As the Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company celebrates 150 years of service along the iconic line, they are launching a new, free, digital app, Traxplorer, to guide passengers through one of the most scenic train journeys in Europe.
The launch coincides with school half-term holidays, to provide families with a fun way of discovering more about the places along the line from Leeds to Carlisle
Named one of the best scenic railway routes in Europe by travel publishers Lonely Planet, the Settle Carlisle Railway is famous around the world. The route, which was saved from closure in the 1980s, has also received the TripAdvisor top 10 places to visit in the world award this year.
Traxplorer is a travel app that makes train journeys more fun and informative by providing information about what people can see through the window of the train, as well as providing live train times, historical information about lines, and user-friendly station guides. The app will also have the train times for when the Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company’s trolley service will be onboard, and details of refreshments available.
It also offers games linked to travel, including achievements, leaderboards, and unlockable content to encourage exploration and interaction with the railway network. And to celebrate Halloween there will be a pumpkin hunt challenge – with virtual pumpkins along the line, which can be found in Traxplorer.
Passengers can log on at any point along the line, collect digital postcards for each station visited, and learn about points of interest along their route.
Chair of Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company, Pete Myers said:
The school half term is the perfect time to launch our Traxplorer app, providing our young passengers with an interactive app on a smartphone showing them the landmarks and places from Carlisle to Leeds. The launch of this new interactive app celebrates the unique nature of the Settle Carlisle line, which many people travel on just to see the views.
It is poignant in our 150th anniversary year, to celebrate our history with the launch of a new digital, 21stcentury app, that highlights the features, places and events which people can discover by travelling on our line.
And as Avanti reroute the West Coast Main Line from January via the Settle Carlisle line, as the new railway bridge is constructed across the M6, the Traxplorer app will provide them with information on what we have to offer along our line.
Traxplorer has been developed by brothers Sam and Joshua Osborne. The developers said:
Building Traxplorer for the Settle to Carlisle line has been an exciting project. It’s such a scenic route, and that made it especially fun to develop – there were so many fascinating landmarks and points of interest to include.
We learned so much about the route while making the app, and we hope everyone who tries the app will discover just as much. You can find out more about us and our other apps at Yonosphere.com – and we’d love to bring Traxplorer to even more railway lines in the future.
The Settle Carlisle Railway Development Company was formed in 1992, following the reprieve of the line from closure. The company’s mission is to promote this iconic line and bring more recognition by and involvement of the many communities the line services.
The free Traxplorer app is available to download from the Google Play and Apple Store from Monday, October 27 and will continue to have more activities, events and information added – so there will always be something new to discover.
See: https://settle-carlisle.co.uk/
