Oh, Discovery.... 19 microseconds is 0.000019 seconds. The conductor was off by 190 miliseconds or 0.19 seconds. They missed by 10^4.

*promote

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Does anyone have a contrast and compare sort of documentary? Or do we not even bother because it would just make us look like a turd on a global scale?

> The conductor was off by 190 miliseconds

OK I could go for a train 19 microseconds late, but there is no way I am waiting around for 190,000 microseconds to pass

Math aside... I wish the maintenance staff at Boston's MBTA were this diligent (and timely) with their trains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_rail_crash

Arriving on time aint all it's cracked up to be.

I applaud them, but I was raised by lazy people to be lazy, so this would easily crush my spirit.

Can you imagine what that would be like? to have a transit system so reliable that you could set your watch by it at every stop, around the clock?

An interesting bit from that Wiki link:
"It is believed that a contributing factor in the accident was the JR West policy of schedule punctuality. As a result of this, Masataka Ide, JR West adviser who played a major role in enforcing the punctuality of the company's trains, announced that he would resign in June 2005 at the company's annual shareholder meeting, with the company's chairman and president resigning in August."

Executives taking responsibility for things? Woah. An unfamiliar concept in America...

So they added auto-braking-system before sharp curves, decreased speed limits, but didn't change their "re-training" program or penalties?

Next time I'm in Japan, if the train is more than 10 seconds late, I'm not getting on that one

If they get much more punctual than that (know exactly where they are at which time), they won't be able to know at which speed they go.

"Never ride a late train in Japan."

Thank you for the correction!

This video shows more of that track repairing train http://videosift.com/video/Track-Renewal-Train

If you want to experience what it is to drive Tokyo train, here's a simulator of it http://www.realrailway.com/en/

What gets me is the apparent investment in maintaining infrastructure. In the US we just kind of build it and leave it, and only in the last few decades does it feel like we're getting around to: "... Oh, yeah I guess we should check on that...?"

I totally agree. It's incredibly sad. If the New York City subway system had run with this sort of precision through the 60s and 70s, the city might have never gone through terrible economic recession of the 70s...because the attraction of such an incredible infrastructure system is compelling for everyone.

As for the genre of detective fiction, I believe that was originated by one Neville Shunt, and demonstrated by Monty Python:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhc1hWXH5IM