CTrail eTix vs Explore New London
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CTrail eTix
Purchase mobile rail tickets for Hartford Line and Shore Line East customers directly from your smartphone. Avoid lines and cash transactions by buying daily parking and various ticket types, including monthly bus add-ons for CTtransit users.
- Purchase mobile rail tickets
- Buy daily parking
- Save tickets for later
- Receive email receipts
- Add CTtransit bus passes
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Traveling on CTrail just got easier! No more waiting in line to purchase a paper ticket, swiping your credit card, or carrying around cash. Connecticut DOT’s CTrail eTix app allows Hartford Line and Shore Line East customers to buy mobile rail tickets using their smartphone. Daily parking at Wallingford and Berlin stations is also available for purchase using CTrail eTix. With CTrail eTix, One-Way, Weekly, Monthly, and Ten-Trip mobile tickets are available for purchase. For customers that also use CTtransit, a CTtransit Monthly (Local) Bus add-on is available for purchase with your monthly rail ticket. Pay on the go, and use your mobile tickets immediately or save them for later. Keeping track of expenses is easy with CTrail eTix receipts provided via e-mail. Get started right away by downloading CTrail eTix and creating your account.
Explore New London
Discover New London's attractions and businesses with this comprehensive guide. Local businesses can manage their listings, update information, and send notifications directly to users.
- Explore local attractions
- Discover businesses
- Update business listings
- Add photos and menus
- Link to business websites
- Receive push notifications
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The Explore New London app is designed to be used by local residents and visitors to explore our many offerings. Local businesses will have the opportunity to edit their business listing, update hours, list photo, menus, types of services, link to your website and may submit push notifications to app users.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Explore New London at 5.0 against CTrail eTix's 1.6. Explore New London also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). CTrail eTix's advantage is ratings volume (184 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Explore New London holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CTrail eTix has 184 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
CTrail eTix ships an update every 6 months, Explore New London every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CTrail eTix | Explore New London |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.6 (184 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 5.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 184 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CTrail Connecticut Department of Transportation | Armstrong Software |
Customer experience
CTrail eTix
Explore New London
Bugs and requests
CTrail eTix
Reported bugs
35 issues- Cannot create an account
- Password reset functionality broken
- Email already in use error when creating account, but no account found for password reset
- App crashes frequently
- Purchased tickets disappear from the app
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- Login errors/connection errors
- App reverts to old keyboard and screen size
- Apple Pay not working reliably
- Time change detected errors when accessing tickets
- App closes when selecting a destination/station
- App immediately crashes after an update
- No confirmation email received
- Cannot log in
- App doesn't let me select a destination
- App doesn't work at all
- Tickets disappear multiple times
- App crashes on first install
- App requires camera access unnecessarily
- App doesn't load over HTTPS reliably
- Payment form hosted on a different service
- App doesn't support larger screens/newer phones
- App doesn't allow copy/paste of passwords
- App doesn't interact with password managers
- App crashes when trying to start
- App doesn't let me purchase a ticket
- App doesn't allow me to select a destination
- App closes out when entering a station
- App keeps crashing
- App is incredibly buggy
- App requires camera access to verify tickets
- App displays browser windows within itself
- App requires constant logging in
- App is formatted for much older phones and does not display correctly
- App keeps telling me to confirm email with no way to do so
- App lacks proper support for newer phones
Requested features
18 requests- Modernize the app's UI/UX
- Add train schedules to the app
- Improve password management (copy/paste, password managers)
- Add Apple Wallet support
- Add Dynamic Island support
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- Add Live Updates
- Allow round trip ticket purchases
- Add trip planning ability
- Improve payment options (Apple Pay, security)
- Add a way to confirm email
- Fix app crashing issues
- Coordinate with Amtrak and Metro North apps
- Add a schedule page
- Add a reservation system
- Increase time window for ticket confirmation
- Improve security of backend and payment forms
- Add Dark Mode option
- Add an interactive schedule like the website
Explore New London
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
CTrail eTix
No in-app purchases
Explore New London
No in-app purchases
