How Japanese Shinkansen trains get cleaned in 7 minutes
Japanese efficiency is world renowned and there have been many examples of it from the world class quality cars to robots and what not but have you ever imagined how do they manage the famed Shinkansen bullet trains that are rarely delayed and always so neat and clean? Well the answer again lies in the famed Japanese efficiency. Tokyo Metropolitan Government has posted a video on its Youtube channel that details the 7 minute process that the operators have to clean up the entire train and make it ready for its next journey. The operators who are tasked to make sure every seat is clean do this in only 12 seconds per row which includes not only checking for lost baggage but also cleaning the train and using the “magic” hidden button to turn around the seats.
As per the Japanese Railway Bureau, the Shinkansen network is about 2,388 kms long and it prides itself in the fact that it hasn’t been involved in any fatalities since 1964. The average delay of these highly efficient trains is under a minute and has been so since the last 47 years which is a feat in itself considering how common delays are in other parts of the world. Not only are these trains super-fast but they also have built in advance features like earthquake detection and noise control. How has been your experience travelling on the Shinkansen?
Someone needs to send this to Amtrak. The Acela trains are sometimes ok but the NE Regional trains are dumps with disgusting bathrooms!
That’s the scene with most of the places, somehow the emphasis on cleanliness doesn’t seem to be a priority for the organizations running the train services. No wonder majority of them are loss making too.