Split-second timing

[Nick_Burman]

Hi all,

 

 

 Does the "split-second" timing (arrivals and departures timed down to seconds) employed by the JR group railways and the large metropolitan area private railways extend to railways in rural areas? Or in less busy regions, are the railways content on timing their trains down to the minutes?

 

 

Cheers NB

[Ochanomizu]

Yes, time is important.  A rural train will not have seconds scheduled into the timetable.  So it's departure time might be scheduled as 2:15pm.  This means it should depart as close to 14:15:00 as possible and not before.  Many foreigners miss the train because they confuse the departure time with arrival time.  I have heard foreigners claim that a train arrived early.  This cannot be, unless the timetable stipulates an arrival time and a separate departure time.  So, the 2:15pm train might well arrive at 2:13pm to ensure an on-time departure.  Japanese people are well-organised and understand these things.

 

Punctuality is a system-wide requirement.

[Mr Frosty]

I have always considered train times as departure times.

[Ochanomizu]

Many foreigners miss the train because they confuse the departure time with arrival time.

 

Sorry, I did not mean that many foreigners miss the train.  I mean a popular reason for the few foreigners that miss the train is that they thought the timetable was arrival time.

[ianlaw]

What I noticed in Japan, is that the further you move away from Tokyo the less disciplined the staff seems to be, once away from the mayor lines. Leaving to the second anywhere in central Japan, but on rural lines in Kyoshu I experienced less smart dress and less punctual departures....

[Densha]

What is "less punctual"? 1-2 minutes or?

It certainly is a requirement to be punctual because if you want to change to another train at a transfer station and the train is delayed you will miss the train.

[ianlaw]

I remember one train arriving from the yard for departure 10 minutes late, with no apologies. But then on that line I don't think there were any close connections. I didn't keep an exact check but it would generally be more around the minute departures than on he second as in the major central town commuter lines. The staff simply went about their business in a more relaxed way (and dress) than in Central Japan. Remember I'm speaking about the rural lines, with maybe one train or less an hour.

[Ochanomizu]

On some rural lines with a long gap between services a train will wait for someone hurrying to the platform.  But I have only seen this in Kyoto on the Eizan and Keifuku Railways.

[bill937ca]

Not split second here.

 

Edited January 14, 2013 by bill937ca

[cteno4]

Amazing how clean the guy stayed save for the work gloves!

 

Jeff

[KenS]

You know he's getting serious when he takes off his hat halfway through the operation.  Up to then, it's just been business as usual.

 

And yeah; working under a train in a white shirt and coming up spotless is pretty amazing.

 

Notice also how he placed a red flag on the car projecting out onto the platform before he went between the cars and removed it when he was out from between them.  That must be the same as a "blue flag" in U.S. practice (meaning "don't move this car").

[Ochanomizu]

Not split second here.

 

 

Fixed it in 1/4 the time it would take a Canadian, and he didn't even get dirty.