Portbase is currently developing a new functionality within Hinterland Container Notification Rail, called ETA Train. This functionality has been designed to provide insight into the location of a train — from its departure point in the hinterland, to its arrival at the deep-sea terminals on the Maasvlakte, and back into the hinterland again.
Earlier this year, several fields were released that provide insight into a train’s arrival and departure at the terminal, as well as the progress of the operation at the terminal. This gives users better visibility of a train’s location within the port area.
Development is now in full swing for the part of the functionality that provides insight into the train’s location in the hinterland. This week, two new fields will go live: Outgoing train number and Outgoing first departure date. These data fields make it possible to track when the outgoing train passes specific points in the hinterland, helping to better predict the estimated arrival time at its destination.
At this stage, the use of all fields related to ETA Train is not mandatory. Once more information becomes available about the use and rollout of this functionality, we will inform you.
If you would like to use these fields already, you can find them in the HCN Rail web screens here:
Or refer to the API Specs. Under the Create voyage endpoint, this concerns the OutgoingTrainNumber and OutgoingTrainFirstDepartureDate fields.