ScotRail - New app / website booking engine from 30 July 2026

[kkong]

Viewing the results of a journey search.
At the first step, tapping on either the underlined blue text or the unhighlighted light grey "Journey details" brings up the journey details.


Select a journey and it moves to the next step (fare selection).
The underlined text is now either magenta (split tickets) or blue (no split tickets).
Tapping on the underlined text does nothing.
The only way to show the journey details is to tap the unhighlighted light grey "Journey details" text.

 

[scosutsut]

I think this may be the best thing that has happened to Trainline for some time

I can only hope others benefit enough too. Luckily I don't rely on Flexi or Seasons so I can stay away from the app. Those that can't have my sympathy.

I am in touch with the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport (via my MSP) to request they ask ScotRail for, inter alia, their cost estimate of the reputational damage and lost sales due to the defective app.

I have also written to the Transport Committee, requesting they invite ScotRail senior management along to explain themselves, once the new parliamentary session begins on 31st August.

Glorious. This is a noble crusade, do keep us all informed please!

 

[kkong]

The app is showing trains have departed on time when they have not.

https://x.com/ScotRail/status/2087907406021832747

@ScotRail what in the edinburghfringe is going on with your app. The live tracker is spewing out nonsense. I’m on the platform just now and it says expected 15:11 as it’s delayed, but the new app says it’s at Brunstane!

This passenger seems to have been waiting at Newcraighall.



RealTimeTrains agrees with the poster that the departure from Newcraighall was delayed (actual departure at 15:13).

Where is the app getting this data?

Or it is not receiving any data and just assuming everything is running to time?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Aug 2026 ==

It should be possible to select first class fares using the filter options at the fare selection step in the app.

However, the app doesn't show first class fares for some flows where the fares exist, e.g.

• Aberdeen to Dyce
• Aberdeen to Kintore
• Aberdeen to Inverurie

The app does show first class fares for:

• Aberdeen to Insch (the next stop along from Inverurie towards Inverness)
• Aberdeen to Huntly
• Aberdeen to Keith
• Aberdeen to Elgin
• Aberdeen to Forres
• Aberdeen to Nairn
• Aberdeen to Inverness Airport
• Aberdeen to Inverness

 

[styles]

The app is showing trains have departed on time when they have not.

https://x.com/ScotRail/status/2087907406021832747



This passenger seems to have been waiting at Newcraighall.

View attachment 209479

RealTimeTrains agrees with the poster that the departure from Newcraighall was delayed (actual departure at 15:13).

Response from ScotRail:

Hi there, apologies, for this I will report this issue. ^Chloe

Great, but, where's the train?

Welcome to the Fringe and the Commonwealth Games by the way folks.

 

[davp]

Scotrail are now displaying a warning badge on their ticket machine advertising for the new app.

 

[MrJeeves]

Or it is not receiving any data and just assuming everything is running to time?

It looks to be doing exactly this, which seems absolutely hilarious.

 

[aaronspence]

It looks to be doing exactly this, which seems absolutely hilarious.

Hope it isnt using that awful Signalbox website that only shows where the train is if its bang on time and not cancelled.

 

[py_megapixel]

In general, many journey planners default to showing a train as "on time" when no information is available.

Look up a journey several days in the future and the journey planner will proudly proclaim that the trains are "on time", even though it can't possibly know this.

Even Trainsplit, which I think does a pretty sensible job of the booking UI in most aspects, does this!

 

[kkong]

In general, many journey planners default to showing a train as "on time" when no information is available.

But this is specifically in the Live Trains section of the app, not the journey planner

The train had departed its origin of Tweedbank some 45 minutes before this... 5 minutes late!

 

[Adam Williams]

Even Trainsplit, which I think does a pretty sensible job of the booking UI in most aspects, does this!

Can I ask where you're seeing that wording?

 

[py_megapixel]

Can I ask where you're seeing that wording?

I opened the Trainsplit app on my Android phone and tried to book a random journey for next month, and it tells me the trains are "on time":

 

[Adam Williams]

I opened the Trainsplit app on my Android phone and tried to book a random journey for next month, and it tells me the trains are "on time":
View attachment 209496

Ta! I was looking at web and the various journey breakdown views.

I agree this is fairly pointless to display for services a month out.

 

[py_megapixel]

I agree this is fairly pointless to display for services a month out.

Yes. But nowhere near as bad as displaying "on time" for a service that has already departed late, of course!

Although I am a little curious now what Trainsplit (and indeed the other journey planners) would display if the Darwin feed went down for some reason!

 

[MrJeeves]

I agree this is fairly pointless to display for services a month out.

22 mins have passed and you still haven't opened an issue for me to fix it!

Although I am a little curious now what Trainsplit (and indeed the other journey planners) would display if the Darwin feed went down for some reason!

We'd just show whatever the last state of the service which was reported in Darwin. We use the push port service, so we'd just stop receiving new info for the period that it's broken for.

"for some reason" does happen a bit more often than you'd expect, particularly with the open data feeds.

 

[OscarH]

"for some reason" does happen a bit more often than you'd expect, particularly with the open data feeds.

Such as now

 

[MrJeeves]

Such as now

Darwin Evolution regressing was on my bingo card but I didn't think it'd take this long to happen.

 

[aaronspence]

I love the latest Scotrail update, specifically "More than three quarters of a million people have successfully accessed the app and used it to support their journey on our trains."

The hell does that mean? Atleast it doesn't mean successfully buy a ticket, get the ticket, at the right price. Wow some PR wording there.

Update In Full Here: https://x.com/ScotRail/status/2088180595759239444

 

[kkong]

Just the PR nonsense we've become used to.

Are these >750,000 different "people" or is it referring to the number of downloads? 750,000 people sounds high, but it's plausible I suppose.

Also, they are not glitches, they are bugs.

More than three quarters of a million people have successfully accessed the app and used it to support their journey on our trains. Last weekend for example, we helped hundreds of thousands of customers travel for the start of the Edinburgh Festivals – with a significant number of them purchasing, receiving, and using their digital tickets on the new app.

We know that for some people the app has not operated as smoothly as we wanted it to, and while the majority of the glitches have been fixed, please be assured we're continuing to closely monitor how the app is working.

The latest bug I've seen is when searching for arrivals at a station in Live Trains:

The first screen appears fine: Arrivals at Uphall

But when you scroll the page, the header changes to from Uphall.

It looks like someone copied and pasted "from" from the Departures case and forgot to change it to "at".

 

[HighlandStorm]

The mess with Highland Railcards appear to have been fixed, but haven’t actually completed a purchase and travelled using my Highland Railcard yet since the new app came out!

 

[MadCommuter]

Another disimprovement with the app is with flexipasses it's not easy to see how many individual tickets are left available to use.

 

[sannox]

I also see it's changed names to 'new Scotrail' which is a pet hate of mine as it moves it if you have apps set up alphabetically!

 

[Chrism20]

There also appears to be issues in ticket offices as well which are using a new system.

I went to pay for parking this morning which you used to be able to do at the ticket office. I was told due to a new system they couldn’t do it and that I had to purchase it on the ticket machine where only single days were available. I needed two days and was told buy one and display it on the windscreen and I’ll be fine.

So a system that’s gone backwards but two days for the price of one on parking.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There also appears to be issues in ticket offices as well which are using a new system.

I went to pay for parking this morning which you used to be able to do at the ticket office. I was told due to a new system they couldn’t do it and that I had to purchase it on the ticket machine where only single days were available. I needed two days and was told buy one and display it on the windscreen and I’ll be fine.

So a system that’s gone backwards but two days for the price of one on parking.

Are you sure they meant that and they didn't mean buy two days' worth and display both? I've only ever seen the latter as a workaround in car parks where multiple days' stay are allowed but the machine will only do single day tickets, never the former.

 

[Adam Williams]

I'd very much want to get that permission in writing before leaving my car there!

 

[Chrism20]

Are you sure they meant that and they didn't mean buy two days' worth and display both? I've only ever seen the latter as a workaround in car parks where multiple days' stay are allowed but the machine will only do single day tickets, never the former.

Yes, they came out and showed me where it was on the machine.

 

[81A]

There also appears to be issues in ticket offices as well which are using a new system.

I went to pay for parking this morning which you used to be able to do at the ticket office. I was told due to a new system they couldn’t do it and that I had to purchase it on the ticket machine where only single days were available. I needed two days and was told buy one and display it on the windscreen and I’ll be fine.

So a system that’s gone backwards but two days for the price of one on parking.

Aren't they using TTK Avocet now? If so, impressive they managed to botch that implementation when other TOCs (GWR and TPE) seem to have changed with little drama...

 

[Wallsendmag]

Aren't they using TTK Avocet now? If so, impressive they managed to botch that implementation when other TOCs (GWR and TPE) seem to have changed with little drama...

Not to mention VTEC

 

[Chrism20]

Aren't they using TTK Avocet now? If so, impressive they managed to botch that implementation when other TOCs (GWR and TPE) seem to have changed with little drama...

l’ve no idea what they are using but this morning one window was closed and the member of staff was clearly on the phone to the helpdesk as it wouldn’t let them logon and at the other window a simple single ticket was proving challenging to issue.

I got the impression they were more than happy that what I wanted could be done on the machine

 

[styles]

I'd very much want to get that permission in writing before leaving my car there!

Same.

Though as long as it's just an occasional park, a private parking charge notice in Scotland is more useful as toilet paper.

Edit: actually, it'd be a bylaws offence, so maybe not in railway's case.

 

[blimmo]

Edit: actually, it'd be a bylaws offence, so maybe not in railway's case.

Aren't bylaws parking offences usually trivially avoided due to the railway's inability to prove the identity of the driver?