What is a license? How do I register RailBandit?

• Go to the main screen (listing the most recent trips you entered) and select "Register" from the menu.
  
  
• The next screen titled "Trial Copy" shows an alpha-numeric license number (refer to the image on the right). Write down this number and use it when registering on our website.
  
  
• When you receive your activation code, go to the same registration screen and press the "Register Product" button.
  
  
• Enter the activation code. Press OK. If the registration is successful, RailBandit will show "Registered Product" on the top of the screen.

I also see "Request Activation Code" menu item. How do I use it?

You need to use this screen only when your license number is different from the license number you had when you purchased the software. In most cases, this number stays the same, and you don't need to use "Request Activation Code" screen at all. Instead, register using the activation code (not PIN number) as explained in the section above.

In some cases your license number will change, and your old activation code will no longer work. Provided that you're using the same device, you can "request" a new activation code using your PIN (not the Activation Code) and e-mail address. You will receive an automatic e-mail with a new activation code.

How do I create a new trip?

• When the application starts for the very first time, and after train schedules are loaded, the "New Trip" screen is shown automatically. If you would like to enter a new trip after this, simply select "New Trip" from the main menu.
  
  
• Then enter your origin station from the first picklist, and your destination station from the second picklist. By default, stations in these lists are grouped by the train lines they belong to. If you would like to see all stations listed alphabetically, check the "Sort Alphabetically" box.
  
  
• When an origin and destination are selected, select OK.

How do I download and install a new schedule?

• From the main menu, select "Schedules". The application will present a list of currently installed schedules. Loaded schedules have a check next to them.
  
  
• Select "New Schedule" from the menu. Then follow the screens and download the schedules you want to add.
  
  
• Pressing "Check for Updates" in the same menu tells the program to check if there are any newer versions of the schedules you already donwloaded. If any updates are found, you will be prompted to download them.
  
  
• When download is completed, depending on the type of update, you will be given a choice to restart the application by pressing Exit or simply continue.

How do I delete a schedule?

The schedules that came already built-in with the program cannot be deleted. However, if you downloaded a new schedule or an upgrade you no longer need, you can save some space on your device by removing this schedule:

• From the main menu, select "Schedules". The application will present a list of currently installed schedules. Schedules loaded into your phone's memory have a check next to them.
  
  
• Uncheck the schedule you are not using. Press OK. The schedule will be unloaded from memory. Then go to "Schedules" again and select the "Delete Unused" command. If this command is not shown, the schedule you unchecked came built-in and cannot be deleted.

I always see only three trains. How can I make RailBandit show more trains?

• From the main menu, select "Search Options".
  
  
• Inside the "Limit search to" section select "First five trains" or "No limit on number of trains". Then select OK.

RailBandit shows only a few trains within the next four to five hours. How can I see more trains?

• From the main menu, select "Startup".
  
  
• Select "Next 12 hours" or "Next 24 hours" in the "Load data for" section. Then select OK.
  
  
• The application will load additional schedule information and more trains will be shown. Keep in mind that when RailBandit starts next time, it will load the same 12 or 24 hours of schedule information, and will take a little longer to start. You can always reverse this by going to the same "Startup" screen and selecting the "Next 6 hours" option.
  
  
• It could be that you see only the first three or five trains because of the setting in "Search Options". Please see the two previous sections above for directions on how to change this setting.

Program shows trains starting from the current time. Can I set different date and time?

• Yes. First, from the main menu, select "Startup".
  
  
• Select "14 days in the "Startup mode" section. Then select OK. It will prompt you to restart.
  
  
• When restarted, click New Trip or Edit Trip menu item.

I keep getting "Check updates" reminders every few days. Can I turn them off?

RailBandit will remind you to check schedule updates in two cases: if you have not checked updates during the last 30 days or more, or if it knows (from previous update information) that one of the schedules you are using has been updated or is expected to be updated on a specific day.

Unless you don't have a data plan, we suggest that you check available updates (as described in the sections above) when RailBandit reminds you about it. If you don't have a data plan, follow these steps to turn off the reminders:

• From the main menu, select "Startup".
  
  
• Uncheck items in the "Remind me about updates" section. Then select OK.

How can I view all the stations along my trip?

After you select your origin and destination stations and press OK, a number of trains will be listed in the "Upcoming Trains" screen. To see detailed information about a particular train, choose this train from the list, and press "Select". You will be switched to a "Stations & Times" screen, where all stations along your way will be shown by default. You can also customize both the "Upcoming Trains" listing and "Stations & Times" screens.

To customize the "Upcoming Trains" list:

• Select "User Options" inside the "Upcoming trains" screen. Here you can set the time format (European vs. US style) and select how you would like to sort your trains in the "Upcoming Trains" list: by arrival time or by departure time. The default is sorting by departure time: trains that depart sooner are shown first.
  
  
• You can also turn on/off train numbers, total trip duration, transfer times (time between trains if any connections are involved) and connection stations.

To customize the "Stations & Times" list:

• Go to the "Stations & Times" screen and select "Options". Here you can set exactly how individual stations are shown.
  
  
• Select "Show Transfers Only" inside the "Intermediate stops" section to hide all stops except the origin, destination and connection stations.
  
  
• "Show transfers in two lines" in the "Stop Details" section tells the program how to display connections: departure time only, or both arriving and departing trains with corresponding times.

How can I adjust transfer (connection) times?

• Run a trip that involves a connection.
  
  
• Go to the "Stations & Times" screen and select the connection station.
  
  
• Select the "Connection" command. You will see a new screen titled "Stop Details" that shows the minimum connection time currently used.
  
  
• Select the "Modify" command to adjust this time. Set connection time to values between 1 and 60 minutes and hit OK.
  
  
• The program will recalculate the trips using the new connection time automatically.

What are all these icons that are shown next to trains and stations?

All icons are explained in a special screen. Go to the "Upcoming trains" screen, and select "Icons" from the menu. Here are the currently used icons:

	Peak hours train, as specified by the railroad. Peak hours trains are usually more expensive to ride.
	This icon indicates arrival to a connecting station where you should take another train.
	Take a new connecting train.
	This icon indicates a peak hour train that also involves a connection.
	Train may leave the station early (according to information provided by the railroad). You should take this into account if you plan to board the train at this station or make a connection.
	Train may leave the connecting station early (according to information provided by the railroad).
	Sub-optimal train. This icon is displayed if RailBandit finds another train that leaves your origin station a little later but arrives at the destination sooner (by making less stops in between).
	Signal to stop at this station: trains will pick up passengers standing on platform, and visible to engineer. Trains will discharge passengers at this station if passengers have notified conductor upon boarding.
	Pickup Only. Train stops at this station only to receive passengers.
	Train will stop to discharge passengers only. Passengers must notify conductor upon boarding.

When your next train is not shown

In some cases, when your trip involves a connection, your very next train is not shown. And it's not an error! The program is supposed to work this way. RailBandit shows the trips that take the least amount of time. Let us describe this case using a real example.

Suppose you are traveling from Washington Street (in Newark, NJ) to Hamilton, NJ. It's 8:45 PM, weekday evening. The trip involves a light rail train (from Washington Street to Newark Penn), then a NEC train from Newark Penn to Hamilton. The scheduler shows the first trip as "9:13PM - 10:22PM". By clicking on this line, you get: light rail train (9:13-9:16 PM) then the NEC train from Newark to Hamilton (9:26-10:22 PM).

If you check the weekday Newark light rail schedule, you will find that there are also 8:53 PM and 9:04PM trains departing Washington Street station. They get to Newark Penn at 8:56 PM and 9:06 PM correspondingly. Indeed, you can take the 8:56 PM train to Newark Penn only to find that you still have to wait for the same NEC train departing at 9:26 PM (the previous train to Hamilton is departing at 8:52 PM).

This is especially important when you are not at the station yet, but simply want to check your options. Suppose you are in the building near Washington Street at 8:45 PM. Had the scheduler shown you the 8:56 PM train, you would have concluded that you must run to the station to catch it. This is not necessary and confusing: you still can make it to your destination, Hamilton, exactly at the same time by taking the later 9:13 PM light rail train. So, 8:56 PM and 9:06 PM trains are not shown. If you want to see them, select a new trip between Washington Street and Newark Penn.

When I run a search, I get a "No schedules containing (a station) are loaded" message.

This happens when a schedule containing one of the stations (origin or destination, or both, of your trip) is not loaded. There are two reasons why this can be:

a) You turned off the schedule inside the "Schedules" screen.

b) The schedule did not get loaded because of insufficient memory (in this case you should see a warning during startup). To diagnose and fix the problem:

1. From the main menu, select "Schedules". The application will present a list of currently installed schedules. Loaded schedules have a check next to them. Make sure that the schedule containing the specified station has the check next to it, then select OK.
   
   
2. The application will try to load the schedule into the memory. If it fails (because of the memory limit), an error message will appear. Try to unload currently unused schedules by deselecting them in the "Schedules" screen - this will free up some memory. Then repeat step one. If this does not work, consider upgrading your phone.

When I download a new schedule, I get a "No space left to store data" message, even though my phone has plenty of free space. Why?

Some older phones have stricter limits on the amount of storage memory one application can use. Even though there is memory available, it cannot be used by RailBandit because it has reached its per-application limit. Possible solutions:

• Try to free some memory by deleting schedules you are not using. Then try downloading the new schedule.
  
  
• Upgrade your phone. Newer phones have more storage available to applications. The program will also work much faster on a newer phone.

The BlackBerry application cannot download any schedules. What is wrong?

Depending on your mobile operator, you might need to configure the "APN Settings" usually found in

   Settings » Options » Advanced Options » TCP.

You may need three pieces of information: the Gateway IP/hostname, the username, and the password. For more details please check the following link: How to Configure Full Internet Access On BlackBerry

A word on security:

We assure you that our software does not contain any viruses, spyware, malware or any inappropriate content. Our software is safe to use on any phone.