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I think it’s worth mentioning that while the IT system couldn’t coordinate the trains safely, it was a management decision to stop them from running. Coordinati

I think it’s worth mentioning that while the IT system couldn’t coordinate the trains safely, it was a management decision to stop them from running. Coordination can happen myriad ways. For example, trains could operate according to their normal schedule, and if one needed to deviate they could radio in, and an operator could let downstream trains know to proceed accordingly. Maybe simple cell-phone GPS pings could suffice. Perhaps the state of the system was in such chaos that such orchestration wasn’t possible with the staff on hand. That said, a truly resilient system should have multiple coordination channels to fall back upon.

mnumber 5y ago
Computers are great at ensuring your workforce cannot function without them. This is a small price to pay.
throwaway48375 5y ago
The cost of a single mishap is too high. It's just not worth it.
gpvos 5y ago
The drivers and conductors would like to end up at home at the end of the day. Even if you just run the normal schedule, there will always be disruptions, and there needs to be a system to adjust the planning so people and things end up at the right place at the end of the day. That was the system that failed. Have you any idea how frequent the trains in the Netherlands are and how complex the schedule? "Simply" running the existing schedule is an absolute impossibility. About the only thing they could maybe have done was to fall back on back-and-forth shuttle trains between major node stations. But that would only provide a very basic service, with incorrect train materiel being used for the normally expected number of passengers. It would be just enough to get passengers and personnel home. I would like to see something like a pen-and-paper schedule that they can fall back on, but they don't have it. (They did something like that at the first corona lockdowns, although with more planning involved.)

mnumber 5y ago

Computers are great at ensuring your workforce cannot function without them. This is a small price to pay.

throwaway48375 5y ago

The cost of a single mishap is too high. It's just not worth it.

gpvos 5y ago

The drivers and conductors would like to end up at home at the end of the day. Even if you just run the normal schedule, there will always be disruptions, and there needs to be a system to adjust the planning so people and things end up at the right place at the end of the day. That was the system that failed. Have you any idea how frequent the trains in the Netherlands are and how complex the schedule? "Simply" running the existing schedule is an absolute impossibility. About the only thing they could maybe have done was to fall back on back-and-forth shuttle trains between major node stations. But that would only provide a very basic service, with incorrect train materiel being used for the normally expected number of passengers. It would be just enough to get passengers and personnel home. I would like to see something like a pen-and-paper schedule that they can fall back on, but they don't have it. (They did something like that at the first corona lockdowns, although with more planning involved.)