Resilience or Robustness: Identifying Topological Vulnerabilities in Rail Networks

Many critical infrastructure systems have network structures and are under stress. Despite their national importance, the complexity of large-scale transport networks means that their vulnerabilities to cascade failures are not fully understood. The research conducted through this paper examines the interdependent rail networks in Greater London and surrounding commuter area. The authors focus on the morning commuter hours, where the system is under the most demand stress. There is increasing evidence that the topological shape of the network plays an important role in dynamic cascades. Here, the authors examine whether the different topological measures of resilience (stability) or robustness (failure) are more appropriate for understanding poor railway performance. The results show that resilience, not robustness, has a strong correlation with the consumer experience statistics. The authors' results are a way of describing the complexity of cascade dynamics on networks without the involvement of detailed agent-based models, showing that cascade effects are more responsible for poor performance than failures. The network science analysis hints at pathways towards making the network structure more resilient by reducing feedback loops.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181301
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/20545703
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © Alessio Pagani et al.
• Authors:
  • Pagani, Alessio
  • 0000-0002-8404-8890
  • Mosquera, Guillem
  • Alturki, Aseel
  • Johnson, Samuel
  • Jarvis, Stephen
  • Wilson, Alan
  • Guo, Weisi
  • 0000-0003-3524-3953
  • Varga, Liz
• Publication Date: 2019-2-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 181301
• Serial:
  • Royal Society Open Science
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Royal Society Publishing
  • ISSN: 2054-5703
  • Serial URL: http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Failure analysis; Rail transit; Risk assessment; Stability analysis; Topology
• Geographic Terms: Greater London
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01711947
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 22 2019 10:32AM