Agreed. I'm quite taken by the TrainSplit app so sticking with that.
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ScotRail - New app / website booking engine from 30 July 2026
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Goldfish62
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Not all apps offer the primitive ScotRail mtickets, although I did indeed find out recently that the Northern app does. Although I've always known that you can any ticket on any app it was only recently I became aware that you can buy mtickets on some apps other than ScotRail.
jaffachief
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Scotrail told me that my existing season ticket will migrate to the new app before October and that I shouldn't need to do anything
We also "shouldn't" be in a situation where we have a new app that is barely functional, but we are.
I also saw the responses from ScotRail on X telling people they'd need to refund the balance of their season ticket and buy a new one in October.
Let's wait and see what happens.
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Latest review of the new app on the Apple App store.
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I regularly use a 12 journey flexi pass between Aberdeen and Dundee. But I split my journey at Stonehaven as it's £60.50 cheaper. You can't split your journey with the smartcard but I'm worried about committing to spending £145 on an app with so many glitches and issues!
Also when you search the 12 journey flexi pass between Aberdeen and Dundee it seems to have two options for standard class travel...but one is double the price?
Attachments
Trying to remember the platform validators at Stonehaven. I'm sure there's one that would be easy to reach on the northbound, is there one on the southbound?
But look at all that extra route (!) and operator flexibility you get between Aberdeen and Dundee with the £412 FlexiPass!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
With regard to that review, I'd say the GWR migration was botched more given that they just switched off the old app and left people rifling through emails for their eticket PDFs...
At least those PDFs would have been retrievable for most people.
ScotRail are selling people new tickets (returns and flexipasses) where anything after the first coupon just doesn't show up.
You know what I would reply with? How about you take your own advice and ditch the new app and website XD (in all srsness Ik they can’t do that easily )
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I mean I'd probably pay Trainline's fees to avoid this by the looks of it! I imagine plenty of others would too...
An advantage of Trainline is that it is pretty polished and functional.
(Other TOC apps are available without fees of course, though many don't do m-tickets now)
No chance I'd want to be jumping on and off the train every journey! Unsure on positioning of the validators though.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
That's because it, like the ScotRail old one, is a Trainline whitelabel.
Yes, I know.
But (as you know), the vast majority of the general public have no idea that they can use any app/website other than their "local" one to buy train tickets.
If they did, there'd be a mass migration away from ScotRail in the past week.
Unfortunately, Flexipass and Smartcard users are locked in to this rubbish.
aaronspence
Member
Looking on X today, I cant say the amount of complaints has gone down.. If anything about the same.
I just downloaded the northern app to give it a go.
It doesn't seem to offer split tickets on the couple of routes I tested.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I don't think any of the Trainline whitelabels other than ScotRail had splits enabled. The WMT app did for a bit but I suspect it was a mistake as it wasn't there for long. If that's what you're after you would probably need to use "full fat" Trainline (or another splitting site/app like the Forum one).
At least you can use it to view live times and platform information, plus it will also return accurate fares.
It will also issue m-tickets, for which you'd expect to be able to activate the return coupon, unlike the current situation on ScotRail.
Trainsplit should generally come up with splits that are no worse, and often better.
If there are any that Trainsplit doesn't come up with, please report them as they can be added (sometimes within 24 hours)
They should be directing people to websites/ apps that do work. Of course, they won't!
Northern don't offer splits.
The Trainsplit app is your best bet.
You could use Trainline, which offers the same splits as Scotrail, however if you buy in advance you may be charged a booking fee.
GLC
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And it is even built by a regular user of Scotrail services
(well, at least the iOS version is!)
I believe their booking fee also applies on the day if using the website, and is only waived when booking on the day using their app. Happy to be corrected.
Though Trainsplit do charge a commission on split ticket savings, so sometimes Trainsplit is cheaper, sometimes Trainline is cheaper. It's just not called a booking fee.
Goldfish62
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Trainpal don't charge commission on ticket splits if booked on their app, plus don't charge any booking fee.
A plus point of TrainSplit is that they have a seat picker for TOCs which don't have them on their own websites/apps, GWR, Cross Country.
I cannot stand Trainpal. The Temu of the train ticketing world.
Goldfish62
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Well, don't use it then.
I don'tWell, don't use it then.
This isn't true. They simply don't disclose it!
I've found numerous examples where they don't disclose they're explicitly taking a fee, but they do reduce the amount you are "saving" on the app compared to web.
In one example I've posted about online before, the app is charging £33.58 and claiming a Split Ticket saving of £5.52. The website is charging £31.50 and claiming a Split Ticket saving of £7.60. These are identical sets of tickets. The app has a secret £2.08 split ticket fee, or ~27.5% of the saving found.
Mobile:
Web:
And the app has also found a through Advance ticket for £36.65, so it's a mystery where the hypothetical £5.52 saving has come from. To me, that works out to a £3.07 saving?
TrainSplit found the same split tickets at £32.28, for comparison.
Goldfish62
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That's astounding and must surely be in breach of advertising standards.
Anyway, we digress. Best get back to the actual topic.
That's correct; it has to be on the day and on the app.
Yes it's true that sometimes Trainline can offer bigger split discounts than the booking fee.
However, most journeys don't involve splitting, and so anyone who pays the fee may end up paying more than if they had booked through a site that doesn't charge booking fees, so it could cost more to use the Trainline app than (say) the Northern app, which has been cited as an alternative , even though the latter doesn't charge fees.
Using the forum site (or Trainsplit app - there isn't a forum version) means you won't be paying any more than you would pay by booking through Northern.
A booking fee is exactly that - a few for booking.
A share of savings fee is very different, as if there is no saving then there is no fee. In other words, it won't be cheaper to use the Northern app over Trainsplit, but it absolutely can be cheaper to use Northern over Trainline.
A booking fee is charged if you buy before the day of travel.
Yes, plus no booking fee, so it won't be cheaper to book through those TOCs directly.
It is surprising how many people put up with sub standard websites or apps from TOCs, when third party sites / apps - such as the forums site / Trainsplit app - offer a better experience and for either the same price, or cheaper.
Unlike ScotRail, the forum absolutely does value the custom of people who use the forum site and will listen to - and welcomes - constructive feedback etc, and won't fob people off with a poor product for money saving reasons
Goldfish62
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It doesn't for me. The same journey, with a split, booked today and in a week's time comes up with exactly the same fare payable, with no booking fee. And it's marginally cheaper than TrainSplit.
Ultimately no app stands out for me enough to use exclusively and I tend to shop around for what suits me best in the circumstances. Eg, I'll use TrainSplit for long distance journeys on GWR due to the seat picker, but I'll use Avanti for journeys on Avanti due to the great Club Avanti scheme (I'm looking forward to my upcoming free Standard Premium return journey). The only one that is now banned as far as I'm concerned is ScotRail.
I really don't think many non-enthusiasts know about the many apps available. Indeed, so many think that you can only book through Trainline or the app of the TOC you're travelling by.