If you are planing a journey this festive season, be sure get some reliable travel information. There are some excellent online resources available.
One of the most comprehensive sources is the BBC's travel news site, which contains highly detailed coverage of road, rail, sea, and air transport, as well as links to live cameras at key locations, allowing you to assess situations for yourself.
For those travelling within Greater London, it is hard to beat Transport for London for integrated travel information, journey planners, maps and much more. The service covers the tube, buses, roads, taxis, coaches, trams and river services.
Live road traffic information is available from the Highways Agency site, which also features a handy traffic forecaster. It is, however, limited to England, so if you are driving further afield, try the AA's travel news service, which includes Scotland and Wales, and also has a route planner for Europe.
Regional information for Scotland, north Wales and South Wales is also available.
The RAC has some useful road traffic services, as well as an airport parking guide and a European motoring adviser.
Unlike other forms of transport in the UK, bus travel is not nationally coordinated, and there is no national online bus journey planner. This site, however, provides links to many local journey planners, and this is probably the best place to go to help you find a bus operator wherever you're travelling.
National Rail's innovative live departure boards are a great resource for rail travellers, and you can also have them sent to your mobile. The site also has a journey planner as well as many useful links.
Up to the minute airport information for Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Southampton can be found here. Other airports, such as Manchester, Birmingham, and Luton have their own sites, and A2B Travel
includes a useful airport guide covering many regional airports.
Lastly, make sure you check for weather warnings, pack for all eventualities, and travel safely.
• Stephen Edwards
