Better Rail App Reverts to Israel Railways Data Amid Schedule Disputes

The popular transit app Better Rail has resumed pulling its train schedule data directly from Israel Railways servers, just days before the Rosh Hashanah holiday. This decision comes after the app's developers found the alternative data source, the Ministry of Transport website, to be unreliable and lacking crucial updates for the holiday period. Better Rail stated that the Ministry's site displayed a standard weekday schedule, while Israel Railways had implemented a special schedule for Rosh Hashanah, making the Ministry's data inaccurate for the upcoming travel surge.

Earlier, Israel Railways had threatened legal action against Better Rail, accusing the app of unauthorized access and commercial use of its proprietary data, including schedules and travel planning information. The railway company alleged that Better Rail bypassed its security measures, constituting both a breach of terms of use and illegal access to computer systems. Israel Railways demanded that Better Rail cease using its interfaces, delete the data, and provide details on its data extraction methods.

Better Rail has refuted these claims, asserting that it is a free, open-source, non-profit application and that no hacking occurred. The company maintains that the railway data was publicly accessible without requiring authentication. They have requested that Israel Railways provide evidence for its allegations.

In response to the dispute, Israel Railways reiterated that comprehensive train service information is available on its official website and app, adhering to strict security, cyber, accessibility, and service standards for critical infrastructure. They suggested that entities wishing to use their databases should do so through the Ministry of Transport's database, as other similar applications do.

Despite the legal threat, the controversy has boosted Better Rail's user base, which reportedly doubled from 5,000 to over 10,000 in a single day, propelling it to the top of the App Store charts in Israel.