Updated TfL app will provide real-time information on how busy Tube stations are

By Joe Talora, local democracy reporter

The TfL Go travel app has been updated to provide real-time information on how busy Tube stations are, TfL has today confirmed.

The mobile phone app, available on both Android and iOS, previously only provided passengers with information on bus, rail and Tube services such as timetables and alternative routes.

But following the update, the app will use data from TfL’s Wi-Fi network to provide real-time information on how busy Tube stations are during the day, including information about crowding on platforms and in interchange areas.

TfL’s head of digital Ben Gammon says the update will make it easier for passengers to use London’s transport network as more people return to it following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

Mr Gammon said: “We are proud to be able to bring this latest update to our TfL Go app and help make it easier for people to find out in real-time how busy our stations are and to see the quieter times to travel. By providing up-to-date information on their journeys, as well as detailed accessibility information, we can help make it easier for customers to move around the city as more people return to public transport.”

The introduction of the new feature to the TfL Go app follows a campaign by transport watchdog London TravelWatch.

London TravelWatch director Emma Gibson last month said TfL’s app “falls well short” of providing passengers with all the information they need to plan a journey that avoids crowds and busy stations, and that Google Maps outperformed it in this regard.

Today, Ms Gibson said: “Today’s update to TfL Go now includes a live status report on how busy a Tube station currently is. But this information is not integrated into the journey planning tool. The app needs redesigning to make this critical info to passengers more easily available.”

The app was launched towards the end of last year and has so far been downloaded by more than 250,000 people.

TfL is hoping the updated app will make it easier for passengers to travel at quieter times as it encourages passengers not to travel at busy times and instead to spread demand across the day.

A TfL spokesperson said: “This update to TfL Go is just the latest in a number of updates we have been working on to allow customers to plan their journeys as they return to public transport.

“Further updates, including integrating how busy Tube stations are in real-time into Journey Planner, are already planned and will be made in due course.”