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RealTimeTrains website

Tom

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TBH it's just as easy to set up an "app like" link from your browser. The main advantage of apps is the ability to work offline, there is nothing to gain by doing that with RTT.
There is a benefit to an app in situations with congested networks, Waterloo at rush hour used to be awful for data.

Its just entirely inconvenient when every other source I use sticks to E/L.

Even the at times bizarre TRUST sticks with the conventional answer to this question.
I have been made aware of one quite prominent system internally in the industry (with a greater circulation than just TRUST) which uses +/-. TRUST isn't entirely consistent in its use of L/E, either. There are several pages on it where it won't say anything other than the number for a delay, and an E for early. I believe there's one area where it uses negative values but I can't remember what it is off the top of my head.

Either way, it is really not a big deal. Railways across the world use ± and RTT is not going to be contained to just Great Britain in time. In the grand scheme of things it is so minor it's almost amusing how much of a riot it's causing.
 
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IanXC

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I have been made aware of one quite prominent system internally in the industry (with a greater circulation than just TRUST) which uses +/-. TRUST isn't entirely consistent in its use of L/E, either. There are several pages on it where it won't say anything other than the number for a delay, and an E for early. I believe there's one area where it uses negative values but I can't remember what it is off the top of my head.

The only one I can think of is CCLDB, which at least goes to the trouble of showing any delays in Bold Red and early in standard black to make clear which is the problem figure.

In terms of Trust you've confirmed my own point, E for Early, not "-" for early(!?) I've never come across Trust using negative values.
 

Tom

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I suspect the censored name is what I think it is.

The difference to that system is that RTT will show any delay or early running more than 5 minutes in a different colour, less than that is negligible. I could however of course do for more than 1 minute, but personally I don't think that's necessary as it highlights things which aren't really a problem.

I would go hunting for the bit I've seen using negative values but I'm not bothered enough about it, and it won't be changing, so... ‍
 

alxndr

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I've not had need to use it in anger yet but generally I like it. My bugbear is the +/- as it's just not intuitive to me at all. Maybe I'll adjust, but for now I'm having to compare booked and actual times to figure out what on earth it means rather than just understanding at a glance. Whatever they do on the continent is irrelevant to me—I work in the UK!
 

Nighthawke

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7 Nov 2015
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First off a huge thank you to Tom and his team for all the work, both old and new versions. Having read through this thread, I can appreciate some of the comments, having been involved in data systems for virtually all my 36 year career.

However I am with Tom regarding the +/- issue. Seriously if you cannot just accept and learn that the symbols have replaced L/E then I do wonder how you manage to understand anything - it simply is not rocket science. It has been explained more than once in the thread and, as Tom says, ..."it won't be changing..."
 

306024

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Well back in the day marking up Control sheets we used to put early running as minutes in a circle, late running was just the minutes late, no +/-, and on time was a tick.

Then computers came along and - for early, + for late, and T for on time were adopted. Everyone understood that so what’s the fuss :) Everyone will get used to it.

Just to add what a great source of data RTT is, both for professional and personal use. Thanks for all the effort.
 

snail

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I think I prefer the alternative layout (the one in the picture), it provides a much simpler comparison between planned and actual times.
+ 1 from me for the alternative layout. I'm struggling to follow the new layout as it splits over two lines per reporting point on my phone. If I am looking up a long distance train (Euston - Scotland) there is a lot to scroll through to find its current status.
 

Tom

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The first iteration of the revised view on the detailed train pages on mobile has now been made available. There are still some changes to be made, but it's an improvement.
 

anamyd

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@Tom - not sure if you saw my previous post to you (#147)...?

I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into realtimetrains, however there seems to be something missing - the ability to type in a "from" point and a "to" point (or multiple "from" and "to" points) and have the site return a list of services which will run between any of those "from" and "to" points (say within the next week) for example anything running from Norwich station or Crown Point Depot or Long Marston, that goes through or terminates at Cardiff Central, Canton Sidings or Canton Pullman Rail (in other words, TfW 170 deliveries and TfW 153s coming back from works) - forgive me if I could in fact do that (but I would appreciate knowing how to), but if not, is this something that could be added...?

It's rather time-consuming to flick through many pages just to find information such as that described above.

Thanks to you and everyone else involved in the making of RTT :)
 
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Tom

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Thank for you finally deploying TLS. HSTS now, please?
TLS has been available for about 6 weeks now. HSTS will come at some point but is not high on the priority list.

I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into realtimetrains, however there seems to be something missing - the ability to type in a "from" point and a "to" point (or multiple "from" and "to" points) and have the site return a list of services which will run between any of those "from" and "to" points (say within the next week) for example anything running from Norwich station or Crown Point Depot or Long Marston, that goes through or terminates at Cardiff Central, Canton Sidings or Canton Pullman Rail (in other words, TfW 170 deliveries and TfW 153s coming back from works) - forgive me if I could in fact do that (but I would appreciate knowing how to), but if not, is this something that could be added...?
You can use the calling point filters available in the detailed mode to do a single point filter, e.g. Norwich, services calling at Liverpool Street. With sufficient manipulation of that filter and others you may be able to achieve what you want. It is unlikely that I will make multiple filters available in the foreseeable.
 

anamyd

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You can use the calling point filters available in the detailed mode to do a single point filter, e.g. Norwich, services calling at Liverpool Street. With sufficient manipulation of that filter and others you may be able to achieve what you want. It is unlikely that I will make multiple filters available in the foreseeable.
Many thanks for that :)
 

arb

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My main laptop (running Firefox) is rendering the mobile version of the site - in one narrow column on the left-hand side of the page and only using about 20% of the screen. My desktop PC is fine, as is an old laptop. I've tried the usual basics of clearing cookies, cache, etc. but to no avail. Before I try and dig deeper into my laptop's setup, I wondered if anybody else is seeing this? Is there a known issue with how it chooses between desktop/mobile views?
 

Trainfan2019

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As another poster mentioned, the RT 2L 2E for real time, late or early running trains is much better than the + or - symbols. I wish there was an option to go back and view the website in the old style layout.
 

Strat-tastic

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For what it's worth I find +/- very logical. Actual time = T + x; no problem :)

I also like the additional information shown below a train's places e.g.

Willesden Junction [WIJ]
Service stops for staffing reasons
 

theironroad

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One other issue I discovered last night :

Has the ability to search by train running ID from the search box been withdrawn? Previously, by typing in 1Wxx etc into the search box would bring up all the trains running with that ID. Came back with error when I tried it last night.
 

freddie1729

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24 Nov 2017
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165
One other issue I discovered last night :

Has the ability to search by train running ID from the search box been withdrawn? Previously, by typing in 1Wxx etc into the search box would bring up all the trains running with that ID. Came back with error when I tried it last night.

Did you use the Quick Search? Worked for me.

upload_2019-10-21_12-13-53.png
 

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theironroad

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Did you use the Quick Search? Worked for me.

View attachment 69668

Thanks for that.

I was using the same box that used to work for both location and train ID but that only seems to work for an actual location now.

I've just noticed that below the search error message is a message explaining that head code searches need to be done in a quick search. Maybe it wasn't there last night or I just didn't notice it.

Anyway, thanks, the quick search box does indeed work.
 

DarloRich

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The only very minor issue i have with the new site is that on the mobile it is hard to read the "realtime" column. I might suggest a different colour.

otherwise i think this is a really great offering a really great service. Good work, well done & thanks to whoever runs it.
 

Tom

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My main laptop (running Firefox) is rendering the mobile version of the site - in one narrow column on the left-hand side of the page and only using about 20% of the screen. My desktop PC is fine, as is an old laptop. I've tried the usual basics of clearing cookies, cache, etc. but to no avail. Before I try and dig deeper into my laptop's setup, I wondered if anybody else is seeing this? Is there a known issue with how it chooses between desktop/mobile views?
The website discriminates based on browser width and uses some more recent standards from 2017 - which is still fairly old in web terms. If you want me to investigate further please drop a line to [email protected].

What's the point in HSTS on a site that collects no personal data whatsoever?
Well, quite. Same with TLS really to a huge degree although that's somewhat of a common thing now.

As another poster mentioned, the RT 2L 2E for real time, late or early running trains is much better than the + or - symbols. I wish there was an option to go back and view the website in the old style layout.
Last time I'm going to say this - but the old site is not coming back, not in any way, not in any form; unless I do it as a joke on April Fools day or something.

I was using the same box that used to work for both location and train ID but that only seems to work for an actual location now.

Anyway, thanks, the quick search box does indeed work.
The fact that the location boxes worked before was entirely a bug and unintentional. The error message was added overnight.

The only very minor issue i have with the new site is that on the mobile it is hard to read the "realtime" column. I might suggest a different colour.
Is this on the new layout as of from about 2300 overnight? Could you drop a line to [email protected] to explain more please.

otherwise i think this is a really great offering a really great service. Good work, well done & thanks to whoever runs it.
:smile:
 
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anamyd

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Last time I'm going to say this - but the new site is not coming back, not in any way, not in any form; unless I do it as a joke on April Fools day or something.
It didn't go away in the first place :lol:
 

Tom

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Damnit. Edited. :rolleyes:

Late night last night dealing with about 150 messages to the email address.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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Just another big vote of approval for RTT.
It's makes rail journeys that much more interesting (and often entertaining).
Thank you Tom.

I do have one problem, on my Windows phone.
Detailed output for an individual train is split across many lines/screens vertically as it uses only a fraction of the width available.

I'm happy with +/-. The debate about E/L is like accountants who can't bring themselves to use a - sign and insist on brackets!
 

krus_aragon

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My main laptop (running Firefox) is rendering the mobile version of the site - in one narrow column on the left-hand side of the page and only using about 20% of the screen. My desktop PC is fine, as is an old laptop. I've tried the usual basics of clearing cookies, cache, etc. but to no avail. Before I try and dig deeper into my laptop's setup, I wondered if anybody else is seeing this? Is there a known issue with how it chooses between desktop/mobile views?
Standard and detailed views show up fine for me (Firefox 69.0.3, Arch Linux, Lenovo x250). The page layout is dynamic, however, and my browser switches to the mobile layout (for results pages) if I make my windows narrower than about 1200 pixels (on a 1366x768 display). It uses the whole width of the window however, none of this hiding on the left-hand side nonsense.

Is your laptop one of those fancy, dandy ones where you can hold the screen in portrait or landscape mode?
 

ainsworth74

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There's things I'd nit pick about (yes the +/- issue is one of them :lol:) but the product, considering it's free, is as excellent as always and overall a very good update which has seemingly been executed without a single noticeable serious issue on the users end!! Thanks as always for all the work on this!

Any chance of RTT International at some point in the future? Having just been on a few trips on the continent it's sorely missed and one of the things that's a nice "welcome home" when I get back!! :lol:
 

Tom

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I do have one problem, on my Windows phone.
Detailed output for an individual train is split across many lines/screens vertically as it uses only a fraction of the width available.
Please send a message and screenshot/photo with information about device, OS version, etc, to the feedback address.

Standard and detailed views show up fine for me (Firefox 69.0.3, Arch Linux, Lenovo x250). The page layout is dynamic, however, and my browser switches to the mobile layout (for results pages) if I make my windows narrower than about 1200 pixels (on a 1366x768 display). It uses the whole width of the window however, none of this hiding on the left-hand side nonsense.
The widths that it collapses into the full mobile version is at 640px wide I think. There is a secondary lower breakpoint on detailed train pages only at 390px that activates if you're looking at passenger train with realtime info that determines whether the GBTT column shows. Between 640px and 1200px the search menu 'collapses' to the top as it doesn't work on the left. Below 1200px the page will use the full width dynamically with no breakpoints.

There's things I'd nit pick about (yes the +/- issue is one of them :lol:) but the product, considering it's free, is as excellent as always and overall a very good update which has seemingly been executed without a single noticeable serious issue on the users end!! Thanks as always for all the work on this!

Any chance of RTT International at some point in the future? Having just been on a few trips on the continent it's sorely missed and one of the things that's a nice "welcome home" when I get back!! :lol:
RTT International is coming - probably next year for the first country. It is one of the primary reasons behind the shift to ± lateness - commonality is better across the entire site than making another unmaintainable mess for me.
 

ainsworth74

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RTT International is coming - probably next year for the first country. It is one of the primary reasons behind the shift to ± lateness - commonality is better across the entire site than making another unmaintainable mess for me.

Oh excellent! I will be looking forward to that a great deal.

Thanks again for all the work and I'm sorry we're such a bunch of moaning wotsits :lol:
 

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