Mass train cancellations may be prevented by abandoning central control

NS Beeldbank - PhD candidate Rolf van Lieshout of Erasmus School of Economics conducted research into a 'self-organized railway system' that can be relied upon when mass train cancellations are imminent. In this way, an out-of-control situation, such as that on Sunday 3 April when no trains ran, could possibly be prevented. Models show that trains can still run on a large scale if the timetable and centralised control are released at such times. 'A perfect storm' is how econometrician and researcher Rolf van Lieshout sees the train failure of Sunday 3 April, when the NS was forced to bring train traffic to a complete standstill due to a malfunction in the planning systems. The train failure is a textbook example of exactly the type of situation he has been researching for the past four years: an out-of-control situation, where there are no disruptions to the infrastructure or trains and enough staff are present, but trains are still not running due to a lack of information and overview in the central control centre. "This national disruption suddenly makes it very easy to explain the relevance of my research. Unfortunately, it is too late to include it in my dissertation itself, but I can certainly use it for my layman's talk," says the researcher, who also experienced disruption himself on 3 April but ultimately made it home by metro from The Hague to Rotterdam.