StationView
View live train departure boards for stations across the UK
You can now track trains from departure boards to find out exactly where the train you want to catch is and if and why it might be delayed. https://stationview.app/vic Just tap the Track Live link and track away.
I'm going to be working on implementing a map feature and getting the same kind of info for some of the London Underground trains.
As well as that, I want to implement some alternate views so people can choose how they want to view departures.
What other features would you like to see?
We've expanded ever so slightly and added the entire London Underground network to our departure boards. https://stationview.app/london-underground
This was kinda challenging because tube trains come with significantly less info than National Rail trains, however we found a way to make it work and give a similar experience when traveling on the tube network in London. And of course it's translated in to our three available languages with more to follow!
This was a fun one to work with. Still looking into how I might resolve the French rail API rate limit. As soon I have this one solved I will of course update.
Let us know what language you think we should support next.
Perhaps Spanish?
Still currently working on getting the underground included, progress is steady.
In the mean time however I realised for as many people in the UK that use the app for commuting there might be an equal number or more people that are traveling or visiting from France that would also find it beneficial.
So we translated the entire app in French. The app language can be changed in the settings menu available by clicking the cog in the top right. More languages will follow.
Enjoy!
Today I'm going to work on adding the London Underground stations and their departure boards in TFL style to the site. This should allow those traveling through the capital to have a slightly easier time.
Also it's time to start working on a feature that will allow the sharing of a particular train, so that you can share with your friends what train you're getting and get info about what time it should arrive at any particular station. This will also feed in to the the third feature.
Arrival times for each station, something I've wanted since launch and I imagine others do to, is to be able to see the rough time of arrival for each station along a particular trains journey.
Hope to share more soon.
The mascot has official been added, looking for names if anyone has any ideas throw them below.
Aside from that there's a dramatic improvement to the speed of the search function as well as the ability to search by code as well as name, giving a little more flexibility.
There's also been an update to the station boards, whereby the operator is now coloured correctly so that it's easy to see who operates the train. Not the most useful for stations outside of London but incredibly useful at a glance for stations like Stratford or Kings Cross.
As well as some minor font changes to make things a little more legible, things are coming along nicely.
Didn't update yesterday because of April fools but today we're clear.
One of the things that become very clear to me, as I was using Station View, was being able to support live updates, as and when trains depart, or lets be honest the more likely scenario when a train is delayed.
This wasn't to hard to achieve but tweaking the logic to get the right time to refresh was a little tricky, and also setting up a subtle animation was also a must have so you can tell somethings changed.
I've got a few more updates that I'd like to make as well as featuring the new mascot a little more prominently.
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Live updates are one of those features users don't notice when they work — but scream about when they don't.
Getting the refresh timing right is tricky. Too frequent = battery drain, server load. Too slow = users miss real delays. Sounds like you found a balance.
Quick questions from someone who's built similar real-time features:
1. Are you using polling or websockets for the live updates?
2. How do you handle the 'delay' scenario — does the animation change based on severity?
3. Any plans for push notifications for major delays? That's where the real value is.The subtle animation is a smart touch. Users need to know something changed without being annoyed by it.
Keep building in public. This is the kind of progress that builds trust
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Yeah you're absolutely right, as something people are likely going to be checking from their mobile phones refreshing too often kills battery. I think I'm happy with the current interval but I will continue to tweak it.
Currently it's a simple poll, only because the overhead in setting up a websocket connection is more than reloading the data currently based on usage. The general usage is people check the departures and then close the web app.
Yeah I'm going to look in to how I might be able to better show there's a significant change such as a delay, I've got a working branch at the moment where it highlights the significant status changes but it needs a few tweaks.
Absolutely there are plans for notifications. I want to be very careful with this however and ensure I've earned the trust of people who use it and ensure that it will never be abused with essentially advertising notifications, because lets be real they're kinda annoying :D
Thanks for the questions and I will continue to build in public as much as possible.
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Appreciate the detailed breakdown — polling vs websockets is one of those trade-offs most users never see, but it directly impacts their experience Smart move keeping it simple while usage is low. Premature optimization kills momentum.
On notifications: respect the cautious approach. Nothing kills trust faster than spammy alerts. Maybe start with an opt-in for 'significant delays only' (e.g., 15+ min delay) — that feels valuable, not annoying.
Quick question: have you considered a visual indicator (like a color-coded timeline) so users can glance and see delays without even reading the time?
Keep building in public. This is the kind of transparency that builds real trust.
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I've just deployed the first proper version of this free utility. I hope everyone finds it as useful as I do.
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Congrats on launching! The UK train departure boards aesthetic is spot on - that's a real differentiator.
Quick question: when you share updates, do you post on just IH or adapt for Twitter/LinkedIn too? (Most founders building utilities don't realize their biggest opportunity is in the presentation layer, not just the data.)
I'm offering free competitor breakdowns to IndieHackers founders this week. You send me your URL, I'll send back:
- 3 competitor tactics you can steal (positioning, trust proofs, CTA flow)
- Your biggest friction point with specific fix
- One growth lever specific to your niche
No pitch. Just the analysis. Email: freelanism at gmail dot com with "StationView" in subject. 12-hour turnaround.
The fact that you're building a utility that solves a real daily pain point tells me you'll actually use this. Worth my time. 🚆
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Congrats on the launch! Quick question: when you share updates about StationView, do you post on just IH or adapt for Twitter/LinkedIn too? (asking because I built tool that handles the platform adaptation - running beta if useful)
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At the moment just IH, due to it being a one man operation. Definitely interested in seeing the tool you've made if you're willing to share of course.
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I'm not in the UK, but checked it out and love the style. Cool!
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Cheers, that means a lot. Planning to get something similar going for the US at some point and maybe parts of Europe.
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Nice. I like the aesthetic.
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Appreciate it :)
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1 Comment
love the aesthetic here. replicating the actual physical boards is a great touch—makes it feel much more official and reliable than a standard list app. the dark theme is perfect for checking while standing on a platform at night. great job on the ui