Google Maps Update – Check Live Train Status, Bus Travel Time And More

At the recently concluded Apple WWDC 2019, iOS 13 was introduced with India-centric features. While the company is yet to adapt its software to suit the Indian users, Google has come up with an update to Google Maps, which brings a slew of features that are quite useful for users in the country.

This is not the first time that Google has come up with India-centric features in the Maps app. As a part of the latest update, Google Maps gets three new navigation features for Indian users relying on public transport. These new features have been rolled out as a part of the Android app with the version number 10.17.2 and the beta version of the same but are yet to go live.

Google Maps Real-Time Bus Travel Time

The first feature rolled out as a part of the update to Google Maps is the one that conveys the estimated travel time while commuting via a public bus. The information is displayed after taking the live traffic status on the specific route into account. This feature will show the delay that is expected with a message in red showing the duration of delay due to congestion or other reasons.

If there is no delay, then the transport time will be seen in green. Initially, this feature will be launched in select cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mysore, Pune, and Surat.

Live Train Status On Google Maps

As per the official Google blog post, the next feature is a similar one for train journeys. It shows the real-time train running status and delays that might happen. This feature will work only in the case of long distance train travels. It is said that this feature has been developed along with 'Where is my Train' app, which Google acquired last year.

Mixed-mode Navigation Feature

Lastly, the company has rolled out a mixed-mode navigation option, which shows the best route by recommending users when they should switch to an auto-rickshaw or metro. This will also let them know which station or stop will be suitable to switch between the means of transport such as bus, local train or metro.

As a part of the mixed-mode navigation feature, Google Maps will show useful details such as estimated auto-rickshaw fare and departure time. This feature will be available in Delhi and Bengaluru initially and will be rolled out to users in other Indian cities later.

These Are Pretty Useful Features

Notably, these new India-centric features are quite useful. Instead of depending on other third-party apps and services to know the delay in the bus and train journeys, it will be better to use Google Maps as it is the most common and popular navigation service and is highly reliable.