Agant's UK Train Times iPhone Application FAQ's

Installing the Agant UK Train Times Application

How do I buy the Agant UK Train Times for iPhone?

You can buy the application via iTunes on your PC or Apple Mac.  Click on the green "iTunes Store" icon in iTunes, and search for "Agant" or "UK Train Times".  You should see "UK Train Times" listed in the search results, under "Applications".  Click on "Buy App" to buy the application.  You will then need to sync your iPhone or iPod Touch with iTunes in order to install the application on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

For more information about buying, syncing and installing iPhone and iPod Touch applications in iTunes, please view Apple's FAQs.

Alternatively, you can buy UK Train Times for iPhone directly from your iPhone or iPod Touch.  Tap on the "App Store" icon on your iPhone or iPod Touch to open the Mobile App Store on your device.  Once the Mobile App Store has launched, tap on the "Search" icon at the bottom of the screen, type "UK Train Times", and click the blue "Search" button.  UK Train Times for iPhone will be listed in the search results.  Tap on its name to view more information about the application, and then tap on the blue "price" button.  The button will change to say "BUY NOW" on a green background.  Tap the "BUY NOW" button, and enter your iTunes Store password when prompted.  The application will be downloaded and installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch via your current network connection.  If you install the application in this way, it is recommended that you purchase and install the application when you have a stable 3G or Wi-Fi network connection.

For more information about the Mobile App Store, please view Apple's information and demonstration of the Mobile App Store.

Will the Agant UK Train Times for iPhone run on my iPhone 3G?

Yes. UK Train Times is fully compatible with any iPhone 3G running iPhone OS v2.0 or later.

Will the Agant UK Train Times run on my 1st generation iPhone?

Yes. UK Train Times is fully compatible with any 1^st Generation iPhone, as long as you have installed iPhone OS v2.0 or later on your iPhone.

Will the Agant UK Train Times run on my iPod Touch?

Yes. UK Train Times is fully compatible with any iPod Touch, as long as you have installed iPhone OS v2.0 or later on your iPod Touch.

Please note that you need to have an active network connection in order to view Live Departures & Arrivals, plan journeys in the Journey Planner, or find your next train home.  You can use all of these features on your iPod Touch when your iPod Touch is connected to a Wi-Fi network.  In addition, any journeys you plan whilst connected to a Wi-Fi network can be viewed when you no longer have a network connection, via the "Recent search results" feature.

How do I find and download updates to the Agant UK Train Times?

Updates to the Agant UK Train Times, containing new features, bug fixes and other improvements, will be released in the future.  You can find and download any updates via iTunes on your PC or Mac, or via the App Store on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Using your current location

When I launch the Agant UK Train Times, I see an alert saying, "UK Train Times would like to use your current location".  What does this mean?

Agant's UK Train Times needs to use your iPhone or iPod Touch's location services in order to find nearby stations and find your next train home.  The "UK Train Times would like to use your current location" alert is displayed the first two times you launch the application, to confirm that you are happy for the application to do so.  You should tap the "OK" button both times, to let the application use your iPhone or iPod Touch's location services.  Once you have said "OK" twice, you will not be asked this question again.

If you tap the "Don't allow" button instead, you will be asked the same question every time you launch UK Train Times.

Please note that this alert is part of the iPhone operating system, and is not part of the UK Train Times application.

If you don't want the Agant UK Train Times (or any other application) to use your current location, you can disable location services completely.  To do this, tap on the "Settings" icon on your iPhone or iPod Touch's Home Screen, and tap on the "General" item.  You should see a "Location Services" option, with an on / off switch.  Set this to "OFF" to disable location services for all applications.

No stations are listed in the "Nearest" stations list when I try to choose a station.

This can happen if your iPhone or iPod Touch is unable to calculate your current location due to poor reception.  If this is the case, you should see a message saying, "Unable to retrieve current location".  In this situation, you can use the A-Z search, or view your Favourite or Recent stations, in order to find the station you need.

Alternatively, this can happen if you have disabled location services on your iPhone or iPod Touch.  If this is the case, you should see a message saying, "Location Services are turned off".  To turn on location services, tap on the "Settings" icon on your iPhone or iPod Touch's Home Screen, and tap on the "General" item.  You should see a "Location Services" option, with an on / off switch.  Set this to "ON" to enable location services.

Live Departures & Arrivals

How do I set up a favourite to see Live Departures for a particular station?

If you travel to or from a particular station on a regular basis, you can create a Live Departure favourite for that station.  This will be displayed on the application's home screen for one-touch access in the future.

First, tap on "Select a station" in the "Live Departures & Arrivals" section of the application's home screen.  Select the station for which you would like to view live departures, to view all departures for that station.

Next, tap on the small "+" icon in the bottom left hand corner of that station's Live Departures view.  Tap the "Save as Favourite" button to create a new favourite for this station. Your new favourite will now be visible on the application's home screen.

You can see a walkthrough of how to create a Live Departure favourite by watching the demonstration video on this page.

How do I find out if platform number information is available for my station, before buying the application?

Platform number information is not available for all stations in UK Train Times.  To find out if a particular station will display platform numbers in the application’s “Live Departures & Arrivals” section, please view that station in the Live Departures and Arrivals section of this web site (link).  If platform information is displayed on this web site, it will also be displayed in the iPhone application.

Journey Planner

How do I set up a Journey Planner favourite for a particular journey?

If you make a particular journey on a regular basis, you can create a Journey Planner favourite for that journey.  This will be displayed on the application's home screen for one-touch access in the future.

First, tap on "Plan a journey" in the "Journey Planner" section of the application's home screen.  Select the "From" and "To" stations for your journey.

Next, tap on the small "+" icon in the bottom left hand corner of the Journey Planner view.  Tap the "Save as Favourite" button to create a new favourite for this journey.  Your new favourite will now be visible on the application's home screen.

Please note that only the "From" and "To" stations are saved in a Journey Planner favourite.  The outward (and optional return) date and time are not saved in the Journey Planner favourite.

You can see a walkthrough of how to create a Journey Planner favourite by watching the demonstration video on this page.

Recent search results

How do I view my Journey Planner search results when I don't have a network connection?

When you perform a Journey Planner search, your search results are automatically saved on your iPhone or iPod Touch.  You can view them at a later date by tapping on "Recent search results" on the application's home screen, even if you no longer have a network connection.

"Recent search results" will only be visible if you have previously planned at least one journey on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

You can see a walkthrough of how to use "Recent search results" by watching the demonstration video on this page.

When I view my "Recent search results", I am unable to view the "Result Details" for some results.

You can only view the "Result Details" for a search result if you viewed at least one of the "Result Details" when you first performed the search.  Otherwise, the "Result Details" are not downloaded for that Journey Planner search, and cannot be viewed at a later date.

Can I refresh a Journey Planner result at a later date, to see if the trains are still on time?

It is not currently possible to refresh a search result in the "Recent search results" section.  The "Recent search results" section only provides a history of searches you have already performed.

For example: imagine you are planning a journey from Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh Waverley for tomorrow morning.  You would use the Journey Planner to plan the journey the night before, ready for the following morning.  When you open National Rail Enquiries for iPhone the following morning, you would be able to view the journey planner search results for the search you performed the previous night.  However, it would not be possible to re-perform the search (by "refreshing" the search result) to check that the trains are still running on time.

We hope to add the ability to re-perform your searches in a future version of UK Train Times.  In the meantime, you can always perform the same search again in the Journey Planner.

Next train home

How is my "Home Station" information used?

When you first launch the Agant UK Train Times, you can set a "Home Station". Information about your Home station is used in the following ways:

• The "Next train home" feature uses your home station to plan a journey home from your current location.
• A "Live Departures" favourite is created for your home station when you first select your home station.
• Your home station is displayed in the "Favourites" list whenever you select a station in the application.

You can change your home station at any time in the "Change your settings" screen.  Tap on "My home station" to choose an alternative home station.

Your home station information is never shared with anyone, and information about your home station is not used for any purpose other than those listed above.  Your home station is never identified as being a "home" station when submitting data to National Rail Enquiries in order to retrieve live departure or journey planner results.

How does the Agant UK Train Times calculate my next train home?

The Agant UK Train Times uses your iPhone or iPod Touch's location services to find out your current location.  It then compares your current location against a database of all stations in the UK, to calculate which station is nearest to your current location.  Finally, it performs a Journey Planner search, travelling from the nearest station, to your home station, departing now.

If your nearest station is part of a group of stations - for example, "London Euston" is part of the "London (All Stations)" group - then UK Train Times will search for trains from that group of stations instead.  This is useful when you are visiting a city with several mainline stations.  Your current location may be near to one station in the city, but your best route home may depart from another station in the same city.  The "Next train home" feature will work out which station (or stations) in the city give the best route (or routes) back to your home station.

You can see an example of the next train home feature by watching the demonstration video on this page.

When I tap "Next train home", I see the message "Unable to retrieve an accurate position for your current location.  Would you like to choose a nearby station manually?"  Why is this?

Occasionally, the Agant UK Train Times is not able to find one station which is definitely your nearest station.  For example, there may be several stations very close to your current location.  Also, the location services on an iPhone or iPod Touch are not 100% accurate, and sometimes this can mean that one station is not definitely the nearest station.  In this scenario, UK Train Times will ask you to select a nearby station yourself.  It will then plan your journey home from the station you have selected.

Deleting and re-ordering favourites

How do I delete or re-order my Live Departure and Journey Planner favourites on the application's home screen?

You can create Live Departure and Journey Planner favourites for one-touch access to your favourite stations and journeys, as described earlier in this FAQ.  Sometimes, you may want to delete a favourite, or to re-order your existing favourites.

To do either of these things, first tap the "Edit" button in the top left-hand corner of the application's home screen.  This will put the home screen into "Edit" mode.

Whilst in edit mode, to delete a favourite, tap the red circle icon to the left of the favourite.  This will display a red "Delete" button for that favourite.  Tap the delete button to permanently delete that favourite.

Also whilst in edit mode, to re-order your favourites, tap and hold on the right-hand edge of the favourite, and drag the favourite up or down in the list.

When you have finished editing the favourites on your home screen, tap the "Done" button in the top left-hand corner of the home screen to exit "Edit" mode.

Change your settings

How do I change my home station?

To change your home station, tap on "Change your settings" on the application home screen, and then tap "My home station".  Select a station from the list to set it as your new home station.

How do I view distances in kilometres rather than miles?

To view distances in kilometres, tap "Change your settings" on the application home screen, and then tap "Show distances in kilometres".