About the data
RailReach publishes train journey times from 571 stations to all 11 London terminals: 1233 station-to-terminal journeys in total, 734 of them direct. This page explains where those numbers come from, and where they should not be relied on.
What RailReach is
RailReach is a free planning tool for anyone weighing up where to live against how long they will spend on a train. It is built for homebuyers, renters, relocators and daily commuters who need to compare towns on a like-for-like basis, rather than check a specific departure.
Every station within 90 minutes of a London terminal is plotted on one interactive map and colour-coded by journey time, so the commuter belt can be read at a glance. There is no registration and no paywall.
Sources and method
Journey times are computed from Darwin Timetable Files, published by the Rail Delivery Group through the Rail Data Marketplace under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The operators covered are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Railway, Elizabeth line, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Hull Trains, LNER, London Northwestern, Lumo, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southeastern high speed, Southern, Thameslink, c2c.
Fastest is the quickest scheduled journey of the day, allowing at most one change. Where it uses one, the interchange is named, because a time that quietly depends on changing trains is misleading on its own. Fastest direct is the quickest service that does not require changing; for most routes the two are the same, and it is shown separately only where they differ. Connections allow a uniform eight minutes to change. Station-by-station minimum connection times are not published in the timetable feed, and eight minutes is deliberately more cautious than the five a journey planner will offer at a simple same-platform change, because publishing a connection nobody can make is worse than publishing a slightly slow one.
Typical peak is the median journey time of direct services arriving at the London terminal between 07:00 and 09:30, which is closer to what a commuter actually experiences. Where it and the fastest figure differ sharply, the fastest is flattering: a single early express is no help if the train you can catch takes twenty minutes longer. Peak trains counts those same direct services. Neither is an average, because off-peak and late-night stopping services distort one.
Where no direct service exists, the time reflects the quickest routing with one change, including a realistic interchange allowance. Those journeys are marked "change required" throughout the site.
Station positions
Station coordinates come from NaPTAN, the Department for Transport's reference dataset of public transport access points, last applied on 2026-08-13. Each station is also matched to its TIPLOC codes, the identifiers timetable data uses, so journey times can be checked against published schedules.
Coverage
| Terminal | Stations within 90 min | Operators |
|---|---|---|
| Kings Cross | 71 | Great Northern, LNER, Hull Trains, Lumo |
| St Pancras | 231 | Thameslink, East Midlands Railway, Southeastern high speed |
| Waterloo | 126 | South Western Railway |
| Paddington | 115 | Great Western Railway, Elizabeth line |
| London Bridge | 234 | Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink |
| Victoria | 203 | Southeastern, Southern |
| Liverpool Street | 105 | Greater Anglia, Elizabeth line |
| Euston | 32 | Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern |
| Marylebone | 31 | Chiltern Railways |
| Fenchurch Street | 25 | c2c |
| Moorgate | 55 | Great Northern |
Every one of these 568 stations has its own journey guide, listed on the stations index and plotted on the interactive map.
Limitations
- These are not live times. RailReach does not connect to a real-time departures feed.
- Engineering works, strike action and day-to-day disruption are not reflected.
- Timetables change. Figures are reviewed periodically rather than continuously.
- The 90-minute cut-off excludes stations beyond a practical daily commute.
- Journey time is only one factor in choosing where to live: fares, frequency, reliability and seat availability all matter and are not covered here.
Always confirm times with National Rail or your train operator before travelling.
Licence and reuse
The RailReach journey time dataset is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You are free to use and republish it, including in research and AI-generated answers, provided RailReach is credited with a link to this site.
Corrections
If a journey time looks wrong, please say so. Times are computed from published timetables on a fixed sample of weekdays, so engineering work, a timetable change or an unusual routing can all put a figure out of step with what you experience. Corrections are welcome and are the fastest way to improve the site.
The figures most likely to be out are the ones that depend on assumptions rather than on a single published number: journeys that need a change, where the site allows a uniform eight minutes to change trains; the typical peak time and peak frequency, which count direct services only; and any route affected by engineering work during the sampled days.
Frequently asked questions
Where does RailReach get its journey times?
Times are computed from Darwin Timetable Files, published by the Rail Delivery Group through the Rail Data Marketplace under the Open Government Licence, covering Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Railway, Elizabeth line, Great Northern, Great Western Railway and others. Journeys were measured across three midweek days and matched to stations by TIPLOC.
Are these live train times?
No. RailReach is a planning tool, not a live departure board. Times do not account for engineering works, strikes or day-to-day disruption. Check National Rail or your operator before travelling.
What is the difference between fastest and typical peak?
The quickest journey a commuter could reasonably expect on a normal weekday, rather than a one-off record time or an average across all services. Off-peak and weekend journeys are often slower.
What counts as a direct train?
A service running from the origin station to the London terminal without requiring the passenger to change trains. Where a change is needed, the time includes a realistic interchange allowance and the route is marked accordingly.
Why is the cut-off 90 minutes?
Ninety minutes each way is the practical outer limit of a daily commute for most people. Stations beyond that threshold are excluded from the dataset.
Can I reuse this data?
Yes. The journey time dataset is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Please credit RailReach and link back to this site.