In possibly the greatest show of concern for consumer satisfaction since the dawn of customer service, a Japanese train company has issued a statement apologising for making the egregious error of allowing a train to leave the platform a full twenty seconds early.
That’s right, friends. An entire twenty seconds before its scheduled departure time.
If you reckon that’s basically the most Japanese thing ever, I reckon you’d be about right.
The unforgivable offence occurred at Minami Nagareyama Station on the Tsukuba Express line in Tokyo, when a train left at 9:43:40 instead of 9:44am, forcing commuters who arrived on time to wait a whole four minutes for the next service.
The Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company issued the following release later that day:
On November 14, at approximately 9:44 a.m., a northbound Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company (main office in Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward, President & CEO Koichi Yugi) train left Minami Nagareyama Station roughly 20 seconds earlier than the time indicated on the timetable. We deeply apologize for the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers.
Japanese trains are famous for being the most punctual in the world, but apparently even some locals thought the apology was a bit much. According to SoraNews24, a Japanese English-language news site, one of its staffers said, “I’m Japanese, and even I think it’s excessive to make such a big deal out of a 20-second mistake.”
But as another writer for the website pointed out, missing your train because your precisely-timed work commute was bungled by an overeager conductor leaving 20 seconds early could, theoretically, throw off your whole journey.
The rest of the world is clearly very grateful for the train company’s apology, as it gives everyone else the opportunity to passive-aggressively forward the story to their local unsatisfactory rail service of choice.
https://twitter.com/aaronski_twitt/status/931198438066343938
Hope you’re paying attention, literally every rail service provider in Australia.
