London tubes do real-time travel info with Orange

Transport for London (TfL) has struck a deal that will see Orange become the first company to offer mobile services allowing consumers to see when service is disrupted on specific tube lines.

Passengers will be able to send a text message to a premium rate number - for example, TUBE CENTRAL to 60835 - to get a status update. There will also be a downloadable Java version of the famous London tube map for journey planning.

For those wanting more in-depth information, the Orange World portal will offer a real-time WAP site covering tube, bus and Docklands Light Railway services.

A spokesman for Orange - on the eve of the network operator turning 10 years old in the UK - said the company is pleased to be first to do such a deal with the transportation authority but that it fully expects others to follow.

TfL will further down the line be looking at allowing passengers to pay via mobiles for top ups to Oyster cards - the new smart card for payments on most London public transport.

TfL's motives are all about improving customer satisfaction - it won't be sharing network revenues with operators and says it will subsidise some of the free services - while Orange clearly sees the attraction of thousands of automatic text alerts and increased use of Orange World.

It is thought that O2 and 3 will be among the next wave of operators likely to strike similar deals with TfL.