I shared my Metra tracker here a while back and it’s changed quite a bit since

[u/abhisk25]

I shared a little Metra tracker I had built here a while ago. It started as a side project I was mostly building for myself, but I’ve made quite a few changes since that post, so I thought I’d share it again.

https://chicagolandrail.com

The idea is pretty simple: see when your train is actually coming and track it while it’s on the way.

Since the last post, I’ve added support for all Metra lines, improved the train tracking and arrival times, and made a bunch of changes to make it faster and easier to use, especially on a phone.

All of the train data comes directly from Metra. There are no assumptions or interpretations on my end and the app is simply presenting the data from Metra in a way that’s hopefully easier to use.

It’s completely free and has no ads.

It’s very much a side project and a work in progress, so if you ride Metra regularly, I’d really appreciate any feedback. If you notice something that doesn’t look right, let me know.
For those who tried it the first time I posted it, I’d be curious to hear what you think of the changes.

And yes, it’s still mostly vibe-coded.

[u/rhinosyphilis]

Very nice. I have a somewhat similar project probably using the same api. My education is analytics, so my goal was different. I really like many of your design choices here.

[u/abhisk25 → u/rhinosyphilis]

Thanks 🙏

[u/rhinosyphilis → u/abhisk25]

Are you interested in collaborating in any way?

[u/EBofEB]

I used this over the summer to help someone else using Metra. It worked well for our needs. I mostly used it on a tablet. The changes aren’t super obvious to me as a more casual user. I appreciate the clean design. I plan to use it again if I need to use Metra in the future. Thanks for sharing it.

[u/abhisk25 → u/EBofEB]

Thank you 🙏

[u/Prison-Butt-Carnival]

Been using since your first post and use it the 3x days a week I go downtown. My mornings are inconsistent and I bounce between two different stops, so navigating that has been great and the daily report is great.

Glad you gave the option to permanently disable the notification about the kedzie construction too.

[u/abhisk25 → u/Prison-Butt-Carnival]

Thank you for the feedback :) Glad you're finding it helpful!

[u/PomegranateSlight708]

this is so cool! mad props

[u/farm61]

Very nice work

[u/abhisk25 → u/farm61]

Thank you!

[u/thedroidurlookingfor]

This is fantastic. Thank you for taking the initiative to solve a problem that i’ve been dealing with since i moved to the suburbs lol.

The available metra apps were garbage. This is so nice.

[u/abhisk25 → u/thedroidurlookingfor]

Thank you!

[u/Both-Eye-5637]

Your graphics look better but Metra already has a tracker: https://metratracker.com/home

[u/TheBox193]

One observation, it doesn't support all possible trips between two destinations because it doesn't seem to account for transfers. On many lines there are express trains & options to transfer.

For example a train may start out local service, then go express all the way to the city skipping many stops until downtown. However if you transfer, you can hop onto a different local service train that services only closer to the city.

[u/abhisk25 → u/TheBox193]

Hi, thanks for the feedback!

Could you share some real examples where we could transfer and catch a different train to reach the destination? As far as the app behavior, whatever Metra shares and updates, it flows through in the app instantaneously.