MBTA Rail 17+

Not reporting broading track information anymore

Love this app. Would give it 5 stars BUT for some reason the MBTA Rail App not posting “boarding track information” anymore. I’m using the newest iOS version from apple App Store. Using iPhone 12 max pro phone. And 5g for internet connection. I’m running iOS 17.2 I recently upgraded. Maybe this is why? I’m leaving south station. No trains a posting boarding track information. I take the Foxboro train. If that helps. Mark O

Developer Response ,

Hi - the MBTA had an issue a few weeks ago that prevented boarding track numbers from appearing in their data. The outage lasted a couple days but it’s since been fixed. Thanks for using the app!

WAYYYYY better than anything the MBTA Commuter Rail offers!

Have been using this app for years; it’s the best $1 I ever spent! So, so worth it - train tracking, alerts, and updates from fellow riders about everything. Passengers are able to post information/updates in realtime: track numbers, delays, breakdowns, track issues, and train configuration, which cars have heat or A/C, number of conductors, which doors are opened, and so forth - much more detailed info and provided earlier than the MBTA does. Users can favorite their lines & train numbers, app pinpoints on map where train is located (great when running for the train), and shows ETAs for stations along the line. Depending on the users, there are sometimes even funny debates - at Halloween for instance, whether candy corn is great or a product of the devil (spoiler alert - I happen to like it ) Highly recommend!

Makes you into a commuting cyborg

This app has become the brains of my commute; I got to spend an extra five minutes playing Exapunks this morning since I could see my train was going to be late and I knew exactly where to stand for the double decker car so I could get a table. It has features not available from the MBTA API, such as train lateness trends, platform number likelihood (so you can decide where to stand in the station as you swig from that brown paper bag) and crowd-sourced reporting on timeliness and train car hygiene (“car number 2 smells like a squirrel died in a container of bad yogurt”).

In summary, this app has earned its status as the only React Native app on my home screen.

(Was going to deduct one star because no watchOS app yet, but then I remembered that using App Store reviews to coerce developers into adding pet features is a jank move.)