It’s Wednesday morning, and I’m heading to the faculty for a course. I make my way to the bike park, pat my pockets for my Hestra gloves. I love these gloves. They’re windproof, look good enough to pass as intentional, and after years of use, they still seem fresh out of the box. More importantly, they have sentimental value.
Problem is, my pockets are empty. I left the gloves on the train, and the train has left, headed to Dordrecht.
I pull up the NS lost and found website, which updates in real-time. Nine pairs of gloves have already been lost today. This comforts me, misery loves company, I guess. But none of them are mine. I briefly consider just claiming a random pair. A colleague tells me he just picks gloves off the ground when he needs them. Neither option seems particularly dignified. I prepare to do what I’ve already done with my umbrella and water bottle (twice): buy another identical replacement.
Then I get an idea. What if I could track my train? Planes and ships broadcast their locations—why not trains? Is there a TrainRadar24 website?
Turns out, in the Netherlands, you can track trains. Real-time location data is openly available. Using the NS app, I find my train number, then cross-check it on treinposities.nl, a website that shows its exact position, schedule, and more. In Europe, several countries provide this kind of real-time train tracking, including the UK. Spain, on the other hand, doesn’t share this data. (Presumably, knowing where a train is could lead to… well, it’s unclear.)
My train—Carriage 9580 of type VRIM—has been shuttling back and forth between Dordrecht and Venlo all day. I check the schedule. At 18:48, it’s due to stop at The Hague HS. That’s close to my apartment. I can catch it. I head to the station, board the train, and start searching. I don’t remember exactly where I left the gloves, and pacing up and down the aisles immediately after boarding makes me look suspicious. A quick sweep—nothing. I’m too embarrassed to search a second time, and with every stop, I’m getting further from home.
One last try. This time, I check the overhead compartments…there they are! Someone was kind enough to stash them safely.
My supervisor insists I end my blog posts with a clear message, so here it is: If you’re going to lose your stuff on a train, do it in the Netherlands—or in the UK. Avoid countries where you cannot track trains. Also, maybe spend less time staring at your phone and more time looking at your surroundings. Who knows? You might actually remember to take your stuff with you.
Thanks to Héctor Ochoa Ortiz for proofreading and providing information about train-related open data in European countries.
