Best UK Train Apps: The 2026 Guide

Whether you need to buy cheap tickets, check live departures, or just want a great train times widget for your home screen, there is an app for you.

Summary

• Best for Tickets: TrainPal & TrainSplit
• Best Train Operator App: LNER
• Best for Live Train Times: Railtime

1. Ticket Buying Apps

Examples: Trainline, TrainPal, TrainSplit, Seatfrog, Railboard, Omio, and more.

These apps are designed for purchasing tickets. They often offer split-ticketing to save money, especially on longer journeys, but often charge booking fees.

Pros:

• Buy tickets for any UK journey
• Split-ticketing features to save money
• Digital railcards

Cons:

• Booking fees often apply
• Can be cluttered with ads or upsells
• Live train times are buried behind purchase flows

Recommendation: TrainSplit and TrainPal

These two apps offer the widest range of split ticket options to help you save money. TrainSplit charges a percentage of the split ticket saving as a fee whereas TrainPal often has no fees at all but may be more expensive if you want to change/refund your ticket later. Avoid Trainline where possible due to high fees and less range of cheap split ticket options to choose from.

2. Train Operator Apps

Examples: LNER (London North Eastern Railway), GWR (Great Western Railway), Southeastern, Chiltern Railways, TfL Rail, Merseyrail, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Hull Trains, TransPennine Express, Thameslink, Northern Trains, Heathrow Express, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Railway, ScotRail, Transport for Wales (TfW), Lumo, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway, and more.

Apps built by the train companies themselves. Great for buying simple tickets with no fees, but lack extra money-saving features like split ticketing for longer journeys.

Pros:

• No booking fees
• Direct updates from the operator

Cons:

• User interfaces can be clunky
• Often prioritize their own trains over others
• Live train times are buried behind purchase flows

Recommendation: LNER

LNER's app is one of the better ones, with a clean interface and straightforward ticket purchasing. You can usually buy tickets for any train operator but it can be difficult to find the ticket you want, especially if it's a slower but cheaper journey.

3. Live Train Times & Commuter Apps

Examples: Railtime, National Rail, UK Live Train Times, Train Times UK Journey Planner, Realtime Trains, NexTrain, Fasteroute, RailChecker, On Rails, Nearly Departed, Train Home, VelociGo, and more.

These apps focus purely on live UK train times: departure and arrival boards, platform information, disruption updates, and train tracking.

Pros:

• Fastest access to live departure boards
• Fastest access to live train status
• Some offer Home Screen Widgets for train times at a glance (Railtime has exclusive widget designs)

Cons:

• Cannot buy tickets - designed for people who already have a ticket (or can use alongside a ticketing app)
• Some have clunky, outdated interfaces

Recommendation: Railtime

Railtime offers the clearest and fastest access to live train times. It sets itself apart from other apps with a modern clean interface, including beautiful home screen widgets with themes which replicate the look of a real LED matrix departure board. You can check your favourite routes straight from your home screen. It's only a 6 MB download so you can save precious storage space on your phone. All for free, with no ads.

Comparison Table

Feature	Railtime	Railboard	Trainline	Operator Apps
Fast access to live train times	✅	✅	⚠️ - buried behind purchase flows	⚠️ - buried behind purchase flows
Widgets	✅ - several sizes and themes	❌	⚠️ - basic widget with single train only	❌
Buy tickets	Not cluttered by ticket sales	✅ - split tickets, fees apply	✅ - split tickets, fees apply	✅ - basic tickets, no fees
No account required	✅	⚠️ - some features require log in	⚠️ - some features require log in	⚠️ - some features require log in
Small app size	✅ - only 6 MB	❌ - 61 MB	❌ - 315 MB!	❌ - over 100 MB!