Punctuality

　　I'm commuting from the capital city, Matsuyama, to a rural town by train. Taking account of the time for access to the station and waiting for the train, my car is faster than the train, but I prefer the train for usefully utilizing the commuting time for something.

　　My train starts from an eastern rural city as the first train of the day and transports people and drops them off at Matsuyama station. Shortly thereafter, it restarts to the south.

　　This morning, I found my train being fixed just before departure. After all the passengers got off and the simple check and cleaning was finished, this train was supposed to run south with me.

　　This morning, however, the door was closed and passengers, including me, weren't allowed to get on the train. One of the doors apparently didn't work. The car has 2 doors on each side, so it didn't matter for the transport itself, I thought. I'm really an easygoer, but they should have to go by the book.

　　The designated departure time has passed. How do they inform passengers who are waiting for the train at the stations which have no company personnel of the delay. The train is always extremely punctual and it means that the passengers might look for another way to get to their destination. Do they have another car for us? Or can they use a bus for us? I didn't know.

　　The Japanese Rail Company is proud of its security and punctuality. In fact, my train is always on time and is never late by more than 30 seconds. It's true even of the Shinkansen Bullet Train which runs at the speed of nearly 300 km/h.

　　Finally, my train left 15 minutes late. My train is designed for short commuting and has no lavatory, so 10 minutes' rest is scheduled halfway. No one wanted to go the lavatory today and the driver cut the rest time. After all, I could get to my destination on time.

(Vocabulary)
punctuality  時間厳守
drop sb/sth ↔ off (車から) ＜人・荷物など＞を降ろす, ＜物＞を置いていく

Comments

[Shiroi Tora]

I've always loved the basic attitude of the Japanese. There is a great sense of civic responsibility and that of customer service. I often get angry inside when I don't get the same great service I had gotten in Japan from many of the places here in America.

It is a tried and true method of attracting and keeping customers. The fault is the management...many are short term thinkers. By training their staff...especially where a lack of professionalism is endemic...they could overcome their competition. I don't see why most companies don't realize this simple fact of human nature...people will pay a little more for great service. If they feel good about the experience...they will return.

I am glad to hear that Japan has not changed in this respect.