Comparison

Reading Buses vs TrainSplit

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Reading Buses

Plan your bus journeys, purchase mobile tickets, and track live departures. This app provides real-time bus information, fare discovery, and contactless journey history. Save your favorite routes and stay updated on service disruptions.

Highlights
  • Mobile ticket purchase
  • Live departure tracking
  • Journey planning
  • Fare discovery
  • Timetable access
  • Contactless journey history
  • Service update notifications
Features
Read full description

Our new app has everything you need to travel with Reading Buses. NEW! Discover your fare: Find the fare for the journeys you are planning whether you want to buy a mobile ticket in advance or pay on the bus. Mobile Tickets: Purchase mobile tickets securely with a debit/credit card and scan when boarding - no more searching for cash! Live Departures: Browse and view bus stops on the map, explore upcoming departures, or check out the routes from a stop to see where you could travel next. Journey Planning: It’s now even easier to plan ahead with Reading Buses. Timetables: We’ve squeezed the whole timetable into the palm of your hand. Contactless Journeys: View the journeys you have made using your contactless cards and a breakdown of charges and savings. Favourites: You can quickly save your favourite Departure Boards, Timetables and Journeys, with quick access from one convenient menu. Service Updates: You’ll be able to keep up to date with disruption information from our Twitter feed inside the app. As always, we welcome your feedback. You can send it to us via the app.

About

TrainSplit

This app helps you save money on train tickets by splitting your journey into multiple tickets. It finds the cheapest options and allows you to book and store e-tickets directly within the app.

Highlights
  • Split train journeys for savings
  • Intelligent search for cheapest options
  • Book tickets directly
  • Store e-tickets in-app
  • Save booking details
  • Access digital railcards
Features
Read full description

TrainSplit is the easy way to make your train travel up to 40% cheaper. By simply splitting your train journey across two or more tickets, you can save money on your next trip. Thousands of people are now enjoying affordable train travel thanks to TrainSplit. Give TrainSplit a try today. How does it work? With our app it’s quick and easy. Imagine for a moment travelling from Birmingham to Leeds: • A return ticket costs £82.80*. • With TrainSplit you can buy a train ticket from Birmingham to Derby, another from Derby to Sheffield and finally one from Sheffield to Leeds, all for just £58.49. • A remarkable saving of £24.31. What do I need to do? • Using TrainSplit is as speedy and simple as using any other train booking system. • Simply enter your journey plan and TrainSplit does the rest. • Our powerful search engine will find you the cheapest options available ready for you to make your booking. Will I have to get on and off the train? • Make yourself comfortable and enjoy the journey. Though you’ll have multiple tickets, you can stay onboard. • If you’re in First Class, you may have to move seats (but not disembark the train) if they have been pre-allocated. Features: • Search - for cheap train tickets today. TrainSplit’s intelligent algorithm searches the National Rail’s vast and ever changing database offering you the cheapest travel options provided by Split Ticketing. • Book - your tickets for extreme savings. Once TrainSplit’s impressive search engine has found you the most affordable travel plan, get booking and get travelling. • E-Tickets - We offer E-Tickets for all supported routes and store them for you in the app once you’ve booked. Same great savings, much less paper. • Account - Save your details to speed up future bookings. • Review - Take a look at your previous bookings and check the details of your future journeys. • Railcards - Access your purchased Digital Railcards, and save up to 1/3rd extra on your travel. Purchase your next Railcard at railcards.trainsplit.com Split Ticketing is approved under the National Rail conditions of carriage. For more information visit trainsplit.com *All fares quoted are Off-Peak (returning the same day) and accurate as of June 2025. Saving at peak times can be even greater.

Screenshots

Reading Buses4 screens
TrainSplit4 screens

Verdict

The call

Reading Buses and TrainSplit both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 82% of TrainSplit's written reviews are positive against 61% of Reading Buses's. Reading Buses's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Reading Buses against 4.9 for TrainSplit. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 83 and 33 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 61% of Reading Buses's written reviews are positive against 82% of TrainSplit's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reading Buses ships an update fortnightly, TrainSplit every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Reading Buses versus TrainSplit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReading BusesTrainSplit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (83 ratings)4.9 (33 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.2% of reviews82.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings83 — better33
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB88 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReading BusesTrainSplit.com Ltd

Customer experience

Reading Buses

All ratings83 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews103 reviews
Positive61.2%
Neutral8.7%
Negative30.1%

TrainSplit

All ratings33 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews106 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral4.7%
Negative13.2%

In-app purchases

None

Reading Buses

No in-app purchases

None

TrainSplit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Reading Buses free?
Reading Buses is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TrainSplit free?
TrainSplit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Reading Buses or TrainSplit?
TrainSplit is rated higher. Reading Buses averages 4.8 out of 5 from 83 ratings, while TrainSplit averages 4.9 from 33 ratings.
Do Reading Buses or TrainSplit have ads?
Neither Reading Buses nor TrainSplit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reading Buses or TrainSplit?
Reading Buses ships an update fortnightly, and TrainSplit every 2 weeks. Most recently, Reading Buses was updated on October 16, 2026 and TrainSplit on October 14, 2026.

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