You won’t believe the reason why this Japanese train company is apologising
At a time when commuting in parts of New Zealand feels about as enjoyable as trying to draw blood from a stone, you’d be forgiven for wishing for a problem like the one faced in a recent story from Japan’s notoriously reliable railway system.
Officials from the Tsukuba Express line, which operates between the cities of Tokyo and Tsukuba, issued an apology to passengers (despite receiving no complaints) after one of the trains rain 20 seconds earlier than scheduled.
According to the statement, the train left at 9:44:20, rather than the scheduled 9:44:40, after on eof the staff members failed to check the departure times correctly.
The company was effusive in its statement, saying it “deeply” apologised for the “severe inconvenience” that the 20 second delay had caused passengers.
A spokesman explained the apology to AFP.
"What matters is not the 20 seconds... The point is that our formal procedure should be this: A sound rings 15 seconds before the departure, followed by an announcement asking for caution due to the closing doors, and then the doors shut," he said.
Have you ever been to Japan?