RailDrop · John Jayasankar

What was broken

Northeast Corridor trips are booked early for peace of mind, then the board keeps moving. Flexible tickets can be changed, but only if you notice the drop. Most people do not. They paid $128 and never learn Regional 95 is sitting at $47.

Product decision

Watch the corridor, not just the train you bought. Default window is travel day ±1. Compare against what you actually paid. Surface every eligible rail option. Alert once when the opportunity improves. Keep booking on Amtrak: copy the itinerary, confirm there, never invent a deep link or a fare.

Flow

01BookedYou already paid
Peace of mind first. The board does not freeze for you.
02WatchSame stations, every train
Regional, Acela, connections, not just your seat.
03AlertOne precise email
Opportunity improved. Confirm on Amtrak before you change anything.

How it works

Book on Amtrak
Whatever you actually paid is the number every train is measured against.
Tell RailDrop the trip
Stations, date, and price. The window is searched immediately.
One email when it drops
Confirm on Amtrak before you change anything.

No account required. Watch a trip as a guest, and add an email only if you want fare-drop alerts.

The watch discipline

Same stations, every train: Regional, Acela, and connections, not just the train you already bought
±1 day by default: the day before, your travel day, and the day after. If tomorrow is cheaper than today, you should know
Checks immediately when a watch is created, then morning, afternoon, and evening; C rechecks on demand
Already booked a specific train? Add the train number and the board pins it next to the cheapest listed option
One precise alert: email only when the opportunity actually improves

Reading the board

Beats your train
Cheaper and not slower than yours, or faster and not more expensive.
Filters that fit a trip
Leave after, arrive by, a duration cap, and a 30-minute arrive buffer.
Change fees, only if you say so
Type an estimate or tap $10, $20, or $50. Change rules depend on Flexible, Value, or Saver, so no fee is ever invented.
What moved, and how close
The board shows what moved and how close departure is. The decision to change stays yours.
Built for the keyboard
J and K focus a train, H hides it, U undoes, Y copies you versus it, W copies the window, F copies Amtrak fields.
Shareable in one line
T copies stations, the cheapest listed train, and what you paid, for anyone else on the trip.

What it will not do

Invent Amtrak prices
If the live board is down, you see that, not a guess.
Fake an itinerary
No deep links into invented Amtrak itineraries. You copy trip details and book there.
Rebook for you
It watches and ranks. You book on Amtrak, then tell it what you actually paid.
Spam you
Alerts fire only when the opportunity actually improves.

Why I built it

I kept buying Flexible Amtrak tickets early, then learning too late that a later Regional was half the price
Existing tools either invent certainty or bury the signal in noise. I wanted quiet honesty
The product is the watch discipline: same stations, every rail option, alert only when it matters

How it was built

I directed the watch window, alert rule, and honesty constraints end-to-end
Implemented and iterated the live app in Cursor; product judgment and quality are mine
Alerts fire only when a listed fare beats what you paid; booking confirmation stays on Amtrak
A working launch, not a growth story. The case is about the discipline of the watch

Role & tags

Product, design, and build. Designed the watch window, honesty rules, alert discipline, and the live board that never pretends Amtrak is quieter than it is.

Fare watch
±1 day board
No invented prices
You decide on Amtrak

Impact

A live product with immediate scans, scheduled rechecks, guest watches, optional email alerts, and a board that fails honestly when the source is down. Built end-to-end in Cursor. I made it after enough trips where the cheaper train was there the whole time. I just was not watching.