This incident will appear unbelievable to many Nigerians. A Japanese rail company has apologised after a train left a station 25 seconds early.The operator said the “great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable”.
If the details are anything to go by, customers are faced with slipping standards: a train last November left 20 seconds early while this time it was a full 25 seconds premature. As was to be expected, social media has been making the most of the story. According to Japan Today, the train conductor thought his train was scheduled to leave Notogawa Station at 07:11 instead of the actual scheduled time of 07:12 on Friday.
After closing the doors to the commuter train one minute early he realised his mistake and still could have averted the looming embarrassment. But as he couldn’t spot any waiting passengers on the platform, he decided to go head and leave early – rolling out of the station 25 seconds ahead of time. Japanese trains have a reputation for extreme punctuality, and it turned out that there were indeed still people hoping to get onboard. Left on the platform, they complained to the rail operator and an official apology was issued shortly afterwards.
Photo Credit: Getty
