NR iPhone Apps

[lyesbkz]

I've noticed there now seem to be two National Rail approved iPhone apps for looking up times, fares and similar details.

One is 'UK Train Times' (the original one), costs £4.99 and is made by Agant. And the other one is 'Rail Planner Live' which is £3.49 and made by Thales

Has anyone used either of these apps? They both seem to serve the same purpose and I'm wondering which one to go for.

 

[Nym]

Neither, use the NR Website on your phone for free...

 

[lyesbkz]

Neither, use the NR Website on your phone for free...

It's a pretty heavy website to load especially when the data connection isn't very strong (in many places when you're on a train, for example). Plus the NR website has many annoying factors - it doesn't show live train information, it doesn't allow one to search for trains that have already departed, ...

 

[SS4]

I understand Thales to be the main app they use Link

I'd stick to accessing the website from your mobile. You can always spoof your user agent to get the desktop version (my Android is "Linux Desktop")

 

[wintonian]

I use the Thales one for android it has a useful 'get me home' feature, where you pre-set your home station and when wishing to use the feature it comes up with a list (via GPS) of the nearest stations to where you are, select one and it will tell you the next 5 (I think) trains home including any delays.

It also includes live departure boards, underground status and a journey planner.

 

[robertbishop]

The best free one I have is the Chiltern Railways app. All the other ones are OK for times, but the Chiltern one does fares the best, giving you the option of return tickets or getting two singles. Ones like the trainline are pathetic, especially when you want to know prices.

Haven't tried the Thales one, but I'm not prepared to pay for something when I can get an equivalent free. I think many of the functions of the pay ones are present in free apps.

 

[Class172]

I use the free XC train times app. Has all the functions I need

 

[Yew]

With a bit of luck ec will put their nice planner into an app, trainlone is okay for times and prices, but by no way excellent

 

[JonathanH]

It's a pretty heavy website to load especially when the data connection isn't very strong (in many places when you're on a train, for example). Plus the NR website has many annoying factors - it doesn't show live train information, it doesn't allow one to search for trains that have already departed, ...

Yes, but pda.nationalrail.co.uk works fine on a mobile and offers live information (although still has the thing about not searching for trains that have already left). I even use this in preference to the main website on a normal computer when looking for train times / live running.

Jonathan

 

[466.networkers]

I use the Rail Planner Live app ... I bought it for £2.49 ... yes, you can't buy tickets on it but it allows to check the prices of fares before you travel - which is good if you want Advance fares.

I have the other apps installed but only mainly use Rail Planner Live.

 

[33056]

Don't bother, just pin the "train times" page for my local station to the front page menu on the phone - works a treat and auto-updates pretty quickly when accessed. It is also easy to change the enquiry to another station when necessary.

 

[Evvy73]

I use http://traintimes.org.uk/ on my Android device, which (as the name suggests!) is only good for train times. It is well laid out and gives live running info with platform numbers, etc.

If you add the code for the station you are interested in to the URL you'll get the departures for that station, so http://traintimes.org.uk/lbg would give you London Bridge departures making it easy to set up bookmarks.
Similarly if you just want to know trains on a specific route just add this code to the URL, so http://traintimes.org.uk/lbg/hhe would give you all trains from London Bridge to Haywards Heath.

For iPhone users it suggests using http://i.traintimes.org.uk to get an "iPhone-ish" interface - not sure what this is not owning any Apple products!

The site has a few other features too such as interactive maps - well worth a look!

 

[1V53]

As one who paid for the National Rail app I find it useful and much easier than web pages. You set up main stations which you save so you click the app, click the station.

Two clicks to see live departures.

Using an iPhone I find this the simplest way to go. I'm sure you could set up same as web pages and put them all in a folder but the app presents the info in a much better way.

It also has the 'get me home' feature mentioned above.

To me it was well worth the £4.99 for ease of use and simple ease of searching for different stations but each to their own.

 

[1V53]

 

[Aictos]

Personally I just use the mobile friendly staff live departures site but with regards to planning journeys, thefe is a nifty tool which is being piloted by FCC which has the ability to send journey planner enquiries to passengers via email or sms, it also tells you of any disruption at any station in the UK plus you can attach yourself to any UK service which then can let you know of any delay to that service.

It isn't perfect as it is still in development but works in principle as Advantix although is designed for mobile devices such as Blackberrys.

 

[Nym]

The only time I've used my mobile is when the PIS is down at Piccadilly or Oxford Road, and that isn't very often any more.

 

[button_boxer]

A second plug for traintimes.org.uk. The other nice thing about this site is that you can do a search direct from the URL without having to load a form first, for example

http://traintimes.org.uk/stp/dby/19:00/tuesday
http://traintimes.org.uk/dby/shf/last/tomorrow

They also have nicer LDBs than the nationalrail ones

http://traintimes.org.uk/live/EDB/GLQ

 

[1V53]

A second plug for traintimes.org.uk. The other nice thing about this site is that you can do a search direct from the URL without having to load a form first, for example

http://traintimes.org.uk/stp/dby/19:00/tuesday
http://traintimes.org.uk/dby/shf/last/tomorrow

They also have nicer LDBs than the nationalrail ones

http://traintimes.org.uk/live/EDB/GLQ

Took a lot longer to load up than the NatRail app did, just did a test. The thing is, I work on the trains and need a fast source of info. So I'd rather have the app, which I have set up with my relevant stations and can quickly see stopping patterns and where delays are, click in out and back to another, than waiting for webpages to load up.

 

[Fincra5]

The Thales on for Android is better Used both. They are very useful, I use them quite a lot for passengers; much faster than the Advantix.

 

[umontu]

XC's is free and has all the information you need.
Time's, platform, dwell times, late runnings etc.

The Deutsche Bahn free app covers the uk too and is relatively good if you wish to travel out to europe. Though it thought Blackpool South and North were within a brief walking distance.

 

[starrymarkb]

For iPhone users it suggests using http://i.traintimes.org.uk to get an "iPhone-ish" interface - not sure what this is not owning any Apple products!

it probably means generic touch screen optimised. Basicly links and buttons are big and well spaced to make them easy to hit with imprecise fingers. Nothing more annoying then having to zoom in to tick a tiny tickbox on the desktop version (and because of poor tab order coding you can't use Android's trackball/pad)

 

[ralphchadkirk]

it probably means generic touch screen optimised. Basicly links and buttons are big and well spaced to make them easy to hit with imprecise fingers. Nothing more annoying then having to zoom in to tick a tiny tickbox on the desktop version (and because of poor tab order coding you can't use Android's trackball/pad)

The UI is almost an exact copy of an Apple UI. That's why it's called an iPhone like app.