Live train map for the London Underground

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Daily Mail:

Going Underground: The live Tube map that shows you where every train is on the network

A live map which shows exactly where all the trains on the London Underground are at any given moment has been developed.
The website uses a combination of Google Maps and live transport data to show a map that illustrates the exact movements of every train on the Tube^s 11 different lines.
The map uses Tfl's live departure board information to calculate the positions of the trains. It knows when a train is any number of minutes away  and when it arrives at a station.
Web developer Matthew Somerville came up with the idea after Transport for London (Tfl) removed its restrictions on commercial use of its travel data last week.
The live Tube map shows where every train on the network is moving along London's network of tunnels
Tfl released a number of sets of data for the public to access for free including to information on planned weekend Tube works, the location of stations, taxis, and eve Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card top-up points.
A few years ago, Mr Somerville had developed a similar site which showed where each train from a selected few National Rail stations was at any given moment
Attending a free weekend event called Science Hack Day, Mr Somerville decided to adapt his existing code to work with TfL^» (Transport for London - about)'s data feed.
His innovative new site was an instant success, with more than 250,00 hits since its launch on Monday this week.
He said: ^It wasn't very hard; harder was coping with the demand on Monday which involved me setting up a separate web server just to serve the static content.^
He added: I'm not entirely sure it is useful, but that wasn't really a aim, and it's certainly mesmerizing. Things could certainly be added to make it more useful, such as notices of closed stations or lines, or marking delays.'
Viewers who watch it for a while will notice that the site occasionally behaves rather erratically with trains taking odd detours or suddenly speeding up or slowing down
Mr Somerville has now released the source code so other we developers can contribute if they wish.
By the end of June developers will also be able to find Tfl information on bus routes and bus stops. Mr Somerville has already ear-marked this for a future project.
He said: ^Buses are certainly an area where this sort of thing would be great, and I know various areas are doing this - being able to look up live bus information on your phone would help at bus stops or knowing when to leave to catch your bus.^
You can try the map for yourself at http://traintimes.org.uk:81/map/tube/

[eightf48544]

Wow, what a website. Just shows what can be done with clever data grabbing and a bit of fancy programing.

Hopefully they will be able to get the Circle and H&C WEst of Padd as well.

There is also a National rail version http://traintimes.org.uk/map/ which at the moment seems to be based on mainly on Cross Country.

[Mookiemoo]

Saved this as a favourite

[JaminBob]

This is fantastic! It really contrasts to how hard travel information is to find around Bristol, the trains are OK, as long as you like national rail, but bus and just generally its terrible.

If that sort of thing is possible elsewhere, we must be able to get something better in Briz :/

[Phil]

The link times out whenever I try to access it. I can only imagine it's been more sucessful in terms of "hits" than the author bargained for. Fabulous idea though - would love to see more of this kind of thing.

[grahame]

The link times out whenever I try to access it. I can only imagine it's been more sucessful in terms of "hits" than the author bargained for. Fabulous idea though - would love to see more of this kind of thing.

On the tube one, it looks as if the TfL^» (Transport for London - about) feed is a victim of its own success - see
http://data.london.gov.uk/blog/tube-feed-update

For public transport in general, live information such as this would be so valuable - and integrated back to timetables too.  Much of the technology is there but piecemeal in its connection - and while we still have the even quite major busstops in some town without any timetable information at all, or information on just selected services, let alone a live feed, you'll find that passenger numbers are going to be reduced because people simply don't know / won't risk.