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 Photographer: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg Photographer: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg 
 
 They put a high premium on punctuality in Japan. 
 
 A politician once had to drop out of an election after he delayed a bullet train by pushing staff to halt it for a campaign stop. This time, though, it’s a rail company that’s apologizing after the 9:44 a.m. train on Tokyo’s Tsukuba Express line left earlier than scheduled on Tuesday -- 20 seconds too early. 
 
 In a statement in Japanese on its website, management “deeply” apologized for the “severe inconvenience” caused to customers who missed the too-early train and couldn’t afford to wait for the next one -- scheduled for four minutes later. The conductor on board didn’t correctly check the train’s timetable, resulting in the early departure, the statement said. Train officers have been told to fully follow basic instructions in future. 
 
 While issuing the mea culpa, the company noted that it actually hadn’t received any customer complaints. 
 
 The Tsukuba Express railway connects Akihabara and Tsukuba, two towns that are about 60 kilometers (37 miles) apart in a 45-minute ride -- give or take 20 seconds -- according to the company’s website. 
 
 — With assistance by Tomoko Yamazaki, Fukashi Maruta, and Chris Anstey 

 Tsukuba Express TX-1000 series trains sit parked outside the Metropolitan Intercity Railway Co. maintenance facility in Tsukubamirai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Photographer:Akio Kon/ Bloomberg 
 
 British commuters are only too acquainted with the daily frustration of late trains on the way to work. 
 
 But it’s all very different in Japan, where a rail company has apologised after one of its train departed some 20 seconds early. 
 
 Management on the Tsukuba Express line apologised after the train departed on a route that goes between Tokyo and the city of Tsukuba. 
 
 In an statement, they explained that the train had been scheduled to leave at 9.44.40 local time, but instead departed at 9.44.20. 
 
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 The statement confirmed that the “crew did not sufficiently check the departure time and performed the departure operation.” 
 
 Incredibly, the apology was still made despite the train company failing to receive a single complaint about the early departure. 
 
 The Tsukuba Express line transports passengers from Akihabara in eastern Tokyo to the city of Tsukuba in 45 minutes. 
 
 Trains in Japan are among the most reliable in the world, with the Tokkaido line alone ferrying some 150 million passengers every year.
– The Tsukuba Express was scheduled to depart Tokyo for Tsukuba at 9:44:40. Instead, it left at 9:44:20. If you're thinking, "the horror!" then you'll be glad to hear that management for the Japanese rail company has formally apologized for the train's 20-seconds-early departure. "The crew did not sufficiently check the departure time and performed the departure operation," it said in an official statement and "sincere" apology that led to bemusement on the internet. "I once had an Israeli bus driver laugh at me after he closed the door on my hips and drove off with my legs hanging out of the bus. I am so envious of Japan right now," one person tweeted. The BBC reports that it's "rare" for trains in Japan to be off-schedule, and another tweet highlights that fact, noting, "Have been on a train in Japan where I heard an apology for the train running one minute late." The statement notes that there were no official customer complaints lodged about the early departure from a station just north of Tokyo, but apologizes if any customers missed the train by 20 seconds and were forced to wait for the next one—four minutes later, reports Bloomberg. Yahoo News UK notes that Japan's trains are "among the most reliable in the world," offering a mournful comparison to Britain, where "commuters are only too acquainted with the daily frustration of late trains on the way to work." And the New York Daily News notes things aren't much better in that newspaper's fair city, where subway delays collectively add up to 34,900 hours on the average weekday. The Japanese company's apology "is exactly what Japan is about," sums up one Twitter user. (Meanwhile, in NYC's transit department, leaking corpses on the job.)