RESTful APIs

Rail Autorouter

Contents

POST /AutoRoute/report

Resource URL

​https://pcmrail.alk.com/REST/v{version}/Service.svc/AutoRoute/report

(Available in v32.0 and later)

The AutoRouter endpoint generates one or more rail route options between an origin and destination—often spanning multiple railroad networks—by automatically selecting carriers and interchange junctions for each leg of the route (similar to PC*Miler Rail On-Prem AutoRouter).

This endpoint supports six report formats:

  • JunctionRailRoadNEW — Summarizes the route by junction/interchange sequence.
  • Railroad — Summarizes the route by railroad/carrier legs.
  • Detailed — Lists all points on the route, along with leg and cumulative mileage between the origin and destination.
  • KeyStation — Includes the user-specified stops on the route with leg and cumulative mileage, and leg mileage summaries by state and railroad.
  • DetailedGeocode — Includes the same information as the Detailed report, but also lists the SPLC, 3-3-3, and R260 for each stop.
  • State — Lists mileage by state.

How AutoRouter works

AutoRouter picks suitable junction interchanges and carriers, informed by historical interchange patterns (e.g., Carload Waybill Sample–based junction popularity). In general:

  • One route option may be generated for each origin railroad × destination railroad combination.
  • If the destination has other viable junctions nearby in the same SPLC area, additional route options that pass through those junctions may be returned.
  • If a single railroad serves both origin and destination, only local routes may be returned (no interline routes).
  • If terminal switching is excluded (see TerminalSwitching), any interline route that requires a junction interchange at the origin or destination (i.e., terminal switching) is removed from the candidate list.

Limitation

  • Shortest routing is generally not recommended for AutoRouter results; shortest-distance routes may be more expensive and/or use less-preferred track.

POST Body Parameters

Parameter Description Type Required
Stops An object containing the list of stations in the route. 
object
Yes
Options An object containing routing/report options. 
object
No
Report The report type to generate. Valid values: Railroad, JunctionRailRoad. 
string
Yes

Example (JSON) 

{
  "Stops": [
    { "Format": "StationState", "Name": "KENT OH" },
    { "Format": "StationState", "Name": "NEPISIGUIT JCT NB" }
  ],
  "Options": {
    "RoutingPreference": "Practical",
    "IncludeRailnetwork": "AB, CN",
    "IntermodalOnlyStations": true,
    "AmtrakRoutes": false
  },
  "Report": "Railroad"
}

Stops Object

Stops is an array of stop objects. Minimum of 2 stops (Origin and Destination).

Field Description Type Required
Format Stop format / input type. 
string
Yes
Name Stop value encoded per Format. 
string
Yes
Railroad Optional railroad/carrier code constraint for this stop. Use null (or omit) to allow AutoRouter to consider any valid carriers for the location. If Railroad is provided on a stop, it takes precedence over Options.IncludeRailnetwork for that stop. 
string
null

Stop.Format values

Format Description Example Name
StationState Station + state/province. "KENT OH"
StationName Station name (no state). (If enabled in your Rail data/region.) "KENT"
SPLC Standard Point Location Code. "123456"
ERPC Eastern Railroad President’s Conference code (“3-3-3”). "123123123"
FSAC Freight Station Accounting Code. "ABCDE"
R260 Rule 260 junction code. "9999"

For coded formats (SPLC, ERPC, FSAC, R260), StationName should be the raw code string.

Options Object

Field Description Type Required
RoutingPreference Routing preference / formula. Recommended: Practical. 
string
No
IncludeRailnetwork Comma-separated list of rail network/railroad codes to include. 
string
No
TerminalSwitching Indicates whether terminal switching is allowed when generating routes. When true, AutoRouter may include terminal/yard switching moves (switching railroads within a terminal area) as part of a valid route option. When false, routes that require terminal switching are excluded. Default is true. 
boolean
No
IntermodalOnlyStations When true, limits stop lookups and/or routing candidates to intermodal stations only. 
boolean
No
AmtrakRoutes When true, allows passenger rail (Amtrak) segments to be considered in route options. When false, excludes Amtrak routes. 
boolean
No

Report

Value Description
Railroad Summarizes the route by railroad/carrier legs.
JunctionRailRoad Summarizes the route by junction/interchange sequence.

Example Request 

curl --location 'https://pcmrail.alk.com/rest/v32.0/Service.svc/AutoRoute/report' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Accept: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: {API Key}' \
--data '{
  "Stops": [
    { "Format": "StationState", "Name": "KENT OH" },
    { "Format": "StationState", "Name": "NEPISIGUIT JCT NB" }
  ],
  "Options": {
    "RoutingPreference": "Practical",
    "IncludeRailnetwork": "AB, CN",
    "IntermodalOnlyStations": true,
    "AmtrakRoutes": false
  },
  "Report": "RailRoad"
}'

Example Response (Railroad) 

{
  "ReportList": [
    {
      "Lines": [
        { "Railroad": "AB", "Distance": "14.7" },
        { "Railroad": "CSXT", "Distance": "239.4" },
        { "Railroad": "CN", "Distance": "1139.9" },
        { "Railroad": "TOTAL", "Distance": "1394.0" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Example Response (JunctionRailRoad) 

{
    "ReportList": [
        {
            "Lines": [
                {
                    "Railroad": "AB",
                    "State": "OH",
                    "Name": "KENT",
                    "ERPC": "KENT",
                    "R260": "KENT",
                    "SPLC": "344477000",
                    "FSAC": "33955"
                },
                {
                    "Railroad": "CSXT",
                    "State": "OH",
                    "Name": "AKRON",
                    "ERPC": "AKRON",
                    "R260": "AKRON",
                    "SPLC": "344700000",
                    "FSAC": "71429",
                    "LegDist": "14.7"
                },
                {
                    "Railroad": "CN",
                    "State": "NY",
                    "Name": "BUFFALO",
                    "ERPC": "BUFFALO",
                    "R260": "BUFF",
                    "SPLC": "185400000",
                    "FSAC": "45300",
                    "LegDist": "239.4"
                },
                {
                    "Railroad": "CN",
                    "State": "NB",
                    "Name": "NEPISIGUIT JCT",
                    "ERPC": "NEPJCT",
                    "R260": "NEPJT",
                    "SPLC": "018540000",
                    "FSAC": "15502",
                    "LegDist": "1139.8",
                    "TotalDist": "1393.9"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "Lines": [
                {
                    "Railroad": "WE",
                    "State": "OH",
                    "Name": "KENT",
                    "ERPC": "KENT",
                    "R260": "KENT",
                    "SPLC": "344477000",
                    "FSAC": "33955"
                },
                {
                    "Railroad": "CN",
                    "State": "OH",
                    "Name": "LANG",
                    "ERPC": "LANG",
                    "R260": "LANG",
                    "SPLC": "343173000",
                    "FSAC": "55467",
                    "LegDist": "148.8"
                },
                {
                    "Railroad": "CN",
                    "State": "NB",
                    "Name": "NEPISIGUIT JCT",
                    "ERPC": "NEPJCT",
                    "R260": "NEPJT",
                    "SPLC": "018540000",
                    "FSAC": "15502",
                    "LegDist": "1301.7",
                    "TotalDist": "1450.5"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}
Last updated June 26, 2026.
API Endpoint:
AWS Azure
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