Realtime Trains

Realtime Trains is a website that tracks trains on the British railway network.

Realtime Trains
Available inEnglish
Area servedGreat Britain
Founder(s)Tom Cairns
URLwww.realtimetrains.co.uk
AdvertisingYes
CommercialYes
RegistrationNo
LaunchedOctober 2012 (2012-10)
Current statusActive

History

Realtime Trains was launched in October 2012 by Tom Cairns, a student at the University of Southampton.[1][2]

In March 2020, Abellio ScotRail became the first operator to share additional rolling stock information with Realtime Trains.[3] The additional information was dubbed Know Your Train, and includes a visual overview of the type of rolling stock and number of carriages used by each service.[4] Operators which now offer this information include Northern Trains and TransPennine Express.[5] In May 2021, Realtime Trains stated that 45% of the distance travelled by trains on the British railway network was covered by Know Your Train.[6]

Another service called Track Your Train was added in September 2020, offering advanced notice of platform alterations and potential delays to a service. Initially, Track Your Train is only available on selected services starting at London Liverpool Street.[7]

Following a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund, in 2021 Realtime Trains installed live departure boards for Swanage Railway heritage services at Corfe Castle and Swanage stations.[8]

Data sources

The data presented on Realtime Trains is created using a variety of sources and human input.[9] In 2017, Realtime Trains installed GPS tracking devices in trains to allow services to be tracked during a diesel gala on the Swanage Railway.[1]

References
  1. Lea, Martin (11 May 2017). "Realtime Trains website installed GPS units in carriages being hauled during Swanage Railway's diesel gala". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  2. Heaton, John (June 2014). "Real Time Trains". The Railway Magazine. Mortons Media Group. p. 16. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  3. Sapién, Josephine Cordero (10 March 2020). "ScotRail First TOC to Publish Real Time Train Data". Railway News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  4. Cairns, Tom (11 March 2020). "Introducing Know Your Train". Realtime Trains. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. "New app to help Northern passengers find out 'realtime' train information". Rochdale Online. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  6. Holden, Michael (29 May 2021). "TransPennine Express joins Real Time Trains Know Your Train Scheme". Rail Advent. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  7. Cairns, Tom (14 September 2020). "Introducing Track Your Train". Realtime Trains. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  8. Lea, Martin (25 May 2021). "Swanage Railway's new innovative £223k system". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  9. Steadman, Ian (21 July 2014). "Public transport bodies: producing lots of data, not necessarily making the most of it". New Statesman. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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