Support
We're here to help.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, feedback, or run into any issues, please reach out at sam@sammysergi.com. We typically respond within 48 hours. If Rail got a platform or a time wrong, the service, the date and the stations are enough for us to pull the archived feed messages and find out why.
FAQs
How accurate is it?
Rail shows you what the live rail feeds say, as soon as they say it. It listens to National Rail Enquiries' Darwin feed and Network Rail's open data feeds, the same sources that drive station boards and operator apps. The app is usually ahead of the board because it does not wait for the board to refresh, but it can never be more accurate than the feed itself: if the operator has not yet told the feed about a change, Rail cannot know about it either. Live rail data can be wrong or late, and Rail is not a substitute for official announcements at the station.
Why does a platform say "expected"?
Because it is not confirmed yet. An expected platform is the one the timetable or the operator's plan predicts; a confirmed platform is one the feed has positively reported for that service today. Rail never blurs the two. It shows "expected" until confirmation arrives, then updates to "confirmed" and notifies you if the number changed. A prediction is never allowed to overwrite a confirmation.
Why was a notification late?
Rail measures the time from the moment a feed message arrives to the moment the notification is handed to Apple, and logs it for every alert, so genuine slowness on our side is visible and gets fixed. More often the delay is upstream: the operator updated the feed late, or the feed itself paused. Occasionally Apple's push service holds a notification for a moment, particularly when your phone is in Low Power Mode or has poor signal. If you think an alert was late, tell us the service and the time and we will check the archive.
Is Rail free?
Yes, during the beta. We may introduce a subscription for some features later; if we do, it will be announced in the app first and you will never be charged without agreeing to it. The terms describe how that would work.
How do I turn notifications or the Live Activity off?
Notifications and Live Activities are the core of the app, but they are entirely under your control. Open iOS Settings, then Notifications, then Rail, to turn off alerts or Live Activities. Stopping tracking a journey inside the app also ends its notifications and dismisses its Live Activity.
How do I delete my data?
Signing out removes your device's notification token from our server, so it can no longer send anything to that phone. To remove everything, use Delete account in the app's settings: it deletes your account and every journey you tracked. You can also email sam@sammysergi.com from the address linked to your account and we will delete it for you. The full list of what is held is in the privacy policy.
Does it work outside the UK?
The app runs anywhere, but it only tracks trains on the Great Britain rail network, the services covered by National Rail Enquiries and Network Rail. It does not cover Northern Ireland, the London Underground, trams, or any railway outside the UK. You can track a UK train from abroad, for example to follow someone's journey, and notifications will reach you wherever you have a connection.
Delete Your Data
Rail holds a small amount of data on its server so that it can notify you. To delete it:
- Stop a journey: Remove a tracked journey in the app and its details are deleted from your account.
- Sign out: Removes your device's push notification and Live Activity tokens from our server.
- Delete account: In the app's settings. This removes your account and all of your tracked journeys.
- Email us: Write to sam@sammysergi.com and we will delete your account for you.
Deleting the app from your phone without signing out leaves your account in place, so if you want it gone, delete the account first. Notification logs kept for reliability measurement are described in the privacy policy.