New Live Tram Information to Make Travelling Around South London Easier

April 27, 2016
Using London's Tram network is now even easier following Transport for London making live service information available to customers at the touch of a button.

Using London's Tram network is now even easier following Transport for London making live service information available to customers at the touch of a button.

Customers now have up-to-the-minute information about when their service will arrive and its destination along with the status of the service, both through TfL's website and on Electronic Service Update Boards across other parts of the TfL transport network.

The data, which is also being made available free to app developers, forms part of TfL's wider commitment to make the information it holds openly available to help Londoners and visitors get around.

Around 8,200 developers are now registered for TfL's Unified API open data. As smartphone usage for travel information continues to increase, almost 500 apps are now being directly powered through this data - providing Londoners with a wide range of useful up-to-the-minute information about public transport and the road network.

Rory O'Neill, TfL's Director of Trams, said, "the Tram network is a vital transport link in south London and much has been done to improve it, including introducing extra services to help meet growing demand. Making live service information easily available to our customers will make using the tram network even easier, and shows how we're harnessing technology to give people better journeys."

The availability of live travel data follows recent improvements to the Tram service, including increasing services by 50 percent between Wimbledon and Croydon after work to build an additional train platform at Wimbledon was completed last year. Four additional trams have also been introduced.

More frequent and faster journeys for customers have also been delivered between Mitcham Junction and Beddington Lane by adding new track to allow trams to travel in both directions simultaneously.

The Tram network has experienced rapid growth in passenger numbers since it opened in 2000, from 18.5 million passengers in its first year of operation to over 32 million in 2014/15, and demand is forecast to increase to around 60 million by 2030.