£3m project puts live train timetable online

Train passengers will be able to access live departure information over the web or on mobile phones by the summer.

National Rail Enquiries is spending £3m on a new IT system that will integrate data about train performance and progress from several sources, before sending it out real-time to the internet and to Wap phones.

The application collects data from the UK timetable database, the central train reporting system, the train operator communications system and station-based information.

The data is analysed to establish the most relevant information, and sent out as XML feeds. Passengers will be able to access National Rail Enquiries online or via their mobile phones, to discover how services are running and if there are any disruptions to their planned journey.

'The whole point is to improve customer service and information,' National Rail Enquiries chief executive Chris Scoggins told Computing. 'It improves travellers' perception of the reliability of rail travel.'

Thales Information Systems has been contracted to develop, manage and operate the system, which is expected to go live in the summer.

Trials in limited areas of the country have proved successful.

Over a 26-day period, the departure boards received 2.8 million enquires on the internet, and a further one million from Wap devices.

'The pilot was built just to prove that passengers are interested in that information,' said Scoggins. 'Even though we have never promoted it, uptake has really been quite staggering, and therefore we have pushed ahead to build this service.'

The pilot covered services that pass through 400 stations in the UK. Thales will manage data from 2,500 stations when the full system goes live, as well as the additional train operating systems.

National Rail Enquiries handles between 170,000 and 600,000 telephone calls a day, amounting to 60m calls a year, making it the busiest telephone line in the UK.

The arrival of live online information is likely to ease the volume of calls.