Japan train driver sues after one-minute delay costs 36p

A DRIVER of one of Japan’s famously punctual trains is suing his employer after he was docked 36p in wages for causing a one-minute delay to an empty service.

The employee is seeking £14,347 in damages for the mental anguish caused by his bosses, who ruled that he had not done any work during the stoppage.

The case centres around a mix-up in June last year, when the employee arrived at the wrong platform to drive an empty train to the depot.

He rushed to the other platform to take over from the previous driver, but his mistake led to a two-minute delay in transferring and a one-minute delay in bringing the train to the warehouse.

JR West, the train company, at first docked the unnamed man 85 yen (55p), for breaching the “no work, no pay principle”. But the driver took the case to the Okayama Labour Standards Inspection Office and the fine was reduced to 56 yen (36p).

The employee is contesting the reduction and seeking compensation at the Okayama District Court in March.

He argues that the train was empty so the short delay caused no issues for passengers, and had no knock-on effect on the network’s timetable.

The driver said a small mistake should not be classified as a breach of contract, and accused the company of “using wage cuts as ‘sanctions’ for human error”.

He has enjoyed the backing of commentators in Japan, with one arguing: “Everyone makes mistakes – wage cuts shouldn’t be made unless it’s a big deal. If this becomes normal, wage cuts due to mistakes will spread to other industries as well.”

Another person said: “This lack of leeway is a characteristic of Japan.”

But others argue that the hardearned reputation for reliability across the Japanese train network is at stake.

In 2017 a train company published an official apology after a service departed 20 seconds early

“We deeply apologise for the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers,” the Tokyo-area Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company’s Tsukuba Express said.

The company blamed the crew for failing to “sufficiently check the departure time and perform the departure operation”.

It is rare for trains in Japan, which runs one of the world’s most punctual railways, to depart at a different time to the one scheduled.

The company added that no customers had complained about the early departure.