TransCAPI

com.transcapiPublished by transcapi.comv0.1.3Updated Oct 30, 2026

UK and Ireland transport: live buses and trains, journey planning, rail fares, disruptions.

VerifiedSTDIODesktop onlyLocation & LifestyleData & Analytics

Overview

AI-generated overview

TransCAPI gives an assistant live UK and Ireland public transport data: bus and rail departures, live vehicle positions, disruptions and journey planning.

What you can do
  • Find towns, postcodes, stops and stations by name or near a point, with codes for later lookups
  • Read live bus and rail departures and arrivals, including expected times, platforms, cancellations and delay reasons
  • Follow a single bus or train through its calling points, with live status and current vehicle position
  • List buses running near a point, filtered by line or operator
  • Check planned works, incidents and line status by area, mode, operator, line or a journey's route
  • Plan public transport journeys with walking, fares and live bus positions
When to use it
Useful when someone asks about public transport in Great Britain or Ireland: the next train or bus, whether a service is on time, where a bus currently is, or what is disrupting a route. Journey planning only covers South and West Yorkshire and West Sussex for now.
Requirements
Runs locally as a Python package (transcapi-mcp, for example via uvx or pip) over stdio, on desktop clients. Needs a TransCAPI API key in TRANSCAPI_API_KEY; the free tier allows 200 requests a day. TRANSCAPI_BASE_URL optionally overrides the API address. Network access to the TransCAPI API is required.
Before you install
The API key in TRANSCAPI_API_KEY is a secret and should not be shared. All tools are read-only, but queries reveal locations and travel plans to a third-party API. Data shown to others must credit the underlying sources as the provider requires.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open TransCAPI in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

TransCAPI MCP server

Lets AI assistants such as Claude answer questions about public transport in Great Britain and Ireland with live data: "When's the next train from Leeds to York, and is it on time?", "Where's the 52 bus?", "Is anything disrupting my route home?"

It connects an assistant to TransCAPI, which covers England, Scotland, Wales and the island of Ireland (plus the Netherlands and Belgium): stops and places, bus and rail departures with live running, live bus positions, journey planning with rail fares, disruptions matched to a route, and measured bus punctuality.

Setup

  1. Get a free API key at https://www.transcapi.com/signup (200 requests a day, every endpoint).

  2. Add the server to your MCP client. For Claude Desktop, in claude_desktop_config.json:

    json
    {  "mcpServers": {    "transcapi": {      "command": "uvx",      "args": ["transcapi-mcp"],      "env": { "TRANSCAPI_API_KEY": "your-key" }    }  }}

    For Claude Code:

    bash
    claude mcp add transcapi --env TRANSCAPI_API_KEY=your-key -- uvx transcapi-mcp

    Or install it yourself with pip install transcapi-mcp and run transcapi-mcp.

Tools

ToolWhat it answers
search_placesFind a town, village, postcode or stop by name
nearby_stopsBus, tram and rail stops near a point, with which way the buses go
nearby_stationsRail stations near a point
bus_departuresWhat's leaving (or arriving at) a bus stop, with live times for tracked buses
rail_departuresLive trains at a station: expected times, platforms, cancellations, delay reasons
train_serviceEvery station one train calls at, live for today
bus_serviceEvery stop one bus journey calls at, and where the bus is now
live_busesBuses on the road near a point, with delays where tracked
disruptionsPlanned works, incidents and line status, by area, line or a journey's route
plan_journeyPublic transport journeys between two points (South and West Yorkshire and West Sussex for now)

All tools are read-only.

Configuration

Variable
TRANSCAPI_API_KEYRequired. Your TransCAPI key.
TRANSCAPI_BASE_URLOptional. Defaults to https://api.transcapi.com.

Attribution

TransCAPI is built on official open data. If you show its data to other people, credit the sources as described at https://www.transcapi.com/docs/data-sources.

Licence

MIT.

Source: README.md at commit fad5b23

Tools

10

search_places

Find towns, villages, postcodes (full or partial, e.g. "S1") and stops by name. Places sharing a name are ranked by size. Give lat/lon to sort by distance from there.

Parameterslatlonlimitqueryrequired

nearby_stops

Bus, tram and rail stops within `radius` metres of a point, nearest first. Each has an `atcocode` for bus_departures and `towards` saying which way its buses go.

Parameterslatrequiredlonrequiredlimitradius

nearby_stations

Rail stations within `radius` metres of a point, with their CRS codes for rail_departures.

Parameterslatrequiredlonrequiredlimitradius

bus_departures

What is leaving (or, with board="arrivals" or "both", arriving at) a bus stop. Tracked buses have an expected time and `delay_seconds`; others show the timetabled time with source `gtfs_scheduled`.

Parametersboardlimitatcocoderequiredminutes_ahead

rail_departures

Live trains leaving (or arriving at, with board="arrivals" or "both") a station: expected times, platforms, cancellations and delay reasons from National Rail, plus station messages. `crs_code` is the 3-letter code, e.g. LDS for Leeds.

Parametersboardlimitcrs_coderequiredminutes_ahead

train_service

Every station one train calls at. For a train running today, each call has live status, expected and actual times, and the platform at its next station. Take `trip_id` from rail_departures.

Parameterstrip_idrequired

bus_service

Every stop one bus journey calls at, the days it runs, and where the bus is now if it is running. Take `trip_id` from bus_departures or live_buses.

Parameterstrip_idrequired

live_buses

Buses on the road within `radius` metres (up to 10000) of a point, nearest first, each linked to the journey it is working (`trip_id`) and with `delay_seconds` where tracked. Filter by `line` (e.g. "52") or operator.

Parameterslatrequiredlonrequiredlineradiusoperator

disruptions

Planned works, incidents and line status: bus and tram across Great Britain, plus Tube, DLR, Overground, Elizabeth line and London Trams. Filter by area (lat/lon/radius), mode, operator or line. To ask what affects a particular journey, pass its route as `path` (an encoded polyline, e.g. a leg's `leg_geometry` from plan_journey): line numbers repeat across towns, so this is more reliable than `line`.

Parameterslatlonlinemodepathlimitradiusoperatorpath_radius

plan_journey

Public transport journeys between two points, with walking, fares and live positions of buses already running. `datetime` is ISO 8601 (default now); `arrive_by` treats it as the latest arrival. Currently covers South and West Yorkshire and West Sussex: elsewhere it returns 422 outside_coverage, which means not covered rather than no route.

Parameterslimitto_latrequiredto_lonrequireddatetimefrom_latrequiredfrom_lonrequiredarrive_byinclude_steps

Version history

3
  1. v0.1.3LatestOct 23, 2026
  2. v0.1.2Oct 21, 2026
  3. v0.1.1Sep 29, 2026

Score

90% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 days25 pts
  • Auth declared10 pts

    Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.

  • Tools listedRequired15 pts
  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts