A Japanese railway company issued an apology after its train left 20 seconds early

November 17, 2017

A Japanese railway company issued an apology after its train left 20 seconds early

train japan

A Japanese transit company issued an apology after one of its Tokyo trains left a station 20-seconds too early.
Japan's train system is known to be meticulously punctual.

Japan's train system is known for many things, but mainly that its services are timed to be perfectly punctual.

So when the No. 5255 Tsukuba Express train left the Minami-Nagareyama station, in a suburb east of Tokyo, at 9:44:20 a.m. instead of 9:44:40 a.m. on Tuesday as scheduled, the meticulously-timed commute was slightly affected.

While all hell broke didn't break loose, the company still saw fit to apologize.

Before the end of the day, the Tsukuba Express management posted a response on its website saying "We deeply apologize for the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers."

According to a reporter at SoraNews24, the slightly early departure could have affected traveler's commutes because some people plan to arrive at the platform just as the train pulls up, and even synchronize their watches with the clock at their local train station. A missed departure could then have a flow-on effect for down-the-line transfers.

This isn't the first surprising apology a Japanese company has issued.

Last year, the Japanese frozen dessert company Akagi Nyugyo issued an apology via a somber nationwide commercial when it raised the price of its Garigari-kun popsicles by 9 cents.

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