Trains in Japan are incredibly punctual. Being on time is counted down to the centiseconds. And unless there’s an accident, Japanese trains simply are not late.
In the above Discovery Channel Asia video, you can see some of the reasons why the country’s rails run, well, like clockwork.
Super Japan: On-time Metro [Discovery Channel Asia@YouTube]
Comments
26 responses to “Ever Wonder Why Japanese Trains Aren’t Late? Here’s Why.”
if only australian public transport was like this.
Bahh, Don’t be silly, we don’t need that, we’re getting more roads!
More roads or road works?
They fix the roads here?
Nup. They just put up those high vis signs, make some holes and drop the speed limit to 25 for 6 months. Then they pack up and do it somewhere else. (sometimes they fill the holes back in)
Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
Yeah, we need a paddle
>poop creek
Because we won’t be able to afford petrol any more?
Eh, given the size of our country in comparison and the sheer number of stations that need stops, journeys simply aren’t quick.
its not about quick, its about on time and reliability, 2 things that aren’t even in the vocabulary of the australian public transport industry
They’re called ShittyRail for a reason.
Public transport is for socialists. Go back to Russia you pinko!
Or just sit back and wait for Russia to come and get you…
Nah, we’re way too lazy to take being on time seriously.
If only Australia’s broadband was this fast!
Sydney trains cop a lot of unjustified flak I think. I catch the train to and from work every day and the only times they are late is when there’s been some kind of incident on the line.
*cough*
Consider yourself very lucky. I’ve had very a many cancelled services during peak and the “improvements” to the schedule every hear made my trips worse and worse.
I eventually gave up and just drove to work. I found that road rage was a lot less stressful than waiting for half an hour for a train and then swapping platforms (on the same line!) and then waiting another 10-20 mins for the train that stops at my station which for some reason is banished from the stops during peak hour. And thats on a *good* day. All this for what used to be a 15minute train ride to and from work…
Would have thought they would have been automated by now, like Singapores.
Automation would be a downgrade for them. They’ve more or less got robots doing the job, but without the hassle of the dumb as bricks ‘stop the train, there’s a newspaper on the track’ automation elements.
Wow…smooth operation.
Nineteen microseconds? The units on that stopwatch are clearly not what I thought they are.
(The kotaku text gets it right BTW – congrats on the proofreading.)
I noticed that too! Amazingly it came from BAshcraft.
…… seriously they strip each car down every four years. if only american public transport gave half that much of a shit. The only time they perform maintenance on anything is when things go wrong and people die. I bet the accident occurrence in japan is less than a 1/10 of the incidents in the states. Also why can they maintain all the rail lines in japan easier than we do in the states. atleast i dont have to ride public transport, i don’t get all the diseases and rape involved.
Actually I would imagine the accident occurrence is much more than the USA. Suicide by jumping in front of a train is a really common occurrence in Japan. When I was traveling there I was told there is at least one every day…
Except for Fukashima!
I used to catch Tokyo Metro (subway) every morning, it rarely ran on time because during peakhour the trains get stuck waiting for people to push in like sardines in a can… fortunately off-peak it’s like clockwork.