After Tokyo Commuter Train Leaves 20 Seconds Early, Company Apologizes
A Japanese train company says it has spoken to a crew that left a station without consulting the time.
Passengers on a morning train on the Tokyo region's Tsukuba Express line might not have noticed anything was amiss Tuesday. But when their train left Minami-Nagareyama station, it did so 20 seconds ahead of schedule — and when the company noticed, it issued an apology to customers.
The train was traveling northbound on the line that connects Tokyo's Akihabara station with Tsukuba to the northeast — a trip that takes less than an hour. After passengers had boarded, the crew didn't check the time, resulting in the slightly early departure "around" 9:44 a.m., the company said.
Operator ‘deeply’ sorry for inconvenience to passengers after the 9.44.40am Tsukuba Express pulled away at 9.44.20am
Japan’s railways are known for their punctuality.
The train had arrived at the station on time, at 40 seconds past 9:43 a.m. It was supposed to leave one minute later, at 9:44:40 — but instead, it left at 9:44:20.
"We deeply apologize for the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers," the Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company said, in a translation by Sora News 24.
In its online posting, the rail company says it didn't receive any complaints from passengers over the 20-second discrepancy. It added that the train's crew has been spoken to and taught to prevent recurrences.
On the bright side, anyone who missed the 9:44 a.m. Tsukuba Express train because of the 20-second premature departure would have had to wait just four minutes for the next northbound train, according to the line's timetable.
But even a small lapse in punctuality can be disruptive, in part because, as Casey Baseel reports for Sora News 24, some people in Japan synchronize their phones or watches to the time shown in train stations, so they'll be sure to make their train.
assengers who might have made the train had it left on time in fact suffered little inconvenience: the next one arrived just four minutes later.
While delays – even of just a minute – prompt profuse apologies by Japanese train operators, Metropolitan Intercity’s mea culpa drew inevitable, and unfavourable, comparisons with rail services in other countries.
Simon Woodgate @echobass
Tsukuba Express issues #apology for leaving 20s early, I didn't disembark quick enough at Brighton: @SouthernRailUK locked me in. No apology
2:50 AM - Nov 17, 2017 · Hellingly, England
The Tsukuba Express carries 130 million passengers a year between Akihabara in Tokyo and Tsukuba in Ibaraki prefecture, a journey of about 45 minutes.
Baseel writes: "It stands to reason, then, that at least a few people would miss a train if it left 20 seconds earlier than usual, and even if there's another coming in four minutes, adding four minutes to that leg of their commute might cause them to miss other transfers on the way to their destinations, with the effect snowballing enough that they end up being late for work or school."
Commenters on the story have had a range of reactions — including from people who say Japan's reputation for extreme punctuality in its trains is overblown.
But on Sora News and other sites, readers also noted that they would welcome such problems.
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