Train Planner vs Train Radar UK
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Train Planner
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UK Train Planner is the fast, clean way to catch your train. Live National Rail departures and London Underground status in one app, with journey planning that starts from where you are. LIVE DEPARTURES • Real-time departures for any UK station, plus live Tube arrivals. • Delays, cancellations and platform numbers the moment they change. • Filter a board to just the trains heading to your destination. PLAN YOUR JOURNEY • Door-to-door journeys with changes and walking times. • Plan from your current location, so your leave time includes the walk to the station. • Clear warnings when a connection is tight. TRACK IT HANDS-FREE • Track a train or a whole journey as a Live Activity on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. • It advances leg by leg and tells you when to change, using low-power location, even with your phone in your pocket. • Alerts for delays, platform changes and cancellations. MADE FOR COMMUTERS • Save your regular journeys and stations for one-tap access. • A Next train widget for a saved journey, plus Lock Screen widgets. • Ask Siri for your nearest departures, or add a Home Screen quick action. • Nearby stations, at a tap. Data from National Rail (Darwin) and Transport for London. Times are indicative and not guaranteed. No account needed, no tracking.
Train Radar UK
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TrainRadar shows Britain's trains moving across the map in real time. Tap any train to see where it's going, every station it calls at, how late it is and why. Search by headcode, service or station. Check a station's live departure board, or see what's disrupted across the network right now — all without creating an account. WHAT YOU GET • Live map of trains across Great Britain, updating continuously • Tap a train for its full route, calling points, timings and delay reasons • Live departure and arrival boards for any station • Current disruptions across the network • Search by headcode, service or station name • Filter the map by train operator, and see how each one is performing • Photos of real trains, contributed by other spotters, shown against the services they run on • Nine map styles, from dark and satellite to hand-drawn colourways HISTORY • Tap any train, then History, to see how it ran on each day, with the real time at every stop • Day-by-day punctuality for every train between the same two stations • Look up a unit and see every train it has worked, day by day TIME MACHINE • Pick a day and a time and see every train exactly where it was • Play it back at 1×, 2×, 10× or 20×, or jump 15 minutes at a time • Tap any train to see where it was heading and its times at every stop DELAY REPAY • Pick your journey and TrainRadar checks every train on it over the last 28 days, so no delay slips past you • See the real delay at your station for every late or cancelled train, with an estimate of what you could claim • Get help filling in the operator's claim form, and keep all your claims in one place until you're paid FOR SPOTTERS Create a free account to upload your own photos to the routes you took them on. Go Premium to keep a personal spotter log: record every unit you've seen with times, locations and notes, with unit names, classes and liveries filled in automatically, and export the whole thing as a PDF. PREMIUM The live map, boards, disruptions and search are free. History and Time Machine cover the last few days for free, and Delay Repay gives a free estimate for each journey. Premium unlocks the spotter log, the full set of map styles, History and Time Machine going much further back, and the full Delay Repay checker with claim help and tracking. It's a recurring subscription billed through the App Store, and you can cancel any time from your Apple ID's subscription settings. HOW IT WORKS Train positions are estimated. TrainRadar takes schedules and reported passing points from Network Rail, Darwin and Realtime Trains, and works out where each train most likely is between them. It is not a GPS feed from the train itself, so treat the map as a very good guess rather than gospel — don't rely on it to catch a train, and always check with the operator or National Rail before you travel. History and Time Machine replay what TrainRadar recorded at the time, so the same applies to them. Delay Repay amounts are estimates. The train operator decides whether a claim is accepted and how much it pays. Please stay safe near the railway. Never trespass, and only photograph trains from places you're allowed to be. TrainRadar is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by National Rail, Network Rail, Rail Delivery Group or any train operating company. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://trainradar.uk/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Train Planner at none against Train Radar UK's 1. Train Planner also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). Train Radar UK's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). 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. Train Radar UK sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Train Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Train Planner ships an update every 2 days, Train Radar UK every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | Train Planner | Train Radar UK |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | — | 66.7% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 5 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Grey Fox Limited | Ian Clark |
In-app purchases
Train Planner
No in-app purchases
Train Radar UK
- TrainRadar UK Premium1 Month trial$2.991 Month
Questions
Is Train Planner free?
Is Train Radar UK free?
Do Train Planner or Train Radar UK have ads?
Which is updated more often, Train Planner or Train Radar UK?
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