We sounded the alarm in May about National Rail Enquiries forcing third-party train-times apps offline whilst profiting from its own official offering - and now the industry regulator is investigating whether the practice breaches competition rules…

SEE ALSO: UK Train Authority Banning Unofficial Mobile Apps

The train info service sent lawyers’ threats to the UK Train Times mobile web app and the MyRail iPhone app, both free, prompting them to shut down for “legal reasons”. Coincidentally, in the same month it shut down MyRail, National Rail Enquiries debuted its own, official app, made by Agant, on the iPhone store, costing a ridiculous £4.99.

Now the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) says (via Telegraph.co.uk) it’s “investigating the supply of Real Time Train Information (RTTI) (by NRE) under the Competition Act 1998, having been made aware of concerns in this area including from members of the public, and from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents. RTTI is a key input into the provision of live train running information to passengers through media such as train information websites or services accessed over mobile phones.”