The Japanese train system is among the very few train systems in the world that are usually on time

※This article was published atDecember 2014.※

Trains form a transportation network that covers most of Japan. 

There are almost a countless number of trains including private railways and JR that run non-stop 365 days a year. 

Despite the complexity of the system, these train arrive at platform surprisingly according to schedule to carry passengers safely to the next station. 

The accuracy of the system is actually quite rare when compared with many other train systems in the world.

Because we are able to look at the train schedule, go to the station so as to be in time for the train we would like to ride, and then head to our destination, this means that we can calculate backwards to know what time we need to ride the train to reach our destination on schedule almost without fail. 

Train times are surprisingly accurate. 

For example, the average delay for the Tokaido Shinkansen (bullet train) is 0.5 minutes per train. 

For this reason, Japanese people have the tendency to become frustrated and impatient if a train is running five or ten minutes late. 

In Japan where people do not have the habit of leisurely waiting for the train, people have become used to trains always running on time.

Japanese manners may be one of the factors behind the accuracy of train times. 
Lining up in an orderly fashion to get on the train is common practice, and the habit of holding back the impulse to go first when it is crowded and patiently waiting for the last person alighting to get off is a really admirable.
Because everyone follows proper manners in situations like these, it is possible for trains to depart on schedule without any excessive congestion when people are boarding and alighting trains. 
This suggests that people having good manners is an essential element of the state of the train system in Japan.

One of the surprising things about riding the train outside of Japan is that it can be very noisy inside trains and in some cases there are many pickpocketing and luggage theft incidents. 
These types of incidents are very rare on trains in Japan. 
Of course, when incidents occur on a train, this means that the train has to be stopped and can no longer run according to the schedule. 
While Japanese train technologies serve as the base for the accuracy of train times in Japan, I believe that the almost uniformly proper manners of the citizens is an even more important contributing factor.