writing, Northern Ireland Railways timetable open data is officially labelled ATCO.CIF, but is not: The feed is a railway CIF - a lightweight version of the format used by the Rail Delivery Group (and previously ATOC) in Great Britain. NIR's .CIF file is equivalent to RDG's .MCA file. Instead of using this converter, use software intended for ATOC/RDG feeds, but spoof most of the other expected filenames as empty text files. A valid Master Station Name File (.MSN) is important - a basic version is available here. Note that any station opened since 2021 will need to be added manually. Since Ireland uses a different grid system, coordinates cannot be processed as if in Great Britain, so the coordinates in that dummy file are all zeros. GTFS creators can provide stop geography by adding this stops.txt file to any NIR GTFS file produced. That GTFS's agency.txt will likely also need to be hacked to add a complete "NI" record.

Bugs and Contributions

Error reports and code improvements/extensions are welcome. The current code should be functional, but is far from optimal. Please attach a copy of the relevant ATCO.CIF source file to reports about unexpected errors.