Have You Ever Been ‘Deeply Sorry’ For Being 20 Seconds Early?

This story about Japan will make you sigh.

Image of Japan’s Bullet Train used for representational purposes. 

(Photo Courtesy: Pixabay)

Japan is known for its culture of punctuality, but on 14 November, a "tremendous nuisance" was caused in the country, as a train departed 20 seconds before its scheduled time. Yes, you read that right!

The Tsukuba Express train, which links Tokyo and the capital’s northern suburbs, left the Minami Nagareyama Station at 9:44:20 instead of 9:44:40.

It is not surprising that there are no complains about the incident, but the operator of a private railway firm that serves the Tokyo Suburbs has issued an official apology.

“We deeply apologise for causing tremendous nuisance to customers,” Tsukuba Express said in a statement.

According to a Guardian report, the delay was caused because the train conductor failed to check the schedule properly.

According to the report, the operator of the train has said that the staff has been been instructed to strictly follow procedure to prevent a recurrence.

AFP quoted the company spokesperson as saying:

What matters is not the 20 seconds... The point is that our formal procedure should be this: A sound rings 15 seconds before the departure, followed by an announcement asking for caution due to the closing doors, and then the doors shut.

As soon as the official apology statement was issued, Twitter weighed in. And if you were wondering, then yes there were comparisons with the trains in India. We collated a few reactions to add some fun to your day:

(With inputs from AFP, Guardian and NDTV)