UK Trains vs RailApp
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
UK Trains
This app tracks the punctuality of UK passenger trains based on the Public Performance Measure (PPM). It defines 'on time' based on arrival within 5-10 minutes of the planned schedule, depending on the service type. Trains failing to complete their planned route are counted as failures.
- Public Performance Measure (PPM) tracking
- On-time train arrival definition
- Service type punctuality thresholds
- Failure count for incomplete routes
- UK passenger train network data
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The public performance measure (PPM) measures the performance of individual trains advertised as passenger services against their planned timetable as agreed between the operator and Network Rail at 22:00 the night before. PPM is therefore the percentage of trains 'on time' compared to the total number of trains planned. A train is defined as on time if it arrives at the destination within five minutes (ie 4 minutes 59 seconds or less) of the planned arrival time for London and South East or regional services, or 10 minutes (ie 9 minutes 59 seconds or less) for long distance services. Where a train fails to run its entire planned route calling at all timetabled stations it will count as a PPM failure.
RailApp
Access live and offline departure boards for UK railways. View journey stops for direct train services between stations. This application does not plan routes.
- Live departure boards
- Offline access
- Journey stop overviews
- UK railway information
- Direct train services
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Departure boards for UK railways. Provides online and offline results, and overview of journey stops. Note that this is for direct trains between stations only, and cannot plan routes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RailApp at none against UK Trains's 1. RailApp also leads on ads (none vs shown). UK Trains's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 9 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. UK Trains sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. RailApp asks for nothing beyond the download.
UK Trains ships an update every 4 months, RailApp every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | UK Trains | RailApp |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | — | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jonathan Gibbs | Jacob Parker |
Customer experience
UK Trains
RailApp
In-app purchases
UK Trains
- No Ads$1.99
RailApp
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is UK Trains free?
Is RailApp free?
Do UK Trains or RailApp have ads?
Which is updated more often, UK Trains or RailApp?
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