ELRs vs OnRail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
OnRail
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Your train, live on your Lock Screen. OnRail is the live train companion built for UK commuters. Track your train, platform, delays and connections from your iPhone, Apple Watch and CarPlay, and share your journey with anyone, all powered by live National Rail data. LIVE ACTIVITIES ACROSS DEVICES See your platform, countdown, train busyness and delay alerts without opening the app. Live on your iPhone Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, CarPlay display, and Apple Watch. SHARE YOUR JOURNEY Send a live journey, station or train to anyone with a link. They can follow each leg, connection and delay as you travel, and you can stop sharing at any time. Shared journeys show times, legs and delays only. JOURNEY PLANNING Plan journeys between any two UK stations. A clear timeline shows every leg, connection, calling point, platform and operator, with delay reasons highlighted and tight changes flagged before you travel. JOURNEY LOG & DELAY STATISTICS Completed journeys show planned and actual times side by side, including how late each train ran and why. See your average arrival delay and how often you arrive on time, based on the trips you've taken. ACTIVE JOURNEYS & FAVOURITES See your journey in progress right inside the app, and save your regular journeys as favourites for quick access. LIVE STATION DEPARTURES See what's actually happening at your station: scheduled vs. expected times, delays, carriage details, and cancellation reasons for all UK operators. Choose a Native, amber dot-matrix Classic or dark Modern departure board style. SIRI & APP INTENTS Ask Siri for live train status or trigger saved routes with custom Shortcuts and the Action Button. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Monitor live departures and jump straight to your favourite or nearby stations from your Home Screen, including an extra-large iPad widget showing up to 10 services. Delays show in orange and cancellations in red. STATION & DISRUPTION INFO Look up any station by name: check facilities, accessibility, parking, weather, onward travel, and active disruptions or planned engineering works. BUILT FOR YOUR APPLE DEVICES iCloud keeps your favourite stations and saved journeys in sync across every device you own. ACCESSIBLE Supports Reduce Motion and Differentiate Without Colour, so the app works for more people. ONRAIL PRO Journey planning and live tracking are free. Upgrade to Pro for connection-aware Live Activities across multi-leg journeys, Apple Calendar integration, and multi-station widgets. PRIVACY FIRST OnRail collects no personally identifiable user data. Your saved journeys sync through your own iCloud. Shared journeys show only times, legs and delays, and you can stop sharing at any time. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.onrailapp.com/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ELRs at none against OnRail's 3. ELRs also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads 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. OnRail sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. ELRs asks for nothing beyond the download.
ELRs ships an update every 5 days, OnRail fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.
| Parameter | ELRs | OnRail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mike Finta | Shalini Kashyap |
In-app purchases
ELRs
No in-app purchases
OnRail
- OnRail Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- OnRail Pro annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- OnRail Pro Lifetime$39.99








