Japanese Train Firm Very, Very Sorry for Leaving Early

A red-faced West Japan Railways (aka JR West) has issued an apology after one of its conductors accidentally left the Notogawa station on Friday morning—drumroll, please—25 seconds early, reports Sora News 24. The "truly inexcusable" tragedy that resulted in "great inconvenience" to customers went down like this: The conductor thought the train was scheduled to depart at 7:11am, instead of the actual 7:12am, and shut the doors at the earlier time. He quickly realized his error, and checked the platform for stragglers; seeing none, and rather than risking a potential delay by reopening the doors, he departed at 7:11:35am.

There actually were a few would-be passengers on the platform, one of whom complained, prompting the corporate apology. Though the next train departed Notogawa at 7:19am and arrived at the end of the line six minutes after the train in question, Sora News notes that "Being six minutes late is enough to get you in trouble in with bosses and teachers in Japan." (Things are really going downhill in Japan.)