Northeast Corridor
Boston · Providence · New York · Philadelphia · Baltimore · Washington
The short hops live here: Newark in 25 minutes, Baltimore in 40, Philadelphia in 85. Acela-length sits take you the full way to Washington.
NewFree Focus Train alternative · no sign-up
Train Study Timer
Pick a station in the US or Canada, take the ticket, and study until the train arrives. The map moves. The clock does not drift.
Focus Train alternative · Amtrak & VIA hops · Ticket, then ride
Focus Train
From New York · 6 routes available
Session length
No sign-up, no timer limits, completely free
Boarding sequence
How you get from timetable to arrival
The flight timer starts with two airports. This one starts with a departure board. Same job — keep you in the chair — different ritual.
01 · On the platform
Choose a departure city
The timetable opens on New York Penn. Switch to Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Seattle or any other listed station and the outbound hops update immediately.
02 · At the window
Take the ticket
Each hop prints a platform, car and seat for that day. Tapping the ticket is the boarding ritual — the same small commitment a paper pass gives you at a real station.
03 · After departure
Stay in the seat until you arrive
The train moves along a live route map. Distance left and time left share one panel. Hold at signal to pause; disembark only if you are actually leaving the session.
Three corridors, not a random city list
Every hop is a published-style Amtrak, VIA or GO run. Filter the timetable by Quick, Focused, Deep or Marathon and the board only shows trains that fit the work in front of you.
Lakeshore and VIA Corridor
Hamilton · Toronto · Ottawa · Montreal · Quebec City
Canadian services are timed from published VIA and GO runs, not as copies of the US ladder. Toronto to Hamilton is a 70-minute chapter; Toronto to Montreal is the marathon.
West Coast and Cascades
San Diego · Los Angeles · Oakland · Sacramento · Portland · Seattle · Vancouver
Pacific Surfliner, Capitol Corridor and Cascades cover the long afternoon sits. Seattle to Vancouver is the cross-border option.
What happens after you tap the ticket
01 · Stations, not airports
US and Canada rail codes
Penn Station, Union Station, Gare Centrale and King Street — the names on the ticket match the boards at the station. There is no Tokyo–Yokohama filler and no invented European hop.
02 · A ticket you tap
Board before the clock starts
The session does not begin on the timetable. You take a ticket with a platform and a seat, then tap it. That extra beat is what makes leaving early feel like getting off mid-journey.
03 · A map that actually moves
The train is the progress bar
A dashed route draws between the two stations and the car follows it. Glance up and you see where you are, not a frozen ring. Reduced-motion users get a still map and a live countdown.
04 · Signal language, not pause icons
Hold at signal · Disembark
Pause is a hold at a red signal. Stop is getting off. The words match the ride, so you do not drop into generic timer chrome halfway through a session.
Hops on the first timetable
Times below are what the timer counts. Distance is the great-circle figure shown as “distance left” on the ride.
| Hop | Service | Km | Study time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York → Newark | Corridor local | 14 | 25 min | Inbox plus one problem set |
| Boston → Providence | Northeast Regional | 65 | 35 min | A single worksheet |
| Washington → Baltimore | Acela hop | 57 | 40 min | A lecture recap |
| Philadelphia → Trenton | Keystone | 47 | 40 min | Flashcards before lab |
| New York → Stamford | New Haven Line | 50 | 50 min | A 50-minute seminar block |
| Toronto → Hamilton | Lakeshore West | 58 | 1h 10m | One chapter with recall |
| New York → Philadelphia | Northeast Regional | 134 | 1h 25m | A past paper, start to finish |
| Chicago → Milwaukee | Hiawatha | 131 | 1h 30m | A deep-work morning block |
| Sacramento → Oakland | Capitol Corridor | 111 | 2h | Two chapters plus problems |
| Montreal → Ottawa | VIA Corridor | 163 | 2h | An exam-length mock |
| New York → Albany | Empire Service | 211 | 2h 30m | A long afternoon of notes |
| New York → Washington | Acela | 330 | 2h 55m | A full revision afternoon |
| Los Angeles → San Diego | Pacific Surfliner | 179 | 2h 55m | A coast-length study sit |
| Montreal → Quebec City | VIA | 233 | 3h 10m | A recorded lecture plus notes |
| Seattle → Portland | Cascades | 232 | 3h 30m | A deep-work evening |
| Boston → New York | Acela | 302 | 3h 40m | A long haul past-paper day |
| Seattle → Vancouver | Cascades | 195 | 4h | A cross-border revision sit |
| Toronto → Montreal | VIA Corridor | 504 | 5h 20m | Finals-week marathon |
Focus Train vs Lorea Train Study Timer
Focus Train is a polished paid app: ticket, map, journey. People search “focus train study timer” when they want that exact ritual without an install or a subscription. Lorea is that ritual in the browser, on real US and Canada corridors, with the study tools that start after you arrive.
| Feature | Lorea Train Study Timer | Focus Train |
|---|---|---|
| Price for the full timer | Free, forever | Paid app / subscription |
| Works in the browser, no install | Yes | No |
| No account required | Yes | No |
| US and Canada station list | Yes | No |
| Ticket before every session | Yes | Yes |
| Live map with a moving train | Yes | Yes |
| Duration filters on the timetable | Yes | Yes |
| Turns notes into courses and quizzes after you arrive | Yes | No |
Comparison reflects publicly listed Focus Train positioning in 2026. Third-party pricing changes — check their site. Lorea’s train study timer is free, with no account and no premium tier.
Train study timer questions
What is a train study timer?+
A train study timer is a focus clock dressed as a rail journey. You pick a real station pair, take a ticket, and study for as long as that hop takes while a train moves across a map. The destination is the point: stopping early means getting off, not closing a tab.
Is this a Focus Train alternative?+
Yes. Focus Train is a paid study-timer app built around a train journey and a ticket. Lorea's train study timer is the free web version of that idea: US and Canada stations, a tap-to-board ticket, a moving map, and no account. Focus Train still makes sense if you want a native app with a global network; this page is for people who want to start in the browser.
Which stations can I pick?+
The first release covers US and Canada only — Northeast Corridor, Lakeshore West, VIA Corridor, Hiawatha, Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner and Cascades. Tokyo, Paris and other overseas hops are not on this timetable on purpose. The flight simulator timer is the page for airport-to-airport sits.
How are the journey times decided?+
Each hop uses a published-style Amtrak, VIA or GO duration, rounded to five minutes. New York to Newark is 25 minutes because that is a real local, not because 25 is a Pomodoro default. Distance on the map is great-circle kilometres between the two stations so the 'distance left' figure shrinks honestly as the clock runs.
Can I run the train timer full screen?+
Yes. Full screen is on the timetable, the ticket and the ride. Desktop browsers use the native Fullscreen API. On iPhone and iPad, where Safari has no element full screen, the ride expands into an edge-to-edge overlay. Escape or Exit brings you back.
What happens if I switch tabs or lock the phone?+
The countdown stores the arrival timestamp and compares it to the clock, so background throttling cannot steal minutes. Come back after ten minutes away and both the train and the remaining time are already where they should be.
Is this an actual train simulator?+
No. There are no signals to drive, no timetable to disrupt and nothing to crash. Anything you had to operate would compete with the work. The train moves on its own at the pace of your session.
How is this different from the Lorea flight simulator timer?+
The flight timer uses airports and a boarding pass. This one uses rail stations, a ticket, duration bands on a timetable, and signal language (hold / disembark) instead of pause / land. There is no multiplayer cabin. Use the train when you want a corridor hop; use the flight when you want a long-haul block.
Arrived? Spend the next hop on the material
The timer keeps you in the seat. Lorea turns the PDF you rode with into a course, quizzes and a mock exam for the next departure.
Turn your notes into a course