RailRadar™ is an interactive map which allows users to watch movements of trains which are currently running in India.

Please be aware that the, location, and status of trains shown on the map are typically 5 and more mins delayed from the real time. Please refer to main portal page for the latest train running status.

Please note that RailRadar™, using all different types of tracking mechanisms and the software that supports it, while highly reliable, is also complex. If you are a first-time visitor to this site, you may want to make yourself conversant with the various links listed below –

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about RailRadar™
• Get yourself conversant with the Copy Right and Terms & Conditions associated with TrainEnquiry.com
• ‘Terms of Use’ listed on main TrainEnquiry.com web site applies to RailRadar™ too.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is RailRadar™?

   RailRadar™ is a live tracker of Indian Railways passenger trains traffic in real time. This live tracker is shown on an interactive map and allows users to watch the movements of trains which are currently running in entire India. RailRadar™ is an outcome of innovation where Indian Railways Center for Railway Information System (CRIS) and RailYatri.in joined hands.

2. Is this information reliable and accurate?

   Let’s address this question in two parts. On the reliability part – Absolutely!! The information and intelligence behind RailRadar™ is extracted and harnessed from volumes of data from the official Indian Railway’s train running operational information data. With regards to accuracy – this is fairly accurate in the normal running scenarios. However, there are several factors that can affect a train while it is on its route. Weather, breakdowns, congestions, local control-office directives, and more. RailRadar tries to continuously update this information. However, since the data on the Radar is displayed few minutes later than the actual, we encourage our viewers to double check train running information using the traditional train status search mechanism – also offered by TrainEnquiry.com

3. How often does the data update or refresh?

   At present, RailRadar™ is configured to update/refresh itself every 5 mins. While the updates of the individual trains may vary based on the area where it is currently running. In any scenario, the location and status of the trains displayed on RailRadar™ will always be 5 or more minutes delayed.

4. Can this information be more real time?

   For security and regulatory reasons, the information published on RailRadar™ is delayed for 5 or more minutes. Besides, RailRadarTM has to process enormous amount of data to provide you with reliable information which contributes to the delay.

5. What was the motivation behind building RailYatri.in RailRadar™?

   The core motivation behind building RailRadar™ was an age-old saying - “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Today we believe that it can be more! Over the last decade, train network and traffic in India have grown tremendously. Indian Railways expects this trend to continue over the next few decades. Also increasingly Indian Railways passengers today want to know more – beyond just ‘an’ ETA of ‘a’ train at ‘a’ station. As the volume and complexity of information increases – we believe that new methods of information dissemination (associated with Trains and its running information) will be required. RailRadar™ is one such attempt on that line. We believe that value of information/directions can greatly be enhanced when presented graphically rather than just plain text.

6. The RailRadar™ display is great, but I don’t seem to understand the need/value of this for me as train passenger?

   Quite occasionally, Indian Railway travelers have felt the need to know more than train running status or arrival time at a particular station. Besides the usual usage scenario of live train tracking on the web, we recommend our users to use RailRadar™ during scenarios such as –

   • Need to know order of trains which are arriving at a station or have departed from a station.
   • In cases of unplanned travel or short distance travel – determining which train option is best for you.
   • Any trends of on-time/delays on trains running on a particular route or in and around a location/geography.
   • In cases of calamities/accidents – need for obtaining a generic view of the ground train running realities.

   We are hopeful that many individuals would find additional value in viewing RailRadar™. We would love to hear feedback and such uses.

7. I noticed that when I open up RailRadar™, the map is automatically panned in to particular city/location. Why is that so?

   If we are able to make a good guess on your web request location based on your IP address – we will try to pan in the map to the location of your request. IP addresses are many times not correctly mapped to a physical location, so we may err on accurately panning the map. If your IP request is mapped to a location outside India, the map is currently to set to New Delhi, capital of India.

8. How do I search for information on RailRadar™?

   If you are familiar with political map of India, you can use the Maps navigation features to zoom in or zoom-out to a place/area of your interest. By clicking on the map, you can drag the maps in any direction. You can use the map controls marked as (+) for zooming in and (-) for zooming out.

   Alternatively, you can use RailRadar™ by searching for –

   • Train Station = To zoom in directly to a train station, search and select a train station of interest from the search box. Selection of the station will automatically zoom in the map to the location of the station. You will then see the trains at or around the selected station.
   • Running train = Using the search box under the Train Tab, search for a train either by Train Number or Train Name. From the search results, select the train. The map will automatically zoom in to the current location of the train.
   • HotSpots = Periodically, we mark areas of distress, which affect train services in an adverse way, as “HotSpots” on the maps. Under the tab – marked as “HotSpots” – the list of active “HotSpots” in the country are listed. Selecting a particular “HotSpot” will zoom in the map to the HotSpot location.
9. What are the small yellow and red icons which I see on the map?
   • A single yellow or red icon represents train currently running in India.
   • A yellow icon represents a train which is currently expected to reach its next stop on time (typically with delays of 15 mins or less)
   • A red icon represents a running train which is delayed by more than 15 minutes.
   • The pointer of the icon represents the direction in which the train is traversing. It is important to note here that the trains status information could have been updated more than 5 mins back. We always recommend our users to verify the latest train status on the official Indian Railways site at http://www.trainenquiry.com
10. How do I see details associated with a running train?

    There are two ways –

    • Hover your mouse on the train icon - Just hover your mouse on a running train icon and you would see the number and name of that train. If there are currently multiple trains at a location – the mouse hover would list all the trains at that location.
    • Click on the train icon - Clicking on a particular train icon gives you additional details like train start date, last location of the train, train running status, and a link to TrainEnquiry.com to find the latest status of this train. Clicking on the train icon also automatically plots the train route on the map along with its upcoming stoppages. The journey which is covered is plotted with a dark solid line. The path yet to cover is plotted with a dotted line. If there are multiple trains at a location, the individual train link will have to be selected to see the same above listed details.
11. I don’t understand why trains which are running 15 mins or less are shown as on-time trains in yellow? Isn’t it a delayed train?

    First, it is important to note that the delays here represent the ‘expected’ arrival delay at the next stoppage of the running train. This delay is calculated based on an Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) algorithm which takes into consideration the current running status and the operating factors ahead in its route. Our data in the past have shown that predictions of delays of 15 mins or less are close to call. Trains do recover time. Hence for the sake of simplicity, we have chosen to mark the trains with expected delays of less than 15 mins in the same color code as the trains running on time.

12. Can a late running train make up time?

    More often than not, yes. Trains do arrive and depart from stations earlier than the estimated times shown on the published timetable or even a current running plan.

13. I see that the train is running on time, however for upcoming stations it is predicted to reach with a delay. How is this possible?

    The Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) algorithms for predicting the expected time of arrival at upcoming stations takes into consideration ground situation many a times. On several occasions the local control office gives in inputs associated with any unplanned delays. In such scenarios, the delays at the future stations may be more than what it seems at present.

14. When I search for a train – many a times I am shown multiple highlighted locations of the train. Why is that?

    For long distance trains, which run over multiple days, there are typically multiple instances of the same train running on its route depending on its start date. When you search for a train on RailRadar™ - it simply highlights these multiple instances. You can select any of these trains and see the details about each of them.

15. So how are trains tracked?

    A detailed answer for this can be complicated. However in simplistic terms consider that Indian Railways has train passing monitoring points around the country at more than 6000 locations. These monitoring points in real-time mode communicate updates on train arrival, departure, or passing to a central headquarter server. In substantial cases these updates are automated however there are places/situations where this reporting is also done manually.

16. Why are trains moving on the map?

    RailRadar™ plots a new position of the train as quickly as we can get them to you. When this happens, it gives you an illusion that train has moved on the map.

17. The train which I am monitoring has not moved since a long time. What could be the reason?

    As explained above, the trains are tracked through the updates received from the several thousand monitoring points spread across the country. Typically these monitoring points report according to a plan based on the running plan/time table of the train. Occasionally, if any of these monitoring points have not reported when we expect, or where there is some other uncertainty about the status of the train, we may not move the location of the train on the map. This could mean that the train has been delayed or not yet passed the monitoring point. It could also mean that the monitoring point has failed and that the train is infact still running as previously expected. We will not be able to determine which the case is until the train passes a monitoring point and sends an update. Users are therefore advised to place less reliance on times/status of such trains.

18. Are cargo/goods trains also shown on the map?

    No, RailYatri.in RailRadar™ maps passenger trains only.

19. I am sure about a train which has started but don’t seem to locate it on RailRadar™?

    RailRadar™ starts tracking a train as soon as we receive the first update on its journey from the right control-office. This typically happens within 5-10 minutes of the start. On the similar note – on several occasions you would also see trains on RailRadar™ which might have reached destination. In this case too, the train is tracked till a ‘reached destination’ update is received from the destination control office.

20. Isn’t this information a big security risk? Is RailRadar™ helping terrorists?

    No, this information is public knowledge and not a security risk. CRIS is cognizant of the fact that this should not in any way compromise both national and individual security. The assertion that knowing a train’s whereabouts or routing promotes terrorism or is a security risk is inaccurate reasoning and baseless paranoia akin to perhaps train routes/schedules should not be published or perhaps that station locations should be kept secret.

21. How much does a subscription to RailYatri.in RailRadar™ cost?

    It’s free. Perhaps if you like RailRadar™, you could provide a link to it from your web site or blog. A tweet or a Facebook Like/Comment on our Facebook Page would be very much appreciated too.

22. I see a consistent discrepancy or anomaly in the tracking data. What should I do?

    Please bring it up and write to us at our email – feedback [at] railyatri.in. While we’re unable to guarantee a resolution for every discrepancy, we can research some situations to determine the source of the problem and possibly take action if it leads to a wide scale fix.

23. I see some anomalies in the route map of a particular train. Can I inform you that?

    We would very much appreciate that. Just write to us at our email – feedback [at] railyatri.in

24. I have some ideas which can make RailRadar™ even better. Can I inform you that?

    We would very much appreciate that. We are always interested in new ideas. Just write to us at our email – feedback [at] railyatri.in

25. I have an unusual analysis, reporting, or corporate project and would like RailYatri.in’s technical expertise and data. Is it possible?

    Yes. Contact us at feedback [at] railyatri.in and let us know about your situation.

26. I am from Media and am using the information/data from RailRadar™ for my article and reporting. What do I need to know?

    If you are using data/information from RailRadar™ which would be used in a reporting or an article – our PR group would love to hear from you. You can write to us at feedback [at] railyatri.in. We would be happy to share additional information with you and may be also help you with additional insights. Screenshots from RailRadar™ can be used for free. In a regular manner, we would like the information gathered from RailRadar™ to be attributed/referenced to us. We would not acknowledge the validity of information/data which has not been socialized with our PR group.