JR Tohoku train departs without passengers, conductor

Dear, oh dear. Mr Rush was driving the train. This article doesn't say how the Guard caught up with the train. (My interpretation of 'conductor' btw is the one who check's tickets on the train, not the one who sits in the rear compartment of the train and blows the whistle - that's the 'guard')

Oops

at least no one was hurt.

I think it's Oyama station, 小山駅

disciplined and retrained in the importance of careful time management

and they wonder why trains crash and people die due to pressure placed on the staff.

I thought the driver was not allowed to move unless signaled by the guard at the rear.

There is usually a Beeeep sound meaning all clear.

Hmmmm

Also when did the driver actually notice and how?

Yuk, yuk! So, this mishap happened at 4:30pm yesterday and the fools responsible had already been retrained by 10am the following day? Any wonder things like this happen?

Yuk, yuk! So, this mishap happened at 4:30pm yesterday and the fools responsible had already been retrained by 10am the following day? Any wonder things like this happen?

How long should it take to train someone about how to check the time?

The driver is only playing by the rules set out for him by JR....

The conductor is responsible for opening doors and boarding of passengers...

If the driver waits for the "late" / "sleeping" conductor to show up and do his assigned job then the train will be VERY late and the driver disciplined...

The driver did his job and got the train to it's destination on time - the conductor didn't do his job so neither he or the 16 passengers were on board when the train let the station....

JR doesn't reward drivers for doing anything else but their own job - if he was late to Ueno he would have been admonished by the higher ups...

I can just see the 29 year old driver in his compartment going... "WTF - where is that w@nker - if he doesn't get here on time and open those doors I'm leaving without him and the passengers - no way I am getting canned for his sloppy job "...

Frankly, I don't blame him either...

Give it to japanese efficiency. They are so efficient that they end up always screwing up some time or another.

How can you expect them to keep the trains on schedule if they have to stop and pick up people all the time?

JR Tohoku train departs without passengers, conductor

I swear, if the 'conductor' wasn't included it would've never made the headlines

I'm sure the punishment had nothing whatsoever to do with the trains running on time. They're probably being kept up all night scrubbing toilets at the station with a toothbrush and they'll have their pay cut to almost nothing for a month.

A JR East Omiya spokesperson said: “The parties responsible have been disciplined and retrained in the importance of careful time management.”

That must have been a quick retraining.

This is what happens when you use DENSHA DE GO for training.

Look at it this way, the rail lines are an intricate ballet with many trains using the same lines. If you delay one train outside the allotted window for traversing a particular section of track, that starts a domino effect of other trains having to delay. For PR purposes the engineer probably had to get "disciplined" because the passengers watched him drive off, but privately he was probably given an "attaboy" for preventing a much bigger headache.

I can just see the 29 year old driver in his compartment going... "WTF - where is that w@nker - if he doesn't get here on time and open those doors I'm leaving without him and the passengers - no way I am getting canned for his sloppy job "...

Mwah ha ha ha Too right Fredster. I don't really know why the hell people are commenting on japanese efficiency or slating the system when one poor dude messed up one time. Like none of these guys have ever zipped up their trousers too fast?

Fadamor - You are spot-on mate!

If you delay one train outside the allotted window for traversing a particular section of track, that starts a domino effect of other trains having to delay.

It is my opinion that only the conductor should've been disciplined because the driver kept the system flowing. Besides... shouldn't the conductor have his little JR East schedule booklet on hand at all times?

"Any wonder things like this happen?"

In Japan, a nation about the size of California with more rail than any other on earth, "things like this happen" almost never*...

"only the conductor should've been disciplined because the driver kept the system flowing"

Except that the driver didnt actually flow any passengers.

I imagine the discipline and retraining were one and the same thing. Maybe they'll be wise and stuff a phone directory down their trousers next time there's a need for retraining.

Here's the best bit:

"16 passengers waiting on the platform and the conductor"

What? Did they mob him? Or serve him? :-D