Get departure information for a specific date
AI agents call get_departures_by_date to retrieve information from Mcp National Rail without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves historical or scheduled train departure data for a given date. It performs a query operation with no capability to modify, delete, or execute external actions. The worst-case misuse is information disclosure (e.g., learning train schedules), which poses minimal risk. Classified as Read with low severity.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_departures_by_date' and description 'Get departure information for a specific date' indicate data retrieval with no modification or side effects.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access get_departures_by_date gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Mcp National Rail, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for get_departures_by_date:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"get_departures_by_date": {}
}
}get_departures_by_date is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
Free to start. No card required.
Get departure information for a specific date. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Mcp National Rail MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Mcp National Rail MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_departures_by_date: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Mcp National Rail. Nothing to install.
get_departures_by_date is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get_departures_by_date rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get_departures_by_date. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
get_departures_by_date is provided by the Mcp National Rail MCP server (lucygoodchild/mcp-national-rail). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Mcp National Rail, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
4 Mcp National Rail tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.