RealTimeTrains website

[Class15]

There should definitely be a way to put multiple places into the search feature. Would save people a great deal of time.

 

[HST43257]

The other benefit of this would be for us spotter types to check for railtour operator workings etc. I will usually check RTT on a daily basis for freight workings (ZZ) in various locations in my area, to spot anything interesting running, but on occasions I’ve missed things like loco-hauled stock moves by Locomotive Services (LS), because it would be a drag checking each individual tour operator on RTT - if you could select all alongside freight then that would make it easy to pick these up.

There’s a thing for all non passenger services isn’t there?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

There’s a thing for all non passenger services isn’t there?

That also includes ECS journeys which in some places may pollute the list a bit but yes.

 

[Class15]

There’s a thing for all non passenger services isn’t there?

But West coast railways and locomotive services are “passenger” operators in RTT.

 

[12LDA28C]

But West coast railways and locomotive services are “passenger” operators in RTT.

Then surely doing a line up for a location and just selecting STP would catch anything like charters, ECS moves and ad hoc freight flows etc.

 

[Class15]

Then surely doing a line up for a location and just selecting STP would catch anything like charters, ECS moves and ad hoc freight flows etc.

Some of the DBS charters are WTT?

 

[ABB125]

But West coast railways and locomotive services are “passenger” operators in RTT.

As far as I can see, the only thing that counts as "passenger" is the Jacobite, everything else still comes up. For example, see below:

There is no change to the list, whether it's on "all services" or "non-passenger".

Some of the DBS charters are WTT?

Can you give any examples? I can't think of any regular charters that would be WTT other than the Jacobite (which, given the sparsity of services on the Mallaig line, you can just use RTT on "all services" for)

 

[zwk500]

Can you give any examples? I can't think of any regular charters that would be WTT other than the Jacobite (which, given the sparsity of services on the Mallaig line, you can just use RTT on "all services" for)

DB Cargo have WTT paths from London Victoria to places such as Bath and Chesterfield for regular VSOE programmes.

 

[ABB125]

DB Cargo have WTT paths from London Victoria to places such as Bath and Chesterfield for regular VSOE programmes.

You can tell I'm not from London then!

I've just had a look at those services; they still show up when "non-passenger" is selected. Therefore, I would suggest that the "non-passenger" filter is more than adequate, apart from possibly one or two very special cases

 

[Class15]

As far as I can see, the only thing that counts as "passenger" is the Jacobite, everything else still comes up. For example, see below:
View attachment 138951
There is no change to the list, whether it's on "all services" or "non-passenger".


Can you give any examples? I can't think of any regular charters that would be WTT other than the Jacobite (which, given the sparsity of services on the Mallaig line, you can just use RTT on "all services" for)

Check this: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...1/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt&toc=ZZ

 

[DanNCL]

For example, Traksy shows the 1959 and the 2100 Dar to EDI today being HST - RTT shows one of these as Voyager and has no info for the other.

2100 would be the HST on Sundays in the normal timetable but may be different when there's diversions in place anywhere on the XC route, even in the South West. On weekdays it's usually about 1900 from Darlington.

 

[Robin Procter]

Check this: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...1/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt&toc=ZZ

.... This is extremely helpful to me as a railway photographer. I often have problems searching on RTT even when I have the headcode but that's probably down to me I think.

I have now bookmarked that search link.

Thank you!

 

[8A Rail]

I will be sending an e/mail to RTT (Tom) about this but has something changed on the RTT website in general over the last few days?

Like many others I use the website to track trains in connection with my photography while out and about. As we all appreciate, Tom has got to cover his costs in providing the facility as well as improvements which is fair enough so the introduction of 'adverts' when you upload most pages. Now these adverts always appeared at the bottom of the page and did not cause too much of an issue, at least you could see the majority of the page and make adjustments in the train preference / selection headers were necessary without an issue. However, over last few days, the adverts are appearing at the top as well as the bottom now with at times they are now taking half my iPhone8 screen up!! In consequence, it has made scrolling more difficult, pain in the backside to click 'x' to delete the advert and more importantly harder for me to make train preferences / selection headers in the boxes, to such an extent at times it makes RTT unusable and very time consuming too where as previously, no issues. Sadly I am unable to upgrade my phone, as unable to afford it so any options to improve the 'experience' please?

As we all know, RTT is a great facility and very much appreciated by all but it is getting more difficult to use now because of those bloody adverts, bad enough with one at the bottom but now top and bottom!!! Personally I would be happy to pay a small subscription to RTT to avoid this issue but sadly it seems it is not an option for numerous reasons.

 

[Tom]

It is something that we are investigating with the ad vendor at the moment. They claim that it shouldn’t be happening but it has become a lot worse in the last few days.

 

[D6700]

There appears to be a strange quirk in RTT for some LNER trains tomorrow morning:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se.../0000-2359?stp=WVSC&show=all&order=wtt&toc=GR

A number of southbound trains are shown as "VCN" (VSTP Cancellation), but they are not shown cancelled elsewhere, as they are running.

 

[takno]

There appears to be a strange quirk in RTT for some LNER trains tomorrow morning:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se.../0000-2359?stp=WVSC&show=all&order=wtt&toc=GR

A number of southbound trains are shown as "VCN" (VSTP Cancellation), but they are not shown cancelled elsewhere, as they are running.

RTT takes its data from the operational Network Rail feeds, where other systems such as NationalRail and operator sites take their feed from a system called Darwin which is focused on customer information. It's not uncommon for updates such as cancellations to be input into Darwin before they are put into the Network Rail feeds. It's a bit less common for it to happen the other way round, but it can happen because it's a lot easier to correct things with Network Rail later, whereas if you put a cancellation into Darwin then customers will not turn up for the train.

This difference could easily mean that the trains are running and somebody has made a mistake, or that the train is likely to be cancelled but they aren't sure yet and don't want to put the passengers out if it's not going to be necessary, or that a cancellation will follow later and they want to input into Darwin when they have more information about replacement services and ticket acceptance etc. Basically, don't read too much into it

 

[D6700]

RTT takes its data from the operational Network Rail feeds, where other systems such as NationalRail and operator sites take their feed from a system called Darwin which is focused on customer information. It's not uncommon for updates such as cancellations to be input into Darwin before they are put into the Network Rail feeds. It's a bit less common for it to happen the other way round, but it can happen because it's a lot easier to correct things with Network Rail later, whereas if you put a cancellation into Darwin then customers will not turn up for the train.

This difference could easily mean that the trains are running and somebody has made a mistake, or that the train is likely to be cancelled but they aren't sure yet and don't want to put the passengers out if it's not going to be necessary, or that a cancellation will follow later and they want to input into Darwin when they have more information about replacement services and ticket acceptance etc. Basically, don't read too much into it

Thank you for taking the time to write a comprehensive reply. However, in this specific case, I am in a position to believe something is amiss.

 

[endofthetunnel]

Thank you for taking the time to write a comprehensive reply. However, in this specific case, I am in a position to believe something is amiss.

It’s not an RTT quirk - it is (as usual) a data issue. Network Rail have mistakenly cancelled themselves some LNER services which should not have been cancelled - they are indeed running but it is taking time to update all the various information and data sources.

 

[Tom]

It looks like there is an RTT quirk with a couple of those trains. The trains were indeed cancelled but the cancellation records were deleted but... not all of them got deleted properly. Looking into that now -- together with having a royal go at the advertising provider who appear to be unwilling to work with Google to solve the ad problem.

 

[Jimini]

It looks like there is an RTT quirk with a couple of those trains. The trains were indeed cancelled but the cancellation records were deleted but... not all of them got deleted properly. Looking into that now -- together with having a royal go at the advertising provider who appear to be unwilling to work with Google to solve the ad problem.

Someone says it every so often so I'll be that guy, this time -- yes there might be the occasional quirk that affects your site (see posts above), but it's still bloody brilliant and I for one (and I'm sure the vast majority of others on here) appreciate all the efforts you put in to making it successful. Thank you!

 

[Tom]

I think all the LNER services have now been reinstated and the underlying issue that prevented them from being reinstated has been caught - looks like they just failed to save correctly. Looking at those train services, they were all cancelled off around 3pm and then reinstated a few minutes later.

We have heard back from the ad provider now that they've disabled Google on the problematic ad unit and that it is affecting other sites. They're suggesting it started today (it didn't) and it's the first time it has happened (it isn't), and we've been somewhat unimpressed at their actions in the recent weeks so we're actively looking at our options in that area. The ads aren't going away for reasons I've declared ad infinitum - but we can see what we can do to improve the quality of life around them.

 

[Bald Rick]

The ads aren't going away for reasons I've declared ad infinitum

Are you saying we have ad ad infinitum?

(ad^2 finitum)

 

[D6700]

Someone says it every so often so I'll be that guy, this time -- yes there might be the occasional quirk that affects your site (see posts above), but it's still bloody brilliant and I for one (and I'm sure the vast majority of others on here) appreciate all the efforts you put in to making it successful. Thank you!

Absolutely, it's a brilliant tool - which is why I felt it worth highlighting an issue I'd become aware of, as it helped @Tom and the team to get to the bottom of it.

It's interesting that the LNER services now show on RTT as VSTP, rather than WTT, which is what they really are - and is confirmed by the UIDs. Presumably, that's because of how they got there, rather than what they are.

I don't think this issue is isolated, as I now realise I've seen some other instances of it, but hopefully, now it's known, a solution will be achievable.

 

[M60lad]

Does anyone know what happened to Realtime Trains yesterday morning? It seemed to have one of its meltdowns and wasn't tracking anything, and most services were coming up as No Record, it didn't seem to rectify itself until later in the afternoon from what I can gather.

 

[66701GBRF]

Just a hiccup with the data feeds that happens from time to time. Affected all tracking sites not just RTT.

 

[Robin Procter]

Does anyone know what happened to Realtime Trains yesterday morning? It seemed to have one of its meltdowns and wasn't tracking anything, and most services were coming up as No Record, it didn't seem to rectify itself until later in the afternoon from what I can gather.

Just a hiccup with the data feeds that happens from time to time. Affected all tracking sites not just RTT.

.... Very frustrating when you have travelled just to photograph one train. But mustn't complain, RTT do an excellent job most of the time.

I didn't get the shot of the Midland Pullman I was after due to the RTT hiccup but managed to grab just this one.

 

[Freightmaster]

Does anyone know what happened to Realtime Trains yesterday morning? It seemed to have one of its meltdowns and wasn't tracking anything, and most services were coming up as No Record,

That's extremely unfair - as someone else has pointed out, it was the Network Rail data feed
which had a 'meltdown' yesterday, so the issue was completely out of the control of RTT,
as it is in 99% of such cases.

It affected all the 'realtime' sites including Freightmaster, which caused a few of my customers
to ask me what was happening, but as far as I am aware, the only person who thought I was
having a meltdown yesterday was Mrs Freightmaster!



MARK

 

[Rail Ranger]

I am trying to find out which XC services are operating as HST today/tomorrow.
Is RTT or Traksy more likely to be correct for this?
For example, Traksy shows the 1959 and the 2100 Dar to EDI today being HST - RTT shows one of these as Voyager and has no info for the other.

WNXX Forum has a thread on Cross Country HSTs which shows the diagrams for the following day.

 

[FrodshamJnct]

.... Very frustrating when you have travelled just to photograph one train. But mustn't complain, RTT do an excellent job most of the time.

I didn't get the shot of the Midland Pullman I was after due to the RTT hiccup but managed to grab just this one.

View attachment 139154

It wasn’t a RTT hiccup, it was an issue with the Network Rail data feed. Completely unfair to blame RTT.

Edit - sorry just seen @Freightmaster has already pointed this out!

 

[Adam Williams]

Some further discussion here:

NROD Approved outage from 1100

groups.google.com