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People freaked out because a Japanese train left 25 seconds early
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As BBC News reported, a Japanese rail company apologized for not leaving 25 seconds later for the second time in two months. - photo by Herb Scribner
A Japanese train has caused quite a stir on social media for leaving its station 25 seconds early.

As BBC News reported, a Japanese rail company apologized for not leaving 25 seconds later for the second time in two months. Customers noticed last November that a train left 20 seconds early, which also promoted an apology from the Tsukuba Express rail company.

Japan Today reported that the train conductor thought the train was supposed to leave at 7:11 a.m. instead of the actual time of 7:12.

But the West Japan Railways (also known as JR West) conductor decided to leave at 7:11:35 a.m., a whole 25 seconds early. The conductor couldnt see anyone waiting to hop on the train so he left the station ahead of time.

JR West apologized for the delay.

The great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable.

So why is this such a problem?

Japanese trains have a reputation for extreme punctuality, and it turned out that there were indeed still people hoping to get onboard, BBC News reported.

And, according to Japan Today, the next train left the station at 7:19, putting some workers six minutes behind schedule.

Being six minutes late is enough to get you in trouble with bosses and teachers in Japan, and those who missed a transfer because they couldnt take the 7:12 would be even later reaching their destination, Japan Today reported.

JR West said it will look to improve company standards.

We will be thoroughly evaluating our conduct and striving to keep such an incident from occurring again, the railroad company said.

As you might have guessed, social media had some fun with the news story. Some Twitter users were, ironically, playing up the trains lack of punctuality.