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Japanese Work Ethic and Standards: Train Schedule Precision
This is not specifically a Fit, car, or automotive article, so if you don't like that please read something else. This is about Japanese psychology and outlook.
Before I lived in Japan I thought that articles such as these were mere "fake news". But this does happen in Japan on a regular basis. We would question the person's sanity if this happened in Canada.
Rail company management 'deeply' apologizes after Japanese train leaves 20 seconds early; Bloomberg News
They put a high premium on punctuality in Japan.
A politician once had to drop out of an election after he delayed a bullet train by pushing staff to halt it for a campaign stop. This time, though, it’s a rail company that’s apologizing after the 9:44 a.m. train on Tokyo’s Tsukuba Express line left earlier than scheduled on Tuesday — 20 seconds too early.
In a statement in Japanese on its website, management “deeply” apologized for the “severe inconvenience” caused to customers who missed the too-early train and couldn’t afford to wait for the next one — scheduled for four minutes later. The conductor on board didn’t correctly check the train’s timetable, resulting in the early departure, the statement said. Train officers have been told to fully follow basic instructions in future.
While issuing the mea culpa, the company noted that it actually hadn’t received any customer complaints.
The Tsukuba Express railway connects Akihabara and Tsukuba, two towns that are about 60 kilometers apart in a 45-minute ride — give or take 20 seconds — according to the company’s website.
The Smithsonian Channel is running a series called Mighty Trains and one episode covers the Shinkansen bullet train. The railroad employees take great pride in their assignments and operate the line with the extreme precision you noted.
I've loved trains since birth and enjoy the entire realm of railroading. To North America's credit, the capacity, clearances and operation of its freight lines are envied throughout the world.
The Smithsonian Channel is running a series called Mighty Trains and one episode covers the Shinkansen bullet train. The railroad employees take great pride in their assignments and operate the line with the extreme precision you noted.
I've loved trains since birth and enjoy the entire realm of railroading. To North America's credit, the capacity, clearances and operation of its freight lines are envied throughout the world.
Why don't we have a bullet train?
Why don't we rebuild, improve our entire railway system?
We still use it. It's still a vital part of trade, transportation and commerce. BUT...
Our trains and tracks are mostly all 1950's, 1960's technology at best.
OK...I'm not a train guy, nor an engineer.
But when I sit in my car at a railway stop and the huge diesel engine slowly pulls the creaking freight cars by...
It strikes me that this scene really hasn't changed much in decades.
Maybe I'm off base here. But it seems we're riding Dinosaurs...
They aren't much older than the planes we are flying in. Boeing makes like 60 planes a MONTH and yet all I ever fly in are planes from the '70's and '80's that have been rebuilt 10 times to stuff more people in them.
All those new planes are going to other countries.
They aren't much older than the planes we are flying in. Boeing makes like 60 planes a MONTH and yet all I ever fly in are planes from the '70's and '80's that have been rebuilt 10 times to stuff more people in them.
All those new planes are going to other countries.
That is very true.
Even though it does make me a little nervous sometimes how old some of the planes I do step onto are...
But it's a little different.
Airplanes operate based on the physics of flight. Air movement over wings, and the creation of lift. And as long as all the factors needed to create that end result are in place...planes fly. The air they fly through, for the most part, absent of density fluctuations...doesn't change.
Trains? It seems to me we have made advancements in engine technology. And most of the rails our trains are riding on....have existed for decades.
I just think there really could be room for improvement.
It's the year 2017...and we have a railway system that could easily look perfectly at home in the snap shot pictures in the background of 1960.
In terms of freight, I shot this photo last month in eastern KY on Norfolk Southern's mainline between Cincinnati and Chattanooga and it embodies today's modern freight railroading in North America -- multiple track, an excellent physical plant, high clearances allowing stacked intermodal containers, all new signaling systems, efficient locomotives, speed and safety. This line sees nearly 50 trains a day; a number of western lines see 100 a day. North American freight railroading bears little resemblance to how it was just a few decades ago.
Norfolk Southern Stack Train southbound near Tateville, KY
When you have old world infrastructure it is in use, so ripping it down and removal costs a lot, then building it up again costs as well. This is why China has leapfrogged many countries in phone service. They never had land lines in the country and now never will.
Go to Europe and see their narrow streets, then go to Beijing and see all their spanky new but soulless towers.
One thing that hampers passenger service in the U.S. is our vast geography. Passenger trains in Europe and Japan work well because of the shorter distances and large population centers. Passenger service serving similar markets in the U.S. is well patronized. Bullet trains are phenomenally expensive to construct (they require their own right-of-way) and maintain. Perhaps someday we'll have them in the U.S., but with a Federal Debt of $20.5 Trillion, we may wait a while. Government has other priorities it seems.
I just got back from Japan yesterday. Earlier comments about population density and geography are right on. I took a 2 hour ride from Hiroshima to Kyoto covering about 200 odd miles and it was non-stop city all the way. If you have that kind of population density and ridership you can afford to build a railroad system. Imagine building a bullet train from Minneapolis to Seattle. You're talking over a thousand miles with pretty much nowhere to stop in between. Furthermore you also have issues of animals and other features of nature (not to mention idiotic people who might find it fun to put stones on the lines) to consider in building and maintaining the lines. From what I could tell the bullet train I rode in Japan ran between two ten foot tall walls the entire length, probably along raised embankments or trestles. I don't see being able to do that easily in the USA over thousands of miles. They might be able to develop something along serious metro corridors such as the northeast coast of the USA but in Japan the Shikansen has its own dedicated rails so you'd have to add buying all that land to the cost.
In terms of freight, I shot this photo last month in eastern KY on Norfolk Southern's mainline between Cincinnati and Chattanooga and it embodies today's modern freight railroading in North America -- multiple track, an excellent physical plant, high clearances allowing stacked intermodal containers, all new signaling systems, efficient locomotives, speed and safety. This line sees nearly 50 trains a day; a number of western lines see 100 a day. North American freight railroading bears little resemblance to how it was just a few decades ago.[/I]
I concede ignorance.
I knew I'd anger some degree of Train/Locomotive enthusiasts.
I have no doubt things have changed. As you say..."in terms of freight"...and also in things myself as a novice wouldn't even notice.
But even in my admitted ignorance I still see the railway infrastructure as something I think would have a lot of room to change, to possibly improve.
As noted above....real change would be expensive. And it seems we operate our railway system with a "If it ain't broke" type of attitude.
I'm probably being childish...naive to say...
I want a Bullet Train, an American Autobahn...and a Hover Board! And sleek looking 2017 trains that float silently above the ground at incredible speed.
Ooo -- I'd take an Autobahn too fitchet! Yah, my degree is in Transportation and much of my career was spent in it, so railroading and supply chain work was close at hand for 35+ years. Now that I'm recently retired, I can watch trains just for the fun of it. :-)
I've lived in Japan for 26 years, so I can kinda understand why they issued that apology. Trains run on frickin' time here because people depend on trains running on time. If a train leaves too early - even by a few seconds, that might cause people to miss a connecting train.
It's not too much to expect that a train be there when it's expected to leave. The conductor can make up for lost time (within reason) for a late start, but there's no excuse for leaving too early.
11-16-2017 | 04:11 PM
