Live bus and rail departures, bus positions, disruptions and journey planning for Great Britain.

How do I install TransCAPI?

Clone TransCAPI from https://github.com/tcdataconsultants/transcapi-mcp and configure it as an MCP server in your client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code).

Is TransCAPI open source?

Yes, TransCAPI is open source under the MIT license. Source code is available at https://github.com/tcdataconsultants/transcapi-mcp.

What category does TransCAPI belong to?

TransCAPI is listed under Other MCP servers on MCPFind.

TransCAPI — MCP Server for Other

TransCAPI MCP server

Lets AI assistants such as Claude answer questions about public transport in Great Britain 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 and Wales: stops and places, bus and rail departures with live running, live bus positions, disruptions and journey planning.

Setup

Get a free API key at https://www.transcapi.com/signup (1,000 requests a day, every endpoint).

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

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

For Claude Code:

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

Tool	What it answers
`search_places`	Find a town, village, postcode or stop by name
`nearby_stops`	Bus, tram and rail stops near a point, with which way the buses go
`nearby_stations`	Rail stations near a point
`bus_departures`	What's leaving (or arriving at) a bus stop, with live times for tracked buses
`rail_departures`	Live trains at a station: expected times, platforms, cancellations, delay reasons
`train_service`	Every station one train calls at, live for today
`bus_service`	Every stop one bus journey calls at, and where the bus is now
`live_buses`	Buses on the road near a point, with delays where tracked
`disruptions`	Planned works, incidents and line status, by area, line or a journey's route
`plan_journey`	Public transport journeys between two points (South and West Yorkshire and West Sussex for now)

All tools are read-only.

Configuration

Variable
`TRANSCAPI_API_KEY`	Required. Your TransCAPI key.
`TRANSCAPI_BASE_URL`	Optional. 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.

Set up in your AI client

AI clientOperating system

Merge this template into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Keep existing servers. Add any arguments, credentials, and permissions required by the maintainer; this template has not been install-tested.

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-transcapi-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "transcapi-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect. Confirm the server appears connected in the client’s tool list, then try a read-only example from its documentation.

Claude Desktop setup reference

Compatible MCP Clients

TransCAPI works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.

Claude Desktop~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.

Cursor~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect.

VS Code.vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.

Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect.

Claude Code.mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.

TransCAPI