Reed & Mackay vs South Western Railway
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Reed & Mackay
Manage all your business travel needs seamlessly, from booking flights and hotels to accessing live itineraries and receiving real-time trip updates. Get 24/7 human assistance and personalized booking with securely saved details.
- Book air, hotel, rail, and car hire
- Live itinerary and e-ticket access
- Real-time notifications for trip safety
- 24/7 in-app travel team assistance
- Profile-fuelled, personalized bookings
- On-the-go profile updates
Read full descriptionHide full description
Streamline every business trip – from booking to arrival – with Reed & Mackay’s mobile app. Ease. Efficiency. Value – all in the palm of your hand Fast, Friction-free travel Browse, compare, book and manage travel arrangements Book air, hotel, rail and car hire with great value content at your fingertips Live itinerary, boarding pass and e-ticket access – skip the queue with everything you need in your pocket Stay informed and trip-safe with real time notifications, from gate changes to bad weather Contact your R&M travel team 24/7 from within the app for fast human assistance Personalised, easy booking Profile-fuelled bookings – passport and billing details securely saved and auto-filled On-the-go profile updates – update preferences anytime, knowing your travel team will see them immediately Consistent no matter how you book – start a trip on your mobile – and pick it up on R&M/Book or with your travel consultant – no duplicate entries, no admin delays. Not a Reed & Mackay client yet? Get in contact: https://www.reedmackay.com/contact-us/ Note: The Reed & Mackay app is exclusively available to Reed & Mackay clients.
South Western Railway
Purchase UK train tickets without booking fees and access live travel updates. Save money with advance tickets and earn rewards on every purchase. Easily store e-tickets on your phone for convenient travel.
- Buy UK train tickets
- No booking fees
- Advance ticket savings
- Rewards program
- eTickets for mobile wallet
- Live train times
- Platform details
Read full descriptionHide full description
Download the official South Western Railway (SWR) app to check train times and buy cheap train tickets on any train line in the UK* - and we don’t charge booking fees. Why choose the South Western Railway app? • Buy train tickets to and from anywhere across the UK* • Save up to 51% with Advance train tickets • No booking fees every time • Get rewarded every time you buy direct with SWR. With over 100 rewards to choose from including days out, cheap theatre tickets, shopping discounts and much more! • Get the cheapest SWR tickets. With our price promise if you see a cheaper price for the same train ticket travelling with SWR, we'll refund the difference • eTickets - download and store your tickets in your phone’s wallet for easy access Live information • Check Live Train Times Across the UK* • View departure and arrival times for all National Rail services • Check live train times, locations and where to be with platform details • Save your frequent journeys for ease of checking again later • Check onboard facilities and see how busy your SWR train is Information to note: You’ll need to create an online SWR account or sign-in before you can purchase your train tickets. * Excludes Northern Ireland Got a question? Here’s our FAQs: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/faqs Need to get in touch? Find the best way to here: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help Follow us: • Message/ “tweet” us at: https://twitter.com/SW_Help • Instagram • Facebook • X • YouTube • Google News
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Reed & Mackay at fortnightly against South Western Railway's every 2 months. Reed & Mackay also leads on review sentiment (29% vs 15%). South Western Railway's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). 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.
Reed & Mackay ships an update fortnightly, South Western Railway every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Reed & Mackay | South Western Railway |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.6 (1.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 28.6% of reviews — better | 15.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 133 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Reed and Mackay Travel Ltd | First MTR South Western Trains Limited |
Customer experience
Reed & Mackay
South Western Railway
Bugs and requests
Reed & Mackay
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
South Western Railway
Reported bugs
4 issues- Constant log-outs and inability to stay signed in
- Tickets not appearing in app after purchase
- Technical errors when trying to buy tickets
- App crashing on launch after updates
Requested features
4 requests- Add tickets to Apple Wallet
- Improve communication during service disruptions
- Introduce a favorites/frequent journeys feature
- Allow saving of payment and railcard details
In-app purchases
Reed & Mackay
No in-app purchases
South Western Railway
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Reed & Mackay free?
Is South Western Railway free?
Do Reed & Mackay or South Western Railway have ads?
Which is updated more often, Reed & Mackay or South Western Railway?
Other comparisons















