HL Deb 22 July 2004 vol 664 cc77-8WA
Lord Berkeley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When the Transport Direct website will go on line; what real-time travel information will be available; and what is the current estimated cost of developing the system. [HL3929]

Lord Davies of Oldham

The Transport Direct website went online on 12 July 2004, allowing the public access to the site as a further testing period before an official launch later in the year.

Transport Direct provides real-time information for all 2,500 stations in Great Britain. Users can access live departure boards, which are provided by National Rail inquiries, through the Transport Direct website. Transport Direct also includes a live travel news service that can inform users of any incidents that may occur including cancellations and service disruption. The journey planner will take into account planned engineering works and provide information on rail replacement services.

Transport Direct will provide a live travel information service notifying users of any incidents that may affect their journey, such as road works and accidents. The site also uses historical congestion information to adjust car journey routes.

The total spend up to March 2004 was £16.7 million. The budget for 2004–05 financial year is £17 million.