There's a signal failure somewhere between Amsterdam centraal and Utrecht.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

There's a signal failure somewhere between Amsterdam centraal and Utrecht. Usually there's at least 4 trains an hour between the two. There's also 4 trains an hour between Amsterdam Zuid and Utrecht Centraal. The trains from zuid are running still (signal failure must be somewhere around Amstel then). But everyone who wanted to travel from Centraal has taken the metro to Zuid. Those 4 trains an hour are now carrying 8 trains worth of people.

It's a bit packed on this train.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

Anyone who's been following me for a while will know I talk about how a train in normal service should never be more than half full. This is why. By not filling the trains. You have resilience. The boss of NS has complained that a lot of the time they are moving warm air around. Yes. That's the resilience of the system. That's now it can cope with problems. It's a feature, not a bug.

The idea that trains should always be full is just fucked up bean counter thinking.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

As anyone who heard my public transport rant at crumpet camp at WHY2025 will know, as will long term followers. The purpose of public transport is to transport the public. Nothing more. If it makes a profit, great. But the primary aim. Above all others. Is to transport the public. And to do that safely, and effectively, the system needs resilience. Resilience comes from spare capacity.

If the trains are more than half full. You need to run more trains.

Yes this is a dig at SNCF, and Renfe.