RealTimeTrains website

[HST125Scorton]

I suspect it's just your end: I've just tried it, and it was around 3 seconds for me (on a laptop with broadband connection).

Could well be tbh, I tried it across both laptop, desktop and me phone and they all take the same. I have 1Gbps Fibre Internet connection and hardly any faults reported on it.

 

[Tom]

We aren't aware of anything. Contact support if it keeps going.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Dec 2025 ==

I think it's a bug, and the cause appears to be that if the train doesn't stop at the current station then the current station is incorrectly believed to first in the running order of the train - maybe the code is meant to look up the position of the current station in the running order but incorrectly concludes it to be the first position, which is then used in comparing with the position of the filtering point.

For example, at Stevenage (where non-stop trains originate from King's Cross (KGX) northbound and terminate at KGX southbound):
1. As you say, filtering for subsequent calls at Peterborough (PBO) results in all non-stop trains that call at PBO in any direction. (Every non-stop train that calls at PBO satisfies the incorrect criterion to have a call at PBO at any point after the first position in the running order.)
2. Filtering for previous calls at PBO (or indeed any other station) results in no non-stop trains at all. (No train has a call at PBO, or any other station, before the first position in the running order.)
3. Filtering for subsequent calls at King's Cross (KGX), which is a terminus, "correctly" results in southbound trains only. (Northbound trains start at KGX so do not have a call at KGX at any point after the first position in the running order.)

Here's an interesting one that crops up from time to time, per screenshot.View attachment 191168

Location: Didcot; show trains that call subsequently at Swindon (i.e., I want westbound). Amongst the Swindon, Bristol, Wales services is an odd one to Paddington. It's not a problem but it does sometimes cause some momentary confusion!

Is there a reason RTT seems to have stopped filtering correctly?

Looking at MKC today for AWC services that subsequently called at Birmingham New St - 0730 to 1030

Realtime Trains | Departures from Milton Keynes Central between 0730 and 1030 on 13/11/2025

Train information at Milton Keynes Central between 0730 and 1030 on 13/11/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

14 trains are shown but 5 are southbound services that previously called at BHM

Thanks

This very long standing bug, dating from 2013, has now been fixed. Together with the dropping of another filtering restriction.

@pelli's assumption of how the code worked and why it failing was correct, but the cause of that failure was due to an unexpected edge case for passing trains together with a weirdness in how null is handled.

 

[duffield]

Has anyone noticed that RTT seems a little slow when loading up pages? Take for example: Crewe on 20/12/2025 with All Day selected. Seems to take around 30sec-1min to load up. It could just be my end?.

Less than 1s for me!

 

[BillStampy]

Nice one @Tom Can the Great Western Railway 175s (entry-to-service of which has started) be made to have graphics? They're still in red and white, so can't the existing graphics just be used for them?

For example, this schedule shows "Operated with 175001" but doesn't show the graphics:

Realtime Trains | 2C26 1340 Plymouth to Penzance | 17/12/2025

Real-time train running information for 2C26 1340 departure from Plymouth to Penzance on 17/12/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

As much as it would be nice, I don't think it would jump out as urgent. But as a side thing, I've decided to show what that would look like:

 

[pdeaves]

Together with the dropping of another filtering restriction

Yay! Thanks.

 

[tfw756rider]

As much as it would be nice, I don't think it would jump out as urgent. But as a side thing, I've decided to show what that would look like:View attachment 194126

Nice mock-up

 

[alxndr]

Has anyone noticed that RTT seems a little slow when loading up pages? Take for example: Crewe on 20/12/2025 with All Day selected. Seems to take around 30sec-1min to load up. It could just be my end?.

I’ve found it very slow the last month or so as well

 

[Steddenm]

I’ve found it very slow the last month or so as well

Have found the same on both Chrome on Android and PC and Edge on PC as well connected to either my 1gbit home connection or at work and on 5G.

 

[Tom]

Could well be tbh, I tried it across both laptop, desktop and me phone and they all take the same. I have 1Gbps Fibre Internet connection and hardly any faults reported on it.

I’ve found it very slow the last month or so as well

Have found the same on both Chrome on Android and PC and Edge on PC as well connected to either my 1gbit home connection or at work and on 5G.

What ISP are you all using? Bonus if you can send me your IP address (https://ip6.me) as I suspect there's a common element here...

 

[Steddenm]

What ISP are you all using? Bonus if you can send me your IP address (https://ip6.me) as I suspect there's a common element here...

I'm with Virgin Media at home, we are with BT Wholesale at work and Vodafone mobile.

 

[HST125Scorton]

What ISP are you all using? Bonus if you can send me your IP address (https://ip6.me) as I suspect there's a common element here...

Been with Virgin Media since late 2019 on there 1Gig Volt Package. Some locations are loading within seconds and others 30sec-1min wait before it loads.

 

[rower40]

Regarding the page (as per BillStampy's picture of 2P21 above) where RealtimeTrains shows a representation of the train; which is the front, and which is the back? Is there a convention that the train is shown travelling left-to-right, or right-to-left? Is that stated somewhere, or do we just have to know it?

 

[Watershed]

Regarding the page (as per BillStampy's picture of 2P21 above) where RealtimeTrains shows a representation of the train; which is the front, and which is the back? Is there a convention that the train is shown travelling left-to-right, or right-to-left? Is that stated somewhere, or do we just have to know it?

I think the convention, as with English as a language, is left to right. But I agree an arrow or similar indicating the direction of travel wouldn't hurt. It would certainly make things clearer when trains reverse, as the diagram could remain the same but the arrow would change directions.

 

[MrJeeves]

My understanding is that direction data for units is unreliable for many TOCs, hence why no direction is guaranteed.

Some TOCs don't provide 3+ units in the correct order, and some don't even order the vehicles within each unit correctly.

I think CrossCountry is the exception to that general rule, where direction/unit ordering is almost always accurate.

 

[takno]

I think the convention, as with English as a language, is left to right. But I agree an arrow or similar indicating the direction of travel wouldn't hurt. It would certainly make things clearer when trains reverse, as the diagram could remain the same but the arrow would change directions.

Strange. I always expect them to be shown going right to left. I think right to left is more usual in sites I use, but it's difficult to be sure now you mention it.

 

[pdeaves]

Strange. I always expect them to be shown going right to left. I think right to left is more usual in sites I use, but it's difficult to be sure now you mention it.

There's a mental conflict between 'text reading left to right' and 'train running left to right'. The former would put the front of the train on the left of the screen; for the latter it would be on the right. I always seem to pick the wrong convention, perhaps not helped by trains appearing in real life different to how they are reported onto the source data.

 

[YorksLad12]

There's a mental conflict between 'text reading left to right' and 'train running left to right'. The former would put the front of the train on the left of the screen; for the latter it would be on the right. I always seem to pick the wrong convention, perhaps not helped by trains appearing in real life different to how they are reported onto the source data.

If I'm standing at an 'ordinary' station platform, the train comes in from the right and leaves from the left; so I assume that the left-most vehicle on the graphic is the front.

That said; last time I went to London (and back), RTT had the train formation the wrong way round - for which I obviously blame LNER, not Tom.

 

[MerlinRail 804]

i know Chiltern give allox in number order rather than actual formation. I think there’s others too

 

[DelW]

That said; last time I went to London (and back), RTT had the train formation the wrong way round - for which I obviously blame LNER, not Tom.

GWR often get it wrong on their own displays. I quite often see class 80x arriving at Reading with coaches lettered in a different order or orientation from that shown on the platform displays. Cue lots of passengers dashing up or down the platform trying to find the coach with their reservations in it.

 

[duffield]

Been with Virgin Media since late 2019 on there 1Gig Volt Package. Some locations are loading within seconds and others 30sec-1min wait before it loads.

I'n on Virgin 250, and I've tried about 20 or 30 random locations (all day, all TOCs) and they are all less than 1s. Do you have any specific location examples?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I noticed today that RTT has Letchworth Garden City as just "Letchworth."

 

[takno]

I noticed today that RTT has Letchworth Garden City as just "Letchworth."

It's in the Network Rail data feeds as Letchworth

 

[bramling]

It's in the Network Rail data feeds as Letchworth

Letchworth Garden City is still very inconsistent, despite the station having had that name for many years now. This is possibly what happens when a renaming is the result of pandering to niche interest groups - no one locally calls the town anything other than plain “Letchworth”.

 

[pdeaves]

This is a slightly amusing output:

Rye House station, afternoon of the burst sewer main. A Liverpool Street-Hertford East train terminated at Rye House. The comment says the original destination was Rye House (rather than Hertford East).

 

[HST125Scorton]

I'n on Virgin 250, and I've tried about 20 or 30 random locations (all day, all TOCs) and they are all less than 1s. Do you have any specific location examples?

It seems to have fixed itself? But pages are loading how they used to very quickly. So not exactly sure where the issue was either my end, via ISP or RTT.

Any news on the bolt on packages for previous years?

 

[duffield]

...

Any news on the bolt on packages for previous years?

If this is a reference to Virgin Media packages, I'm sorry, I don't know what "bolt on packages" are! All I know is it says 250 on my bill and that's pretty much what I get.

Edit: Never mind, I can see now that wasn't addressed to me!

 

[Tom]

Any news on the bolt on packages for previous years?

Some point in January.

 

[tfw756rider]

This is a slightly amusing output:
View attachment 194557
Rye House station, afternoon of the burst sewer main. A Liverpool Street-Hertford East train terminated at Rye House. The comment says the original destination was Rye House (rather than Hertford East).

I was looking at Birmingham New Street recently and saw "Terminating short here - Originally Birmingham New Street" - I'm guessing this is an error/glitch.

 

[Mag_seven]

Just as a point of reference a separate thread on the annual fun Christmas RTT path can be found here:

Real Time Trains 2025 Christmas Special

Just found this year's Christmas special train on Real Time Trains is now available. Link below to the real time trains website: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:S73184/2025-12-24/detailed

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[transportphoto]

Hey, @Tom,

Is there any plans for RailMiles to be able to keep me logged in? Since merging over to your single sign on with RTT, I have to log in every single time which is somewhat annoying.

Are you able to work some magic?