What is a train departure board for home?

A train departure board for home is a small LED screen that shows the next trains from a station you choose, live, laid out like the board on the platform. It sits on a shelf or a desk and answers the question everyone in the house asks each morning: when's the next train, and is it on time? TrainTicker is one of these. It's an amber LED board about the length of a ruler, showing departures from any National Rail station in Great Britain, using the same live data as the station screens.

What does it show?

Pretty much what you'd see standing on the platform. For the next train:

If the train is cancelled or late, the reason the railway gives scrolls along with it. Station notices, like engineering works, scroll too. When nothing's due (late at night, say, or on Christmas Day), it shows your station, "No departures" and the clock.

There are two layouts. The classic one shows one train in full with its calling points, then the next two in turn. The list shows the next three trains at once.

Who is it for?

Daily commuters are the obvious ones. A board by the front door tells you whether to leave now without unlocking a phone. It also helps families with a school train to catch, since everyone can see it, including the people who never open the app.

Then there are people who simply like trains. A live board for their local station, or a favourite one like York or Edinburgh Waverley, is a nice thing to have running on a shelf. People who live near a station can see what's about to leave it. And a retired railway worker might enjoy having their old station on the go. That's partly why boards like this turn up in our gift guides.

How does it get the train times?

Over your home WiFi. TrainTicker reads Darwin, National Rail's live train information system, and checks for changes every 10 seconds. That's the same source behind National Rail Enquiries and many station screens, so the board and the station should agree. If you're curious how Darwin works out its expected times, read what is Darwin.

How do you set one up?

It takes about three minutes:

1. Plug it in with the USB-C cable that comes in the box.
2. On your phone, join the board's WiFi setup hotspot and connect it to your home WiFi.
3. Pick your station by name or three-letter code, or find the nearest one to your postcode.

There's no app to install. It needs 2.4GHz WiFi, which almost every home router provides. You can change the station whenever you like from the dashboard.

Can it show only my trains?

Yes, and this is where it beats a station screen for daily use. Pick the station you travel to and it only lists trains that call there. Choose your platforms if only some of them matter. Or tell it how long your walk takes and it hides the trains you'd miss, so the first train on the board is the first one you can actually catch.

How big is it, and where does it go?

It's 320 by 80 mm, with 128 by 32 amber pixels at 2.5 mm pitch. That's small enough for a hallway shelf, a kitchen windowsill or the end of a desk. It runs from USB-C at 5V.

At night it dims to 15% between 10pm and 7am on its own. The button on the back cycles through four brightness levels, or you can set any level in the dashboard.

Does it cost anything to run?

No subscription and no premium tier. The board is £199.99 once, with UK postage at £4.99, and the train times are free for the life of the device. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee if it's not for you.

How is it different from an app or a DIY build?

An app does more, but you have to go and look. A home board is always showing. We've compared the two in TrainTicker vs train times apps. And if you're handy with a soldering iron, you can build your own; we've written up what that involves in build vs buy.

You can try the board in your browser first with the free live demo, see everything it does on the features page, or order TrainTicker. Orders ship within 3 to 4 weeks, tracked.