Japan’s Train Leaves 25 Seconds Early. The Railway Apologizes.

The train was supposed to leave at 7:12:00.

On Friday, 11 May 2018, a JR West Special Rapid train stopped at Notogawa Station in Shiga Prefecture.

The train was supposed to leave at 7:12:00 a.m.

It left at 7:11:35.

Twenty-five seconds early.

The conductor had mistaken the scheduled departure time for 7:11 and sent the departure signal. About 1,200 passengers continued toward Nishi-Akashi aboard the 12-car train.

One intending passenger did not.

That passenger reported the early departure to station staff. JR West investigated and confirmed the difference down to the second.

The mistake did not unravel the timetable. The train reached its next stop, Ōmihachiman, at the scheduled time. No other services were affected.

JR West nevertheless issued a formal public apology. It explained the conductor’s error and said staff would receive additional instruction and training to prevent another early departure.

To much of the world, an apology over 25 seconds looked like a transport system searching very hard for something to confess.

But an early train creates a problem that a merely late one does not.

A passenger waiting for a delayed train can continue waiting. A passenger who arrives before the published departure time is entitled to expect that the train has not already gone.

Japanese railway practice calls an early departure sōhatsu and treats the advertised time as a promise to passengers, not an approximate suggestion.

Only months earlier, another Japanese operator had attracted international attention after apologizing for a train that departed 20 seconds early. At Notogawa, the margin had expanded by five seconds.

The train arrived at its next station precisely when expected.

Its offence was having begun the journey too efficiently.