Terms of use

Effective October 18, 2026. Contact: privacy@railspotting.com

These terms apply when you use railspotting.com, its account pages, its public data and its receiver service ("RailSpotting", "we"). By using RailSpotting you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the site.

1. Not for safety

RailSpotting is an estimate, for interest only. It is worked out from railroad radio traffic picked up by receivers that supporting members host, which miss trains, hear trains that are far away and can be offline. It cannot say a crossing is clear. Never rely on it to decide whether to cross a track, plan travel around a crossing or make any safety decision, and never use it in an emergency: call 911, or the emergency number posted at the crossing. Always obey crossing signals, gates and signs, and stay off railroad property. Trains can come at any time, from either direction.

2. Accounts

You must be at least 13 to sign in. You sign in with your own Google account and are responsible for what is done with your account.
We can limit, suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or puts the site or others at risk.
You can stop using RailSpotting at any time, and ask us to delete your account as described in the privacy policy.

3. Receivers

Only add a receiver you own or are allowed to run, at a place where you are allowed to put it.
Receivers only listen. You are responsible for following the laws that apply to you about receiving and using radio signals. Never transmit on railroad channels.
Don't send false or made-up reports, or try to make one receiver appear to be another.
Don't go onto railroad property to install or reach a receiver.
What your receiver reports is used to build the public map, alerts, history, public data and the live video streams described in section 7. Alerts, history and public data stay available after the receiver is removed.

4. Near real-time train information

The live map, the trains list and the public data show train information within minutes of it being heard: where a train was probably heard, when, whether its end-of-train device said it was moving or stopped, and that a code for the train's trip ("EOT 3f9ac2e81b04"). It is worked out by software from radio signals, so it can be late, incomplete or wrong. The code is made from the device's unit number with a secret key and changes with every trip, so it cannot be turned back into the unit number or used to follow a device from one trip to the next; we do not keep or publish unit numbers.

You may look at it for interest and hobby rail-watching from public places. You must not use RailSpotting, or anything taken from it:

to find, follow, approach, board or get onto a train, railroad equipment or railroad property, or to plan or carry out trespass, theft, vandalism, sabotage or any other unlawful act;
to target or track particular trains, shipments, cargo (including hazardous materials) or crews, or to combine it with other information to do so;
to interfere with railroad operations, signals, communications or crews, or to harass anyone;
for dispatching, logistics, insurance, law enforcement or emergency response decisions, or anything else where someone's safety or money depends on it being right;
to present it as official railroad information, or as more accurate or more current than it is.

We may delay, coarsen, limit or stop publishing any of it (for example trip codes, or a receiver's data) at any time, including at the request of a railroad or a public authority.

5. Notes, profiles and links

Notes are public. You keep any rights you have in what you write. You let RailSpotting store, show and include it in the site and its public data, without payment, for as long as the note is up.
Only post what is true to the best of your knowledge. Don't post anyone's personal information, anything unlawful, hateful, harassing or sexual, advertising, or anything that encourages trespassing or unsafe behavior near tracks.
Only link to videos and photos you are allowed to share. A link keeps pointing to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Google Photos: the owner can change or remove what it shows at any time. YouTube videos are played in YouTube's own player and are subject to the YouTube Terms of Service.
Your profile is public. Only link to your own YouTube channel and your own Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky accounts. Don't use a display name, photo or description that pretends to be someone else, RailSpotting or a railroad.
Only add a business profile for a business you own or may speak for, and keep its details accurate. It describes the business; it is not a place for unrelated advertising, and its website should be the business's own.
We can remove notes, and change or clear profiles, that break these terms. To report one, use the Report link, or email us.

6. Using the site and its data

You are welcome to use the public pages and the public data (/api/public/) for your own personal, non-commercial use and hobby projects, within the rate limits, with credit to RailSpotting, and under section 4.
Republishing or redistributing the live data as it happens (a feed, a mirror, alerts to others), bulk copying, or any commercial use needs our written permission. History that is at least a day old may be quoted and summarized with credit.
Don't try to get around rate limits, sign-in or other protections, reach data that isn't public, overload the site, or interfere with receivers or other people's use.
RailSpotting publishes information worked out from radio signals, not recordings of railroad radio. Don't use it to record, rebroadcast or publish railroad radio communications themselves; the laws on that (in the U.S., section 705 of the Communications Act) are your responsibility.
Crossing data comes from the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration and maps from OpenStreetMap contributors. Railroad names and marks belong to their owners. RailSpotting is not connected with or endorsed by any railroad or government agency.

7. Live video streams

RailSpotting may publish regions' live maps as live video on YouTube (on its channel, @railspotting) and other video platforms. A stream shows what the public map shows for the region: crossings, defect detectors, fixed receivers' public areas and names, and recent trains with their names (made from each trip code). It never shows phones or a receiver's exact location.
If you host a receiver whose public area, name and heard trains appear on the public map, you agree that they may also appear in these streams, on the same terms as the map (sections 3 and 4). To change what appears, rename the receiver, take it off the public map, or email us.
A stream is an estimate, like the map, and is not for safety. Section 1 applies to it in full, and so do the limits on use in section 4. Re-streaming or rebroadcasting a stream counts as republishing the live data under section 6.
A stream contains no railroad radio audio. Its sound track is silent. RailSpotting publishes information worked out from radio signals, never the radio communications themselves (see section 6 on section 705 of the Communications Act).
The YouTube Terms of Service and YouTube's Community Guidelines govern YouTube's side of a stream and your use of YouTube while you watch it.
Live chat and comments on YouTube are YouTube content, posted under YouTube's terms. RailSpotting may moderate, hide or remove them, or turn chat and comments off, at any time.
We may start, pause, stop or delay any stream at any time, including at the request of a railroad or a public authority.

8. Google services

Sign-in uses Google, and Google's privacy policy applies to Google's part. YouTube videos on notes play in YouTube's own player, and our live video streams are watched on YouTube, both under the YouTube Terms of Service. Streaming uses no YouTube or Google API and no access to anyone's Google data. How we handle the data is in our privacy policy.

9. Railroads and authorities

RailSpotting is not connected with any railroad. A railroad or public authority with a concern about what is published can write to privacy@railspotting.com; we will look at it promptly and may change, delay or remove data as described in section 4. We may report misuse that puts people or railroad operations at risk, and share information when the law requires it, as the privacy policy describes.

10. No warranty

RailSpotting is provided free, "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises that it is accurate, complete, timely or always available, and we disclaim all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

11. Limit of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, RailSpotting and the people who run it are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for any loss, injury or damage that comes from relying on the site, its alerts or its data. Our total liability for any claim about RailSpotting is limited to US $50. Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you.

12. Your responsibility

You are responsible for how you use RailSpotting and its data. To the fullest extent the law allows, you agree to defend and compensate RailSpotting and the people who run it for claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that come from your breaking these terms, your misuse of the site or its data, or your receiver.

13. Changes and ending

We may change, pause or end any part of RailSpotting at any time. We may update these terms; the date at the top shows the latest version, and using the site after a change means you accept it.

14. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, United States, without regard to conflict of law rules. Any dispute will be heard in the state or federal courts located in South Carolina.