When showing network data to passengers, the Passenger system shows the most recently created dataset that is effective on the day being viewed. This applies to departures, timetables, journey plans, etc.
Explaining this further:
Most recently created dataset...
Datasets are ordered by created date. If there are 2 or more overlapping datasets, the most recently created one will have priority and be shown to passengers. The date of publishing and the contents of the dataset does not affect this.
Datasets that are in the process of being imported or are draft are not shown to passengers and can only be viewed by previewing the dataset in Passenger Cloud. Deleting a dataset will unpublish it immediately, so it will not be shown to passengers.
Network Managers have the ability to postpone the start date of an existing dataset by selecting the dataset in Passenger Cloud and then clicking on "Change start date". There's no way to change end dates, the dataset has to be deleted and imported again.
...that is effective...
TransXChange has the concept of an "operating period" (a start and optional end date) for a service. These are both inclusive. An empty end date is interpreted as 1 year from now (or one year from the start date, if that's later).
When importing a dataset, the earliest start date and latest end date are used to define the dataset's overall "effective period". For example:
- if all services have operating periods from Jan 1st to Jan 31st then the dataset's effective period will be Jan 1st to Jan 31st
- if one service has an operating period from Jan 1st to Jan 31st and another service has an operating period from Jan 15th to Feb 15 then the dataset's effective period will be Jan 1st to Feb 15
...on the day being viewed
Most of the time, passengers are looking for data for "today". Live departures are always today and things like timetables and journey plans default to the same day. It's possible to "look ahead" to view data for the future too, by changing the date on a timetable or journey plan.
Whatever date is being viewed, the most recently created dataset that's effective on that specific date will be shown.
Temporary changes
These rules make temporary changes (eg 1 day or 1 week) easy to make. A new dataset, which is effective only for the temporary period, can be uploaded and published. As it's the most recently created dataset, it will have priority over other datasets while it is effective. When viewing data for before or after the temporary change, the previous dataset will be used. This works both when viewing data for "today" during the temporary period, as well as when looking ahead in timetables and journey plans.