High Speed Train Systems – Japan

The punctuality of the Japanese trains is a legend since long time ago. In 2003, the average delay per train on the Tokaido Shinkansen was 6 seconds! Not impressed? Add to this the fact that during rush-hours, the Shinkansen trains are departing from Tokyo one at every 3 minutes!

And this astonishing performance is not limited to Shinkansen services. All trains, even the slower Local services follow strict timetables.
Why? The reason is that in Japan passengers are depending on this perfect punctuality to commute to and from work on time.

Most stations have been designed so that the trains meet on both sides of the same platform to allow people to transfer between Express and Local trains running on the same line.
And because of the tightness of the schedule, even a small delay of a Local train will cause a delay on the connecting Express train and will trigger a cascade of delays through the timetable.
Sometimes, this kind of synchronization works even with trains from other companies

 

Assessment: Japan pays a lot of attention to its punctuality which is something a lot of countries could follow suit in. Especially Britain. Its possible it doesn’t need reforment just more preparation and discipline in delivering the best service to customers. TFL should learn from the Japanese. The high speed rail is something that is also in the works in the UK so i guess these changes ate spreading naturally