Trakam support

Happy to help with anything — questions, bugs, or feature requests.

Common questions

What do I need to run it?

iOS 17.0 or later, on iPhone. There is no account to create and nothing to sign up for.

A train is missing, or its position looks wrong.

Trakam displays what Amtrak's public feeds report. When a train's transponder drops out or the feed lags, the map lags with it — a marker may sit still, jump, or disappear for a while. Trains that have not departed yet, and routes Amtrak operates as Thruway buses rather than rail, are not shown as trains on the map.

The times disagree with what Amtrak is telling me.

Amtrak is right. Trakam shows the scheduled time next to Amtrak’s projection and computes the difference, but it is reading a public feed that can be delayed or briefly out of date. For anything that matters — making a connection, leaving for the station — confirm with Amtrak directly.

Do I have to share my location?

No. Location is entirely optional and the app works fully without it. If you grant it, your position is drawn on the map alongside nearby trains and stations, and that is all it is used for — it is never stored and never leaves your device. You can change your mind any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Trakam.

Nothing is loading.

Trakam needs a network connection to refresh live positions. If it opens with stale data or an empty map, check your connection first; if the feed itself is down, the app will recover on its own once it returns. Force-quitting and reopening is worth a try before reporting a bug.

Why is it called Trakam?

Trakam is not affiliated with or endorsed by Amtrak or the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The name is a play on rail tracking, and the app is an independent reader of publicly available data.

Reporting a problem

Including these makes a bug far easier to reproduce:

• Your iOS version and iPhone model
• The Trakam version (Settings tab → About)
• The train number or station involved, and roughly what time you saw it
• What you expected to see, and what you saw instead