How to read station opening hours (and why they change)

Opening hours look simple, but a posted schedule and an actually-open station are two different things. Here's how to read the hours properly, including the OpenStreetMap format many maps use, so a listing never leaves you stranded at a dark forecourt.

By the Refuelia Editorial Team · Reviewed 10 July 2026

Where opening hours come from

Most fuel and EV station maps (Refuelia included) draw their opening hours from OpenStreetMap, the community-maintained map of the world. In OpenStreetMap, hours live in a single field called opening_hours, written in a compact but readable syntax. Once you can decode that field, you can read the hours on almost any map, and you can spot when a listing is vague, outdated, or simply incomplete.

The value is a string of rules. A round-the-clock site is just 24/7. A more typical station might read Mo-Fr 06:00-22:00; Sa 08:00-20:00; Su off, meaning open six to ten on weekdays, eight to eight on Saturday, and closed Sunday. Semicolons separate independent rules, so later rules can override earlier ones.

Decoding the syntax

You do not need to memorise the whole specification, but a handful of building blocks cover the vast majority of stations:

• Day ranges: two-letter codes joined with a hyphen: Mo-Fr for Monday to Friday, or a list like Mo,We,Fr.
• Time ranges: 24-hour clock, so 06:00-22:00 is 6am to 10pm. A range that crosses midnight, such as 22:00-06:00, runs into the next day.
• Midday breaks: two time ranges on one line: Mo-Fr 08:00-13:00,15:00-19:00 means the site closes for lunch between one and three.
• Closed markers: off or closed marks a day or period as shut, often used to carve an exception out of a broader rule.
• Public holidays: the code PH. You will see PH off (closed on holidays) or PH 09:00-18:00 (special holiday hours).

So Mo-Sa 07:00-21:00; Su 09:00-18:00; PH off is a station open early to late most days, shorter on Sunday, and shut entirely on public holidays. Read left to right, treat semicolons as new sentences, and the field usually tells a clear story.

"Open by schedule" is not the same as open

A green Open now badge is a calculation, not an observation. Refuelia works out the badge from the posted opening_hours and your current local time, a solid starting point, but only as good as the underlying data. Hours in OpenStreetMap are contributed by volunteers and can lag behind reality by months. A station that changed its schedule, cut overnight staffing, or closed for a rebuild may still show a cheerful badge until someone updates the map.

Treat the badge as "should be open according to the listed hours," not "confirmed open right now." The gap between those two matters most exactly when you are most exposed: late at night, on a holiday, or in a remote area with few alternatives.

Timezones and your device clock

Because the badge depends on the current time, it also depends on your clock. Opening hours are always local to the station, so the map has to compare its hours against the correct local time. If your phone is set to the wrong timezone, hasn't adjusted after a border crossing, or is stuck on manual time, an "open" or "closed" badge can be an hour or more off. Near a timezone boundary, or right after crossing one, double-check that your device shows the local time before you trust a marginal call. Daylight-saving changeovers are another quiet source of confusion for a day or two each spring and autumn.

The overnight pay-at-pump trap

Many stations that appear to run "24 hours" actually switch to pay-at-pump only overnight: the pumps stay live, but the shop, air, toilets and staff are gone. That is great if you just need fuel and carry a card the terminal accepts, and a problem if you were counting on cash, a specific app, a restroom, or help with a jammed nozzle. An unstaffed pump may also decline certain cards or place a temporary hold on your account. The lesson: an "open" badge at 3am tells you the pumps may work, not that everything you need is available.

Why hours change without notice

• Holidays: reduced hours or full closures on public holidays, sometimes decided at short notice.
• Staffing: a single-staff site can close unexpectedly if someone calls in sick.
• Deliveries and maintenance: individual pumps or chargers can go offline briefly even during listed hours.
• Seasonal schedules: tourist-area stations may run longer in summer and much shorter off-season.
• Stale map data: the listing simply hasn't caught up with a change the operator made.

A real-world scenario

Imagine you are driving across a rural region late on a public holiday and the last station within easy range shows Mo-Sa 06:00-22:00; Su,PH 08:00-20:00. It is 9pm on the holiday, so the badge reads closed: the holiday rule ended at eight. A nearby competitor listed as 24/7 looks like the safe bet, but tapping through reveals it runs pay-at-pump only overnight. If your card works at the terminal, you are fine; if you only carry cash, you need a different plan. Reading both listings fully, not just the top-line badge, is what turns a stressful gamble into a routine stop.

How to be sure before you commit

The strongest signal is a recent driver confirmation layered on top of the posted hours. If someone fuelled or charged there twenty minutes ago, you have real evidence the site is live. When there is no recent report and the hours look marginal, line up a backup station nearby on the map before you set off, and confirm the status yourself when you arrive. A minute spent reading the full listing beats a long detour to a locked forecourt.