We’re proud to introduce our Facebook Messenger TravelBot, which has the ability to provide updates on bus arrivals as well as Tube and bus status updates.

Through our two Facebook pages – the main TfL page and the London Underground page – we deal with a huge number of queries every day, and we wanted to make it even easier for customers to get our information on the Facebook platform in a way that’s fast and straightforward. With the open data in our Unified API already helping to provide live information on many services like third-party apps and Twitter alerts, we hope this will be another big step towards enabling customers to quickly and easily access the information they need via social media.





Now on Facebook Messenger you can ask for information using everyday language. You don’t need to be a technical person and understand how it works, you can ask something as simple as “Hi, how’s the Jubilee line today?”

Our aim is to make it as easy as possible to use the bot, and if it doesn’t understand what you’ve typed it will ask you to explain. As the bot is used more and more, it will learn and we will be constantly tweaked to improve how everything works. We’re working on lots of features, and have started with a few we think will be useful when you’re out and about.

To get started, search for ‘TfL TravelBot’ on the Facebook Messenger app or http://m.me/tfltravelbot on your computer.

Here’s a descriptions of the new tools and how they work.

Bus arrivals 🚏

Check when your bus is due to arrive by sharing your location or providing the bus stop code.

To check, type something like:

‘When’s the next bus’ or ‘next bus’, then you will be asked to share where you are using your phone’s location, or you can provide the bus stop code if you know it.

Bus route status 🚌

Find out if there are disruptions on your bus route.

To check, type something like:

‘How’s the 38 bus’ or ’38 bus’.

Tube and rail status 🚦

Find out if there are disruptions on any Tube line, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail or trams.

To check, type something like:

‘Is the Central line disrupted’ or ‘central’, you will be provided with the latest status info. This also works with ‘dlr’, ‘overground’, ‘tfl rail’ or ‘trams’.

Maps 🗺

View or download our Tube map, rail and Night Tube maps.

To get the maps type something like:

‘Tube map’ or ‘rail map’ or ‘map’. You will be provided with the option to view, download or send the map.

This service is available at all times, and uses the same information that powers our website and most apps. You can use it when you want to check if there are disruptions or if there are issues check it regularly to see when things go back to normal.

These services are in addition to the existing team who take care of our Facebook pages 24/7, and they will continue to be available to help. To see details of our social media accounts, please visit our social media page.

Your Feedback

Please do ask questions about these services, as well as leaving us any feedback you have. You can leave your feedback in the comments section at the bottom of this post.