RailApp vs Commuter Train Check
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Commuter Train Check
Access live UK train times and plan journeys with this user-friendly app. Set up regular trips, explore alternative routes, and view detailed service information. Plan future travel up to three months in advance.
- Live train times
- Regular journey setup
- Alternative station options
- Journey planning up to 3 months ahead
- Detailed service stop information
- Connection time estimates
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Quickly and easily find out live train times and plan train journeys in the UK with this fuss-free application that has advanced features and a slick user interface. Side-swipe between three screens to access different features. LIVE TRAIN TIMES Set up your regular journeys, specifying the time windows in which you would usually make them. Depending on the time of day that you open the app, the journeys applicable at that time (the "active" journeys) will be presented first Take advantage of the "spotlight" feature to show specified journey(s) at the top of the home screen at all times. You can specify up to 3 alternative source stations and 3 alternative destination stations for the same journey. You will be presented with live train times for services covering all available combinations. Perfect for where you have choices of source and destination stations and trains that cover various routes. You can also choose to leave the destination station blank in order to see all trains passing through the source station. Each journey must be for a direct train service, but you can specify up to 3 different journey legs. The app will present the different potential train combinations you can take, given the latest live times. The time you will have to make each connection is also presented, allowing you to work out if you have a chance of actually making the connection. View earlier services for any given journey to display all trains still in motion, or reached their destination in the last half hour. Further, any service in the detail screen will always be available until half an hour after the train reaches its destination - allowing you to track a train's expected future progress if you are keeping an eye on a connection. Tap on any individual train service to see a detailed breakdown of all the station stops on that service, along with the live train time status at each stop. This detail is shown on a screen to the right of the home screen, and you can side-swipe between the two screens. These two screens are related, but separate, meaning you can keep an eye on the detailed status of a train on the detail screen (refreshing it periodically) whilst swiping back to the home screen to look at the status of all the train services for that journey. Where available, the number of carriages (where available) and train operating company is show, along with platform numbers. JOURNEY PLANNING Journey planning is accessed on the first of the three application screens. Select any two UK stations, a date and time of travel within the next 3 months, and optimal routes will be determined. Routes are chosen based on time, number of changes, and size of the change stations. The routes include the officially recognised transfers between stations, including walking, bus, metro and tube connections. The timetable and transfer data is provided by National Rail, and is updated each night. For each journey presented the departure and arrival time and station is shown, along with the number of changes the journey entails. Tap on the journey to toggle the display of all the stops and transfers (if any) the journey involves. OTHER COOL STUFF The application will respect Dark Mode, and allows the font size to be changed. Tip text is shown liberally throughout the app, but if you reach Expert User status, the tip text can be toggled off from the main menu. NOTES Only UK passenger trains are covered, and the source data feeds (both live times and timetables) are provided by National Rail Enquiries. If you have any questions about this application, or wish to provide constructive feedback, please email contact@ijmsoftware.net.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: RailApp at none against Commuter Train Check's shown. RailApp also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.6). Commuter Train Check's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months). On price, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RailApp ships an update every 9 months, Commuter Train Check every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RailApp | Commuter Train Check |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob Parker | Ian Morrison |
Customer experience
RailApp
Commuter Train Check
In-app purchases
RailApp
No in-app purchases
Commuter Train Check
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is RailApp free?
Is Commuter Train Check free?
Do RailApp or Commuter Train Check have ads?
Which is updated more often, RailApp or Commuter Train Check?
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