Developer Terms of Service

Effective date: 21 June 2026

These Developer Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern access to and use of the Headcode API, documentation, and related services (together, the “Service”) provided by ARAN.DEV LTD, a private limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 12805813 (“Headcode”, “we”, “us”). By requesting an API key or using the Service, you (“you”, the “Customer”) agree to these Terms. If you are agreeing on behalf of an organisation, you confirm you have authority to bind it.

1. Definitions

Upstream Data — data Headcode ingests from third-party rail data providers, including National Rail Enquiries (NRE) / the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), Network Rail, the Department for Transport (DfT), and datasets distributed through the Rail Data Marketplace (RDM).
API Output — the responses Headcode returns, derived from Upstream Data and combined with our normalisation, enrichment, and schema.
End User — any person or application that receives API Output through your product or service.
Key — an API credential issued to your account.

2. Access and accounts

Headcode is in active development and access is granted by request. We may approve, decline, scope, or revoke access at our discretion.

Keys are credentials, not capacity. Your plan’s limits belong to the account; every Key draws from the same shared budget. See Plans and rate limits and API keys.
You are responsible for all activity under your account and Keys. Keep Keys confidential and server-side; do not embed them in client-side code, mobile apps, or public repositories.
You must notify us promptly at [email protected] if you believe a Key has been compromised.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

use the Service unlawfully, or in breach of any Upstream Data provider’s terms;
exceed, evade, or attempt to circumvent rate limits, quotas, or access scopes (see Plans and rate limits);
present the Service, or any product built on it, as an official National Rail, Network Rail, or government service, or in any way that implies endorsement by an Upstream Data provider;
bulk-extract, mirror, or redistribute the API Output in a manner that substitutes for a direct feed and competes with the Service, rather than using it to power an application;
remove, obscure, or alter the attributions required by Section 5;
use the Service to build or operate anything that endangers safety or relies on the data for safety-critical decisions (see Section 7).

We may throttle, suspend, or terminate access for breach of this Section.

4. Fees and billing

Plan fees and add-ons are described on Plans and rate limits. Self-serve billing is not yet available; access and changes are currently arranged by email. Published prices are indicative during active development and may change before general availability. Fees are exclusive of VAT unless stated.

5. Data attribution and flow-down obligations

The Service is built on Upstream Data licensed to us by third parties. Those licences require attribution, and you must pass these obligations down to your End Users. Your product, and any product your End Users build using API Output, must display the attributions below wherever the relevant data is shown.

API Output derived from	Upstream source	Required attribution
Real-time running data, estimates, platforms, formations, station messages, train alerts; managing-operator and station detail	National Rail Enquiries / Rail Delivery Group (Darwin, Knowledgebase)	“Powered by National Rail Enquiries”
Station reference data, fixed links, station footfall, CORPUS and BPLAN reference codes/locations	Network Rail and other Rail Data Marketplace publishers	”Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.”
Stop geography, ATCO identifiers, coordinates	Department for Transport (NaPTAN)	“Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.”

Notes:

The specific upstream licence for each dataset is summarised on Data sources and is subject to confirmation against each provider’s current terms, which take precedence over this summary.
You must not imply that an Upstream Data provider endorses you, and must not use their logos or marks except as their own brand guidelines permit.
Data sourced from National Rail Enquiries (Darwin and Knowledgebase) is subject to the National Rail Enquiries Darwin Data Feeds terms and conditions, which govern how the data and the required “Powered by National Rail Enquiries” attribution may be used. Do not alter, abbreviate, or restyle the attribution beyond what those terms permit. Those terms take precedence over this summary.
Operator (train operating company) reference data distributed by the Service is compiled by Headcode from publicly available codes and does not carry a third-party attribution requirement.

6. Intellectual property

Headcode does not own the Upstream Data and grants you no ownership of it. Underlying facts — timetables, running times, reference codes — are not Headcode’s intellectual property, and your right to use them flows from the upstream licences referenced in Section 5.
Headcode owns the Service software, API design, schemas, normalisation, enrichment, and documentation. We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the API Output to build and operate your application, subject to these Terms and the upstream licences.
These Terms grant you no right to Headcode’s trade marks or branding.

7. Data accuracy, caching, and freshness

Rail data is provisional and changes continuously. API Output is provided for informational purposes and must not be relied upon for safety-critical or life-safety decisions.
You must not present stale data as live. Where you cache real-time API Output, you must refresh it frequently enough that End Users are not shown materially out-of-date running information, and you must respect any caching or polling constraints imposed by the upstream licences. We may publish maximum cache durations; where we do, they are binding.

8. Service availability and SLA

The Service depends on best-effort, third-party Upstream Data feeds (notably Darwin) that we do not control and that may be rate-limited, delayed, or unavailable. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability.
No service-level agreement applies unless one is separately agreed in writing as part of an Enterprise arrangement. See Plans and rate limits.
Force majeure. We are not liable for, and will not be in breach of these Terms because of, any delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond our reasonable control. These include failure, suspension, withdrawal, rate-limiting, or interruption of an Upstream Data feed or provider; network, hosting, power, or telecommunications failures; cyber-attacks; industrial action; acts of government or regulators; and natural events. Where such an event continues for a prolonged period, either party may suspend the affected obligations for its duration.

9. Warranties and disclaimers

The Service and API Output are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, or non-infringement, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, data, or goodwill, or for any loss arising from missed connections, incorrect platform or timing information, cancellations, or interruptions to Upstream Data.
Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the fees you paid to us in the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Headcode and its officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use or misuse of the Service or API Output; (b) your breach of these Terms or of any Upstream Data licence or attribution obligation (including those in Section 5); (c) your, or your End Users’, use of API Output to train a model, defame any rail operator or other party, or otherwise infringe a third party’s rights; or (d) your failure to flow down the obligations in these Terms to your End Users. We will notify you of any such claim, allow you to control its defence (provided any settlement that imposes obligations on us requires our consent), and cooperate reasonably at your expense.

12. Changes to the API

We version the API under /v1. We aim to make backwards-compatible (additive) changes within a version and to give reasonable notice before any breaking change or deprecation. We may change, withdraw, or restrict any part of the Service or specific data products if an upstream provider changes or withdraws access, or to comply with a licence or legal requirement.

13. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access immediately for breach of these Terms, non-payment, suspected security compromise, or where required by an upstream provider or by law. You may stop using the Service at any time. On termination, your licence to use the Service ends and you must cease using API Output, except as the upstream licences independently permit for data already lawfully obtained.

14. Data protection and privacy

Each party will comply with applicable data protection law. The Service is not designed to process personal data of End Users on your behalf; if you send us personal data, you are responsible for having a lawful basis to do so. A separate Privacy Policy governs personal data we collect from account holders.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. For any material change that negatively affects your rights or obligations, we will give account holders at least 30 days’ notice by email or through the documentation before it takes effect, except where a change is required by law or by an Upstream Data provider, in which case we will give as much notice as is reasonably practicable. Non-material changes (such as clarifications or corrections) take effect when published. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except where mandatory local law provides otherwise.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms: [email protected]. Registered office: ARAN.DEV LTD, 51 Thornhill Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD3 3DA, England.