Ferrocarril Central Monitor

Check for new train schedules on the Ferrocarril Central Andino line from Lima to Huancayo.

This script monitors the Ferrocarril Central Andino website (https://ferrocarrilcentral.com.pe/appfcca/) for available travel dates, compares them against previously seen dates, and sends an email notification when new dates are detected. Designed to run as a cron job for automated daily checks.

• Author: Edward Betts
• Email: edward@4angle.com
• Repository: https://git.4angle.com/edward/ferrocarrilcentral
• License: MIT

Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://git.4angle.com/edward/ferrocarrilcentral.git
   cd ferrocarrilcentral
   

2. Install Dependencies: Requires Python 3 and the following packages:

   pip install requests lxml
   

3. Make Executable:

   chmod +x check.py
   

Usage

Run the script manually to test:

./check.py

For automated monitoring, add it to your crontab to run twice daily (e.g., 8 AM and 8 PM):

crontab -e

Add this line:

0 8,20 * * * /home/edward/src/ferrocarrilcentral/check.py

• Interactive Mode: Outputs informational messages (e.g., "New dates found") to stdout.
• Cron Mode: Silent unless errors occur, which are logged to stdout (captured by cron).

Configuration

1. Config File: Create ~/.config/ferrocarril/config (INI format) with your SMTP settings:

   [mail]
   smtp_host = your.smtp.server
   from_address = your.email@example.com
   to_address = recipient@example.com
   

2. Data Storage:

   • Previously seen dates are stored in ~/lib/data/ferrocarril_dates.json.
   • The script creates this file automatically on the first successful run.

How It Works

1. Fetches the webpage from https://ferrocarrilcentral.com.pe/appfcca/.
2. Parses available travel dates using lxml.html.
3. Compares against dates in ~/lib/data/ferrocarril_dates.json.
4. Sends an email if new dates are found and updates the JSON file.

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• requests library for HTTP requests
• lxml library for HTML parsing
• An SMTP server for email notifications

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.