TfNSW Realtime Alerts MCP Server

Overview

The TfNSW Realtime Alerts MCP Server bridges the gap between large‑language models and live transport information for New South Wales. By exposing Transport for NSW’s Realtime Alerts API through the Model Context Protocol, the server allows AI assistants to query up‑to‑date disruptions, planned works, and service notices across buses, trains, ferries, and more. Developers can embed real‑time transport data directly into conversational agents, dashboards, or decision‑support tools without having to manage authentication or API integration themselves.

What Problem Does It Solve?

Transport operators and commuters constantly need accurate, current information about service changes. Traditional solutions rely on manual polling or custom integrations that expose raw JSON to end users, which is hard for LLMs to interpret. This MCP server packages alerts into plain‑text resources and structured prompts, enabling AI assistants to fetch, filter, and summarize disruptions in natural language. It eliminates the need for developers to write bespoke adapters for each transport mode or alert type.

Core Capabilities

• Resource Discovery: Alerts are exposed via URIs, allowing an LLM to reference specific incidents or entire categories (e.g., buses or sydneytrains) directly in conversation.
• Tool‑Based Retrieval: The tool returns a human‑readable list of current alerts, with optional filtering by mode. Each alert includes affected routes, time windows, and impact details.
• Prompt Generation: The prompt builds a structured summary that can be fed back to an LLM for concise reporting or contextual analysis.
• Mode Flexibility: Supports all major transport modes in NSW, from regional buses to light rail and metro services, giving developers granular control over the data they retrieve.

Real‑World Use Cases

• Customer Support Bots: A travel assistant can answer queries like “What’s happening on the train to Central today?” by pulling live alerts and summarizing them for the user.
• Operational Dashboards: Dispatch teams can embed alert feeds into monitoring tools, automatically flagging high‑impact disruptions for rapid response.
• Travel Planning Applications: Route planners can adjust itineraries on the fly by checking current alerts for each segment of a journey.
• Accessibility Services: Apps that assist users with disabilities can provide timely updates about service changes that affect accessibility features.

Integration with AI Workflows

Developers add the server to their MCP configuration and supply a TfNSW API key. Once running, an LLM can invoke the tool or reference a resource URI in its prompt. The server handles authentication, rate limiting, and data formatting, returning plain text that the LLM can parse effortlessly. Because the server follows MCP standards, it works seamlessly with any compliant AI assistant—Claude, GPT‑4o, or custom agents—without additional adapters.

Unique Advantages

• Zero Coding for Clients: The server abstracts all API complexity, letting developers focus on conversational logic rather than transport data handling.
• Live Data in Natural Language: By converting structured alerts into plain text, the server ensures that LLMs can understand and generate meaningful responses without post‑processing.
• Extensibility: Built in TypeScript with a modular design, developers can extend the server to support additional transport modes or custom filtering logic if needed.

In summary, the TfNSW Realtime Alerts MCP Server empowers AI assistants to deliver accurate, real‑time transport information across New South Wales, streamlining development and enhancing user experience in travel, support, and operational contexts.