Q：In which countries are people known for being punctual?
Simon Hunt：
I stood on a station in Japan waiting for a 9:03am train. One pulled in at 9:00 exactly and I started to board.
The conductor, looking at my suitcase asked “don’t you want the 9:03 train to Narita airport? - it will be along in 3 minutes.”
True to his word, at 9:02 and 30 seconds the train pulled out, and at exactly 9:03 my train pulled in.
Nowhere is public transport as punctual as Japan. I heard last time there was a 30min delay, the minister for transport made a public apology on national TV.
Craig Lebamoff：
As they used to say when I worked for E&Y near Zurich: “never be 30 seconds late for a Swiss train.” I was once on a train from Austria to Switzerland and the station master in Sargens came on board apologized on behalf of Swiss because the train was six minutes late (in horrendous weather conditions, and with a truck full of goats blocking the track, something totally out of the railroad’s control). The Swiss take punctuality very seriously.
Prodipta Paul：
If they start making apologies for train delays in India then I am pretty sure they will have to create an entire new channel dedicated to “apologoies for train delay…24/7”.
punctual 守时的；精确的
原句：Nowhere is public transport as punctual as Japan.
horrendous 可怕的；惊人的
原句：The train was six minutes late (in horrendous weather conditions……）.
