Yes this is slightly off-topic for me, but when I saw the headline it made me smile and shake my head at the same time…..

Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, a train operator in Tokyo, Japan  expressed regret when one of it’s scheduled trains left a station early on their Tsukuba Express line.  Wait for it……….A whopping 20 seconds early.

The offending train apparently departed the Minami-Nagareyama station 20 seconds prior to schedule, prompting the company to quickly enter damage control for the transgression.

According to the company, the train’s crew failed to check their watches to ensure they left exactly on time and the company issued an apology to customers that may have been adversely impacted by their rush to get out of the station.    The company noted that the train was supposed to leave at 9:44:40am but raced out of the station at 9:44:20am.   The operator also stated that the train crew has since received appropriate training (get it?) to ensure this does not happen again.

The apology from the company came quickly after this unfathomable sin stating, “We deeply apologize for the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers”.    The operator also indicated that no customers expressed any outrage at this egregious lack of responsibility.    Apparently anyone that missed this train because of the miscue could catch the next train on the same line 4 minutes later.

Imagine if the airline industry adopted this kind of scrutiny to their timetable?  Haha and LOL.   🙂