UK Trains vs ELRs
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.
ELRs
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An app to show the route of railway lines in England Scotland and Wales using Network Rail geospatial data, overlaying ELR line routes onto Apple Maps. Shows stations with station departure and arrival boards, as well as train service information from National Rail Enquiries
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ELRs at none against UK Trains's 1. ELRs also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 months). UK Trains's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price and device support 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. ELRs asks for nothing beyond the download.
UK Trains ships an update every 4 months, ELRs every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | UK Trains | ELRs |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jonathan Gibbs | Mike Finta |
In-app purchases
UK Trains
- No Ads$1.99
ELRs
No in-app purchases
