The new version of Realtime Trains is currently under development and I would like to enlist the help of users of the site to help test out some of the new functionality that I’ve put in place.
I’m looking for a small group of people who are interested in helping test the ‘Basic’ side of the site. Not a lot has changed over on the ‘Advanced’ side of the site, so I’m not asking for testers to help with that one.
The ‘basic’ pages have received a huge overhaul, connected with a change under the hood to make the processing engine more robust, in order to make the site much easier to use for both regular and irregular travellers alike.
There is a constraint on who can apply. You must be a commuter, regular rail traveller or a member of rail staff and you must also have a smartphone or internet capable device. If you meet these minor conditions, please send an email to tom@swlines.co.uk with “RTT Beta Test” in the header. In the message, please say why you meet these conditions and why you would be interested in helping.
I publish below a nearly full copy of my response to the real time information consultation that the ORR has been running.
Background
[This is a summary of Realtime Trains and my own history for the benefit of the ORR. For the actual body of the response, hop down to the beginning of question 1.]
Realtime Trains (RTT) is my newest consumer product. RTT is a website available free of charge to the general public at http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk, and was developed by myself. Its intended purpose is to provide a realistic and viable alternative to Darwin, providing predictions on future arrival, departure and passing times for all trains on the network. Continue reading →
Since Realtime Trains launched a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been pondering on how to fix what I call the black hole of the Chilterns.
Chiltern Railways has a small network that operates out of London Marylebone. The lines it operates split at Neasden operating up towards High Wycombe and Princes Risborough with the other line heading up towards Harrow, Amersham and Aylesbury – and this is the black hole.
1212 London Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway - showing the black hole in action
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Realtime Trains generated heatmap of delays across the UK
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working away on realtimetrains.co.uk which is the evolution on from my original train timetables websites.
Ever since RailMiles was first launched, I’ve been trying to find ways of making it easier to insert journeys. The main problem was, always, trying to find a reliable source of actual train times. I dabbled with the Live Departure Boards Web Service for a while, before it was locked down, but found it rather cumbersome to use.
I’m writing this post to mark the a milestone of the release of Realtime Trains and this posts details the functionality that the site is able to perform. Continue reading →
DISCLAIMER: This is my personal opinion on the ICWC franchise. Nothing more, nothing less. This post therefore solely represents my own personal views and not those of any company I work, have worked for or will work for. I’ve also not proof read it, and I’m sure there are some typos and errors as a result. Comment if there are. Anyway, here goes…
I welcomed the announcement of the preferred bidder for the ICWC franchise. I felt that it was, on the whole, good news. Clearly, there are a lot of strong feelings that Virgin have done well and it shouldn’t be revoked. I don’t disagree that they’ve done well, but that doesn’t mean another company can’t improve upon the basis of what Virgin has given them.
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