Japanese railway company apologizes after a train left 25 seconds early

The West Japan railway company has apologized for “any inconvenience” caused to customers after a train departed the station 25 seconds early.

The Japanese Railway Company’s apology came after one of its express trains left Notogawa station in central Japan at 7:11:35 a.m instead of the scheduled 7:12 a.m on May 11. The train was destined to Nishi Akashi station. According to the company’s press release, the train conductor misunderstood the departure time and closed the train doors ahead of schedule. However, the early departure didn’t affect any other travel schedules that day but it led to one person missing their train.

“We inconvenienced our customers very much, and we will strive to prevent this from occurring again,” JR West said in a statement quoted by the country’s Asahi newspaper.

Japan’s railway system is known for being one of the most punctual in the world and that is why Japanese railway company has made global headlines after one of its trains left a few seconds earlier than scheduled.

JR West said:

“The great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable. We will be thoroughly evaluating our conduct and striving to keep such an incident from occurring again.”

This is not a first time that any Japanese railway company has apologized after a train left earlier than scheduled, last year, managers of the Tsukuba Express Line between Tokyo and Tsukuba apologized after a train departed 20 seconds earlier than scheduled, even though passengers did not complain.