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OnTime GO is an independent app for people who take GO Transit. It shows live departures for GO trains and buses, the Union Station departure board, a trip planner that handles transfers, and service alerts. Premium adds a live map, trip alerts, early platform info, and full trip details with PRESTO fares. It isn't made by Metrolinx, but it uses their public real-time data.

There are five tabs along the bottom. Schedule shows departures and full-day schedules for any station or bus stop. Union is the Union Station departure board. Planner finds trips between any two stations or stops, including ones with transfers. Map shows live trains and buses (Premium). More has your favourites, service alerts, offline maps, settings and Premium. Service alerts are also one tap away from the bell at the top of the Schedule, Union and Planner tabs.

Every upcoming departure from Union Station, the same as the big board in the station. You'll see the platform, number of coaches, whether it's Proceed or Wait, and which trains are express. Filter by line to see only yours, and tap a train to see all of its stops.

Pick where you're starting, where you're going, and a date and time. The planner lists trips that get you there, including ones that change lines or switch between a train and a bus. Each option shows when you leave and arrive, the total travel time, the number of transfers and the longest wait. If your train carries on as another line, it tells you to stay on board rather than showing a transfer. Tap any trip for the full timeline.

The live map (Premium) shows every GO train and bus as it moves. Tap a train or bus to see where it is, whether it's on time, and its expected time and platform at each stop. Tap a station or stop to see what's leaving next.

Trip alerts are part of Premium. Open any train or bus trip and tap Follow. You can get a reminder before it leaves, a heads-up 2, 3, 5 or 10 minutes before your stop (pick your stop from the trip timeline), and alerts if it's delayed, cancelled, or changes platform or bay. You can follow a train straight from the Union board, or after you've already boarded.

Yes. Departures show the platform as soon as GO Transit posts it, and the Union tab works just like the board at the station. With Premium you can also see the scheduled platform before it's announced. Scheduled platforms can still change, so keep an eye on the board or follow the trip to get a notification if it moves.

Service alerts show disruptions and notices from GO Transit for the lines you've picked. Open them from the bell at the top of the Schedule, Union and Planner tabs, or from the More tab.

Tap the star on a station or route in the Schedule or Planner tab. Your favourites are listed in the More tab, and tapping one takes you straight to it.

Premium adds the live map of every GO train and bus, trip alerts for the train or bus you're following, scheduled platforms before they're announced, and full trip details with every stop and PRESTO fares for adults, students, seniors and children. Everything else in the app is free, and there are no ads either way.

Premium is billed through your App Store account, so you can cancel anytime from there. On your iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. You can also manage it from the More tab in the app.

Station departures refresh about every 20 seconds and the Union tab about every 10 seconds. You can pull down to refresh at any time.

The app shows platforms as soon as GO Transit makes them available in its public data. Sometimes the station screens get the platform a little earlier. Pull down to refresh and it usually shows up shortly after.

Check your phone's time and time zone settings and your 12 or 24-hour preference in the More tab. During disruptions, scheduled times may not match what actually runs, so always check the status next to each departure.

Make sure you've picked the right line first, and try other spellings of the station name. OnTime GO covers GO trains and GO buses only, not the TTC or UP Express. If a GO station or stop is missing, please let us know.

Scheduled means the trip is planned for that time and there's no live update yet. On Time means it's running as planned. Delayed or Early shows how many minutes off it is. Cancelled means the trip won't run, and service alerts will usually say why. At Union, Proceed means you can head to the platform and Wait means it's not ready yet.

Live departures, the planner and alerts need an internet connection. The transit maps in the More tab, including the GO system map and Union Station floor plans, are saved on your phone and work offline.