UK Train Agency Investigated For Threatening Mobile Developers
We sounded the alarm in May about the UK’s National Rail Enquiries forcing third-party train-times apps offline whilst profiting from its own official offering – and now the UK regulator is investigating whether the practice breaches competition rules…
The train info service sent lawyers’ threats to the UK Train Times mobile web app and the MyRail iPhone app, both free, prompting them to shut down for “legal reasons”. Coincidentally, in the same month it shut down MyRail, National Rail Enquiries debuted its own, official app, made by Agant, on the iPhone store, costing a ridiculous £4.99 ($8.13).
Now the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) says (via Telegraph.co.uk) it’s “investigating the supply of Real Time Train Information (RTTI) (by NRE) under the Competition Act 1998, having been made aware of concerns in this area including from members of the public, and from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents. RTTI is a key input into the provision of live train running information to passengers through media such as train information websites or services accessed over mobile phones.”
I can’t claim to be dispassionate on this one. The actions of National Rail Enquiries, which is run by the Association of Train Operating Companies, forced me directly to shell out for its overpriced, monopolistic app in the absence of counterparts. It all runs completely contrary to what a modern rail network should offer – timely, open information, freely available through whichever medium I chose. The start of an ORR investigation doesn’t necessarily hint at its outcome, but, especially with Tim Berners-Lee having been appointed government “data tzar” to open up public data, I’d be surprised if NRE wasn’t forced to stop threatening developers.
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