For anyone who has ever stared at a departure board wondering where their train actually is, a new online tool aims to provide an answer. TrainTracker24, launched in August, offers a real-time map of rail traffic across France, Spain and Belgium, giving travellers and rail enthusiasts a live view of the network.
The platform displays the number of active trains, average delay times, the percentage of on-time departures, and cancellation rates. Users can rotate, zoom and explore the map freely, filtering by operator or infrastructure type. Data includes Eurostar and Italy's Frecciarossa services, as well as details on stations without rail service, high-speed lines, and facilities at each stop.
For those with a specific train number, the tool allows lookup of scheduled runs, past journeys and live tracking. Search functions cover departures, arrivals, punctuality and station amenities across France, Germany, Spain and Belgium. A dedicated section lets users examine rail operators, their routes and performance metrics.
When Euronews Travel checked France's high-speed SNCF service, the snapshot showed 601 trains running, 80 delayed by 15 minutes or more, and 22 cancelled. The data refreshes every 20 seconds, so users can watch disruptions unfold in near real time.
Free and paid features
The basic map and statistics are free. Paid subscriptions add a personalised journey map, live interruption data displayed on the map, sorting by delay, and more detailed infrastructure and track-type information. The platform draws on open data from operators, regions and infrastructure managers, covering timetables, real-time updates and disruption alerts.
According to a post on X, TrainTracker24 is set to expand further into Europe. The founder, Elric Battello, told Luxembourg's Virgule media outlet: “When you’re flying, or waiting for someone at the airport, it’s easy to open Flightradar24 to track the flight live on a map; the same goes for shipping. With trains, it’s different. You’ll often see a display at the station or receive a notification in the event of a delay. But you don’t really know what’s going on.”
TrainTracker24 is not the only platform of its kind. TrainTracker.live offers a similar free service with live train positions, timetables and punctuality statistics, covering nearly 11,000 trains across four continents, including Europe. TrainsTracking provides live information and fare comparisons with links to official booking pages in 76 countries, with the most detailed coverage in Europe, Japan, India, Pakistan and the US. The SignalBox live train map focuses exclusively on the UK rail network.
For travellers planning journeys across the continent, these tools can be particularly useful given the varying reliability of rail services. In Spain, for instance, recent months have seen both a surge in September travel and concerns about seismic risks that could affect infrastructure. Meanwhile, France has faced drought-related challenges that have impacted various sectors, though rail operations have remained largely unaffected.
As the platform expands, it may become a standard reference for European rail travellers, much like Flightradar24 has for aviation. Whether you're commuting between Paris and Brussels or planning a high-speed journey from Madrid to Barcelona, having a live map at your fingertips could make the experience less stressful and more transparent.
