Strecken-Info webdriver

An automated web scraping script that exports railway restriction data from strecken-info.de and saves it with timestamped filenames.

Overview

This Python script uses Selenium WebDriver to automate the process of:

1. Accessing the strecken-info.de website
2. Automatically handling cookie consent banners
3. Navigating to the "Einschränkungen" (Restrictions) section
4. Exporting the data as a CSV file
5. Saving the file with a timestamp in the format YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.csv
6. Running on a configurable interval (default: every 15 minutes)

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• selenium - Web automation library
• webdriver-manager - Automatic Chrome WebDriver management

Installation

1. Install required packages:

pip install selenium webdriver-manager

2. Ensure you have Google Chrome installed
   • Download from: https://www.google.de/intl/de/chrome/
   • WebDriver Manager will automatically handle the ChromeDriver

Usage

Run the Script

python autoexport.py

The script will:

• Perform the first export immediately
• Wait for the configured interval (default: 15 minutes)
• Repeat continuously until manually terminated with Ctrl+C

Output

Files are saved with timestamped filenames to prevent conflicts:

• Pattern: YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.csv
• Example: 2026-02-08_14-30.csv
• Location: Configured in DOWNLOAD_DIR (Look for your script configuration lon top)

Configuration

Change Fetch Interval

DOWNLOAD_DIR = r"C:\Your\Custom\Path"  # Use raw string (r"") for Windows paths
FETCH_INTERVAL_MIN = 15                                     # Interval in minutes

Headless Mode

To run the browser in the background without showing the UI:

options.add_argument("--headless")  # Uncomment this line

How It Works

1. Browser Setup: Initializes Chrome WebDriver with download preferences
2. Website Navigation: Opens https://strecken-info.de
3. Cookie Handling: Automatically accepts cookie consent (direct button or iframe)
4. Element Clicking: Click "Einschränkungen" menu
5. Export Trigger: Clicks "Exportieren" button to initiate download
6. Download Wait: Waits up to 60 seconds for file to appear
7. File Rename: Renames downloaded file with timestamp (prevents conflicts)
8. State Reset: Clears cookies and opens new tab for next cycle
9. Countdown: Displays countdown timer until next fetch
10. Repeat: Continues indefinitely until Ctrl+C is pressed

Common Issues:

• "Failed to click restrictions table": Increase CLICK_TIMEOUT or check if website is accessible
• "Download timeout - file not found": Increase DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT or verify the export works manually
• Chrome not found: Install Google Chrome or check installation path

Notes

• The script runs indefinitely - use Ctrl+C to stop
• Website maintenance may cause temporary failures (Rarely) - script will retry on next interval

FETCH_INTERVAL_SEC

Due to the dummy Selenium (or dummy me), the toggle "Einschränkungen" is not always off every time you close the tab. It could be sometimes not require you to click, which you can directly download it, but sometimes due to webside maintenance, the toggle is automatically off. To eliminate this uncertainty, the script will:

• Still click the toggle (It may close the toggle)
• Fail to click "export", shows download failure
• Guarantee the next download to be successful

So FETCH_INTERVAL_SEC is set as half of a minute (30 seconds) to make sure you are having exactly the period you want.

You may observe this situation by setting your fetching inverval to 60 seconds, and 1 minute every fetching. If you have a good idea how to fix this, please contact me.