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Old 23rd May 2018, 12:06   #1
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Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

West Japan Railway (JR West), a train operator in Japan, has issued a public apology for the inconvenience caused due to a train leaving the station 25 seconds before the scheduled time, on May 11. A passenger who got left behind reported this to the station in-charge and it was escalated to the company top bosses.

At the Notogawa Station, Shiga Prefecture, an express train departed at 7:11:35 am, 25 seconds before its scheduled time. The conductor of the train mistook the departure time to be at 7:11 am instead of 7:12 am. After closing the doors and realising his mistake, the conductor glanced at the empty platform and decided to not reopen the doors, as the time taken in opening and closing the doors again would likely cause the departure to be delayed beyond 7:12 am. However, there were some passengers on the platform who were looking to board the train. These passengers got left behind and went on to inform the station attendant about the early departure of the train.

The next train leaves at 7:19 am and arrives at the destination at 9:20 am - 6 minutes after the 7:11 am train. This would result in a delay to the passengers, especially students and employees. Passengers with onward connections would be further delayed due to missing the connecting trains.

Japanese trains are known for their on-time performance down to the exact second. Train drivers are trained to be able to gauge the exact speed of the train without looking at the speedometer to ascertain the correct speed to reach a destination at the exact appointed time. Additionally, in case of delays over 5 minutes and at times even lesser, and for reasons beyond the operator’s controls, a delay certificate is issued at the station as a valid excuse for running late.

Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises-slide02.jpg

Source - Japan Today

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Last edited by blackwasp : 23rd May 2018 at 12:08.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 12:29   #2
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

On a lighter side, one day in our place back in the 90’s a train came right on time and someone exclaimed “ Our trains have started improving”. Only to be corrcted by another paasenger that it was yesterday’s train!!!
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Old 23rd May 2018, 12:56   #3
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

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Originally Posted by The Rationalist View Post
On a lighter side, one day in our place back in the 90’s a train came right on time and someone exclaimed “ Our trains have started improving”. Only to be corrcted by another paasenger that it was yesterday’s train!!!
The situation has improved in most parts of the country, but in 2016 when we were traveling all over the country I did experience first-hand a couple of trains whose arrival at the station we were waiting, were delayed by over 15 hours! This was in the North-East, one of them was the Brahmaputra Mail. Thankfully these days we have the train running status information available online, so can plan and avoid waiting at the station.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 13:04   #4
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

Several years ago on a train journey between Munich and Berlin, the Intercity Express (ICE) was delayed by 45 minutes. The train conductor went around apologising to all passengers and issuing a coupon stating that the delay of 45 minutes disqualified this train as an ICE and the coupon was valid for ICE paying surcharge on future bookings.
Imagine the Rajdhani being declared a passenger train because it is late by a couple of hours! The importance of being on time is so important to the advanced countries.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 13:22   #5
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

Japan is OCD in nation form.

With IRCTC moving to wallet mode, IR should seriously consider refunding some amount of money to wallet should their train miss the schedule by the specified amount of minutes. But wait, here trains run on subsidy and last time I checked tickets, it had following lines -
  • Are you aware that 43% of your fare is borne by the common citizens of the country ?
  • IR recovers only 57% of cost of travel on an average
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Old 23rd May 2018, 13:47   #6
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

Japanese conductors apologise. Our conductors would not even stop (MTC buses Chennai).

By the way, I think the Mumbai local trains do a commendable job in terms of punctuality given the magnitude of traffic they deal with.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 14:14   #7
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

Most of our so called "Superfast" trains (having an average speed of 55 Kmph and above), regularly run late, and if IR were to take a leaf out of JR's functioning, and start refunding the Superfast surcharge to all the passengers, it would soon start bleeding!
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Old 23rd May 2018, 14:17   #8
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

The civic sense in Japan is at a level that even the most advanced countries cannot match. I was once walking in a narrow lane and a car approached from the front, and i had to literally stick to the wall to let her go. As she was passing just besides me, she lowered her window and apologized for the inconvenience. This was in Kyoto.

I have stood at their train stations with a watch in my hand, just to see if any train delays. Frankly, yes they do have delays in some trains, but they're planned delays due to some maintenance work, and this information is available right at the time of buying the ticket.

They don't know what "Chalta hai" attitude is, a reason why inspite of the crazy destruction that they have witnessed, both man made and natural, the country stands on its feet and starts running in no time.

They love their country. And that love gets reflected in the way they treat everything in their country, machines, buildings, people, animals, etc.

Interestingly, their ancestors were one of the most aggressive the human race ever saw, and it took 2 nuclear bombs to bring that change in their mentality, and Japan went from an aggressive territorial country to being a peace loving, non-violent society.

Last edited by moralfibre : 25th May 2018 at 09:42. Reason: Typo
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Old 23rd May 2018, 14:45   #9
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

Sometimes the importance of being on time abroad is a matter of life and death.

In Norway, I missed my scheduled public bus by 30 seconds. The next bus was timed for 15 minutes later. The weather was negative something. I almost froze to death, and could not feel my toes for a while (wearing dress shoes for a party or something). Buses are timed (there's a timer at every bus stop), which is linked to a mobile app, so you can time when to leave home to spend the least amount of time in an open frigid bus shelter.

India teaches you something else. She teaches you to relax, let go, and leave everything to the almighty. Works a treat
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Old 23rd May 2018, 14:57   #10
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

I had a similar experience of train leaving early, but I was penalized:

We were to travel to Mysore from Bangalore. Mom and I sat in the train, while my father went to buy the tickets. The train was to depart at 2:20 PM (if I remember correct). We had sufficient time, or so we thought.

However, the train left around 5 minutes early, without any announcements (usual protocol is 3 announcements followed by the engine hoot, none of which happened in this case). We were sure there was no announcement since some of our relatives were standing on the platform and had to get on in a hurry when the train started moving (they had the tickets). My father was still not on the train.

When the TC came, we tried explaining to the TC that the train had left early without any warning and my father who had gone to buy the tickets had no idea of that. We offered to pay the ticket price. He would have none of it. We had to pay the ticket price with a fine.

On the other hand, my father who reached the platform couple of minutes before scheduled departure, was confused. He went back to the station master, but he denied that the train left early. We had to lose cancellation charges in addition to paying fine, all for no fault of us.

We have, since then, learned not to board a train till we have the actual tickets in hand. But just goes on to show the difference between the two cultures, India and Japan.
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Old 23rd May 2018, 16:20   #11
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

Japan Vs India Train Situation

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Old 23rd May 2018, 17:01   #12
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

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Originally Posted by RM Motorsports View Post
Japan Vs India Train Situation
Hehe, nice one. But it's not fair to compare the Metro crowd to the Mumbai local crowd. The Mumbai local is in a class of it's own and since this thread is about a train being on time (or rather, early), the Mumbai local does that pretty well, especially compared to Indian Railways.

But even looking at the way the Bangalore Metro crowd behaves - trying to push in and block the people exiting, the point is well taken. An orderly, civilized approach will ensure that even with a crowd, resources can be utilized in the most efficient manner. But when will we Indians learn this?

Take the roads, if people stopped parking or stopping at random, and stuck to lanes while driving on our streets, our roads are actually wide enough. But because most of us do not, we still feel the need for wider roads. And of course cut trees to make that happen. Digging our own graves I say.

I remember once I was checking in to an Indigo flight at the counter. At one stage, the staff opened another adjacent counter and a large section of the crowd moved to that, leaving a big space in the line. Instead of moving through the route marked by the extendable tape, every Indian in that line (including me) lifted the tape and cut ahead. We're all very proud of this 'jugaad' ability of ours and we've even written books about it right? A Japanese gentleman was in the same line and from the look on his bemused face I could see how it was unthinkable to cut through a line in such a way for him. I could make out that it would take a great effort to overcome his natural disinclination to do something like that. Cultural I guess. And it certainly doesn't mean he was not intelligent enough or adaptable enough to do a similar jugaad. I guess the Japanese have just figured out the most efficient and hassle-free way to live in a crowded city is to follow rules as a matter of culture.

But when will we Indians learn this?
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Old 24th May 2018, 03:50   #13
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

I feel sorry for these JR or Japan Rail operators. They operate under extreme stress primarily due to this "working by the second" rule. The stress of it alone can cause you to fumble in your work. JR even issue an apology letter to every passenger. You present this to your employer as evidence for why you were late to work. It is going too far if you ask me. I am definitely not saying one must not be punctual. This is a basic ethic but this whole "to the second" thing is a bit much.

Then again, there is a lot to like about Japan too. I've only seen Japan through Lost in Translation and lots of Bullet train video's. I asked my father (who has visited Japan) about how humble the Japanese were portrayed to be in the film. He said that the film presents what is a reality in Japan. People really are down to earth and have a lot of respect for what they do. The whole Loger (Roger) Moore craze is true too.
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Old 24th May 2018, 06:43   #14
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

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Originally Posted by sandeepmohan View Post
I feel sorry for these JR or Japan Rail operators. They operate under extreme stress primarily due to this "working by the second" rule. The stress of it alone can cause you to fumble in your work. JR even issue an apology letter to every passenger. You present this to your employer as evidence for why you were late to work. It is going too far if you ask me. I am definitely not saying one must not be punctual. This is a basic ethic but this whole "to the second" thing is a bit much.
I feel they did the right thing; punctuality is a culture for Japanese and it comes naturally to them. They take pride in that – I read somewhere that the average time deviation in the whole train system for the whole year is around 6 seconds. True that their constant attention to detail and extreme long hours to work can be daunting for an outsider but that’s the way they are wired
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Old 24th May 2018, 10:47   #15
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Re: Japan: Train leaves 25 sec early; operator apologises

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I feel they did the right thing; punctuality is a culture for Japanese and it comes naturally to them.
I agree.

I do not think this is the practice today. JR were known to be very harsh with treating their employees for errors on the job. They do not fire you. They make you suffer for the mistakes. Be it timing or an accident. The punishment was as bad as forcing them in to rehabilitation and making them do things that was inhuman. This has been documented extensively.

As much as Japan want everything to move on the dot, there are some things I don't quite agree with and when it comes to treating humans like robots.
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