Train Crashes FULL Speed into Building | Short Documentary

[@Showsni]

A tragic incident. You can see that the mindset of the company was "If we have harsh, humiliating punishments for mistakes, then it will prevent our workers from making mistakes." But what actually happened is "When mistakes occur (as they inevitably will), the harsh, humiliating punishments will cause the workers to do anything to hide the mistakes, even if this ends up making the situation much worse."

[@SaltyAndSassy]

At that point, the employees figure it’s a roll of the die….”Sure, I may cause a tragedy BUTTTT, I may also get away with a mistake and avoid punishment.” 🤔🤔🤔

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

No, that is not their mindset, not even close.

[@mauricedavis2160]

Freaking unbelievable this tragic event did happen in the 20th century, West Japan Company's draconian punishment policy sounds more like the 11th century!!!🙏😢🚅❣️

[@Darryl_Frost]

The exact opposite to the air travel industry.

[@SixArmedSweater]

@Sodham G'morris I’m sorry. You deserved better.

[@bad_money]

An excellent lesson in why you don't want to punish people in a way that incentives them to hide their mistakes

[@DeathMetalDerf]

This is very true, and sadly is seemingly forgotten about most of the time. Fostering an environment where owning-up to mistakes and addressing each one in a manner appropriately commensurate to the degree/severity of the mistake is a key element of workplace safety for sure.

[@johnhall7850]

Welcome to reality. I have something to sell you.

[@DeathMetalDerf]

@@johnhall7850 no thanks. I'm full.

[@MarianneKat]

Welcome to modern Healthcare, where an honest med error is now prosecuted as abuse of the elderly. I'm not talking about a harmful error, either.

[@foo219]

Whoever implemented that hazing punishment ought to be made to clean the weeds from the entire rail line. While the trains are still running. Wearing a banner proclaiming him an imbecile.

[@Carnage88]

It's sad when you hear an employee has the "I'm not going back to jail" mindset and would rather do something absolutely dangerous than deal with their superior's.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It’s a deadly scenario

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

As the line goes "the beatings will continue until morale improves".

[@grapeshot]

I remember reading that when these conductors have to go to retraining it's more about them getting screamed and hollered at instead of correcting whatever the problem was that sent them to retraining in the first place.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It’s pretty terrible

[@cf1925]

Surprising that there hasn't been any more derailments like this (To my knowledge, at least-).

[@RCAvhstape]

I know a few idiots where I work who could use a bit of screaming and hollering from time to time.

[@trainglen22]

It's pretty bad when the retraining is essentially being bullied.

[@Tank50us]

Yeah, if you don't actually correct the problem, you will see more incidents like this. The problems start with the entire Japanese rail system. In the US, EU, UK, etc... when a train is scheduled to be there usually comes with an *, due to the nature of... well... reality. Trains can, and will run late, it's just a fact of life that everyone accepts. But in Japan, when they say the train will be there at 11:53, they mean it. It will be there at 11:53, no sooner, no later. As mentioned in the video, the margin for error was just a couple dozen seconds. Mix this with extremely tight connections, and you can quickly see how this can become a problem (short note, that passenger that was mentioned? He was upset that he was going to miss his connection, and was irate about it). Prior to the accident, JR had contacted a European company to help them improve their service, and one of the recommendations was to ease off on the time tables a bit (as well as stop packing the trains like sardine cans, which was another contributing factor to the death toll). JR didn't listen... and then this disaster happened... I don't know if any of the recommendations were put in place after the disaster, but if they weren't... well... history will repeat.

[@MustachioFurioso9134]

JR West has owned this accident and made it a part of their company culture. You can actually see them mention it in detail under their "About Us"...not hidden from view like how some airlines cover up their own accidents...JR West made it a part of their business culture to never repeat it. It's a shame it happened at all and I'm glad they are candid to admit they were the reason for this and not "pilot/driver error" as what they want to blame.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It is good they have owned it

[@MustachioFurioso9134]

@@PlainlyDifficult I'm glad they did. I used to study 'human factors' and aviation safety, and something we used to see regularly was a fear of retribution for an error. This incident was one that we highlighted in our human factors studies, and it forced other companies to look at their own practices, such as All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines. I just wish the cost for safety wasn't always paid in human lives.

[@Hue_Sam]

However, to my knowledge, they still practice that horrific punishment even to this day.

[@Lodai974]

@@Hue_Sam Normally not! (in any case not the extreme version with corporal punishment and humiliation) And moreover the schedules have been "relaxed" to leave more room for action. Because the introduction of the ATS-P no longer allows exceed the speed limit.

[@uzaiyaro]

The website of the company involved is very eye-opening with how honest it is, along the lines of "We at the JR West company caused the derailment of this train." Look at the last link in the description. So glad this document is in there.

[@cf1925]

It's really strange to see a multi-billion dollar company actually take responsibility for once, it makes me think it's disingenuous (It probably is).

[@stevewhite3424]

@CF While words are great and all, what was paid out to the victims?

[@TacComControl]

@@cf1925 Japan is a collectivist society. When it's a fair cop, they admit to it, generally speaking. And CEOs tend to quit very publicly, with very public press conferences in the process of their quitting.

[@calebz1448]

@@cf1925 while I agree it is out of the norm we can change the norm starting with individuals taking responsibility so we can point at corporations fairly and ask them to do the same. These individuals were over punished without a doubt but so many employees in America are under punished it makes me sick just seeing it where I work

[@Niskirin]

@@calebz1448 Oh please, the only workers underpunished in america are the ceo nobility. They have zero accountability. Everybody else gets the boot the instant an error is made. Or an HR lady has a bad day.

[@Unknown_Ooh]

Mr. Difficult please never apologize for train geeking out I'm sure a lot of us would love to see future train videos

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@YukariAkiyama]

@@PlainlyDifficult yea man, there’s nothing wrong with geeking out, even if theres some of us (mostly me) who won’t get it. It is quite informative!

[@peggedyourdad9560]

@@YukariAkiyama it also helps add some extra context for what went wrong and why.

[@gregmeyer9595]

I have worked in Quality Assurance in food manufacturing for almost 20 years now, and with huge machines (mixers, ovens, cutters etc) injuries can be catastrophic. I have worked at 2 places that put numbers and money above safety (did not work at either place long), and ANY time you don’t put safety first, people get hurt, and sometimes worse. I’ve seen fingers cut off, chemical burns etc. and it’s not pretty. And I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that the a$$holes that put money first are NEVER the people who get hurt. Obviously when OSHA shows up, I don’t ever lie and put the blame where it belongs regardless of the fine or penalty. Sick and tired of hard working people getting hurt to pad the pockets of millionaires.

[@FriedrichHerschel]

Exactly. Most rules about safety were written with someones blood - it's better to honor that sacrifice.

[@krissteel4074]

The heavy vehicle and logistics companies had this problem for so long its ridiculous, course someone rolling 250k worth of truck, trailers and causing a massive road closure is more of an inconvenience, its really only dumb luck that more people didn't get killed. It was really only about 25 years ago here in Australia that things got tightened up so drivers were not put on impossible timelines to get stuff from one place or another over some fairly vast distances. We had to get people speed limited, mandatory breaks and a whole lot of drug testing, because prior to that the trucks on the road made 'Duel' (1971) look like a sideshow bumper car ride.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

I'd love to give this comment a million thumbs up

[@knpark2025]

Trains tend to be scheduled in minutes. In Japan it is said that passengers can plan the train schedule by seconds. Hence the reason why he was so anxious about a 30-60 second delay, not 30-60 minutes. Also I love the how 15:20 nailed the Japanese equivalent for "Balls".

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Japanese train companies had their schedule resolution in 5 seconds iirr.

[@somethingelsehere8089]

Wrote up the following response before checking the video at the timing you mentioned. You were referring to taihen! I lived in Japan for 5 years and my Japanese was only so-so. I thought at first you were referring to the caption Bakayaro - I'd thought that Baka alone would have been more suitable, but if "Bakayaro" was attributed to a speaker onscreen addressing the train operator, that would have worked.

[@Ciborium]

That's why in America we have what's known as "Amtrak on-time" which can be up to 2-3 hours later than scheduled.

[@anthonyjackson280]

@@Ciborium Or, judging by the experience of a friend recently, taking Amtrak from Buffalo to San Jose, a day or so....

[@Hue_Sam]

Train timetables are tight in Japan, they are timed to the second. In Japan, a 1 minute delay is enough to make passengers late to their jobs. I am not joking about this.

[@charmcitytoe]

As a "Virtual Train" enthusiast; I can clearly identify how that can happen. Although I am playing a game, the system does reward you for completing scenarios perfectly. As a result, on timetable runs, I can become overly focused on the next stop and will take some risks in order to make up time, particularly for a platform overrun. But for me it's only a game and no real lives will be lost. At best, I fail the scenario and have to play it again. Part of that pressure however, is that some of these scenarios can be over an hour long. After carving out 2 hours from an adult life, having to do that again is not easy. My point being, if a simple game can produce that kind of pressure; real life (and it's consequences 'losing face') must be incredibly tight on the crews that are out there doing it. And no human life should be the cost of bowing to that pressure. Great work Jon! 💯

[@mjuneoginn]

The Incident/Derailment that put the Spotlight on the Price/Cost of Japan's Punctuality Culture/On-time Policy in the Railway Service Industry...

[@GolfhausYT]

1:36 You really must go. I was able to go to Tokyo in 2018, and immediately appreciated the omnipresence of the rail system (especially for an automobile-bound Texas resident like me). Some of the lines even have pins for sale to commemorate you riding the line, which I thought was quite a bit of fun.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

One day hopefully I’ll be able to afford it

[@nvelsen1975]

Only if you're male though. Japanese public transport is subject to a groping and raping epidemic that would make it seem like they're trying to 1up India. And if you say anything, Japanese people will agressively shush you that you need to accept victimisation quietly rather than inconvenience them with any sound of objection. I remembered one sentence that came up while talking to a woman who fled Tokyo for that reason: "Oh after I moved there [different district] and rode the other line it was much better. It [groping] happened only about every week, sometimes not even that."

[@zeitgeistx5239]

lol an American experiencing a first world country for the first time. And I say this as an immigrant to the US.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

​@@nvelsen1975 Whilst I love Japanese railways in a way, riding a major line on a Japanese rush hour train can be a very violent and intensely 'social' experience, no matter who or what gender you are... you will be pushed, painfully, & sometimes in ways you may consider more than uncomfortable. however, I see a mixture of things here... on the one hand, the key word in this story is "escaped"... Japanese who for whatever reason dislike Japan (or an aspect of it), feel a great sense of cultural guilt for being "unpatriotic"... often, compensating by painting how "evil" Japan is... on the other, this is a valid problem few wish to deal with, (though most busy lines do have one or two all women cars available)... as a male, there are also many other aspects of Japanese life you have to "deal" with and not complain... but as long as you can go with the flow of it, it is a wonderful country with a lot of things to love. (lived most of my adult life in Japan, however, left, partially because some aspects of living there did start grating too much on me at a point... still love it though)

[@junrosamura645]

@@nvelsen1975 Dont know what train you ride on but I have only seen one incident in my 5 years here and that involved a drunk guy. Yes, it's a known problem but not one which occurs often enough to worry about it.

[@-xirx-]

The Japanese train system's efficiency & punctuality is a wonder to behold: if an underground tube train is over 3 minutes late you are given a note to present to your boss explaining that your train was over 3 minutes late! This is to explain the reason you are late and prevent yourself getting reprimanded for it! It's a different World out there from the London Underground's shenanigans!

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

Yep, when they were empty, I used to time the suburban type trains by our GPS chronometer for fun, usually the departure was within 10 seconds of timetabled time.

[@JoshuaTootell]

The idea of being reprimanded for being 3 minutes late is crazy.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

@@JoshuaTootell well, that's how Japan got the sort of economy it did... it is a very fast moving country, with crazy amounts of activity, requiring a crazy system of transit....

[@KawaiiStars]

​@@stanislavkostarnov2157 yeah but it's killing everyone now (karoshi), it needs revision

[@kajamatousek247]

@@stanislavkostarnov2157 Aren't they falling into a recession anyway ? And even if they weren't, an economy built on human suffering that as a result has one of the highest suicide rates worldwide isn't worth a few extra GDP bucks

[@Furitokama]

A little note : Osaka is second largest metropolitan area in Japan. It's the third most populated city but the second one, Yokohama, is part of Tokyo metropolitan area.

[@mortisCZ]

I know very little about Japan but the northern Honshu all seems like one metropolitan area dotted with some national parks where hills get too steep. 🙂 But thanks for the correction.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

@@mortisCZ only south of Narita until about Odawara, at the most maybe Fuji(city) or Shizuoka... the actual north of Honshu (Tohoku & Tokai) is very very empty... You have Sendai and it's metropolitan area, and the valleys have occasional single station small city-towns, but mostly it's just forested mountains. Kansai is actually today the bigger metropolitan area, around 60 millions verses Kanto's 40 million (though there is a question what you include in both of these)... though, because far less of it in Osaka is single and two story buildings (Tokyo (by area) is still mostly small wooden houses), the size of Kansai is slightly smaller or not bigger than Kanto (depends where you define the border of Suburban Osaka)

[@worawatli8952]

In my country, Thailand, there's speeding coach drivers, timetable is impossible due to road and traffic condition, so they always speeding and also dozing off while speeding. Take the train or rent a car if you can, you'll be late, 90% of the time, but it is not deadly as coaches.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

sounds scary

[@faenethlorhalien]

Mate, I was living, and live, like 20 km away of the place of the accident and you wouldn't imagine the pigfuck the rescue maneuvers were.

[@austinkylereid]

what does pigfuck mean

[@jordanpeterson5140]

...pigfuck is a new one. Adding that to the folder.

[@biazacha]

In such a tight curve and so many buildings around… yeah that sounds like a logistical nightmare.

[@deontaeavila3514]

Arousing

[@calexico66]

The company did do what actually is in fact bullying to get drivers not to make mistakes. Which actually will make them make more mistakes due to the excessive stress they will be. Cortisol does not increase one's mental capacity, it diminishes it. Japanese penchant for shaming people into compliance is mostly counter productive, it only serves the purpose of the bosses thinking that they are doing something about the problem.

[@SeverityOne]

We in the west tend to think of Japan as a near-perfect society, but look past the cutesy anime, the cleanliness and the politeness, and you see a society that is really not very kind to the individual, or to anything non-Japanese for that matter. It's still a great country to live in, according to those who have migrated there, but the Amagasaki derailment is pretty much a direct result of overbearing social pressure to comply and not stand out.

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

It's also common for people to work themselves to their grave.

[@dianecripps204]

When I worked in Japan, someone warned me, "People work themselves to death here, and you're next." I agree that organizations there aren't very kind to, or appreciative of, individual people." Through my work, I found out a lot about the lax safety culture in their nuclear industry, and decided I wanted to get out because I was sure a major "accident" was only a matter of time.

[@Hamsterjuices]

You'll see that this is something across all forms of transit. I like to watch a lot of plane documentaries and that includes accidents. You'll see a lot of time the workers are trying to meet a deadline. I imagine it's a lot worse in Japan, especially the rail line, but you get this all over.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Human nature normally overlooks danger to not have to deal with pressure

[@izzmus]

Martinique disaster.

[@moxiemaxie3543]

I take US public transit. Thanks for educating me on our necessities we take advantage of.Passengers always throw fits when there's a pause for "signal clearance "

[@MisterWrench]

Love the vids John. As a train driver myself I always take something away from these ones. Shit like this scares me. We ain’t put under this pressure thankfully but there’s still a lot of situations where if a driver were to lose situational awareness or break safety rules, a disaster could be waiting for them.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Things have a snowball where incidents cause more incidents, something as little as missing a braking point can end up with a much bigger issue

[@SouthernFlyer1011]

Honestly I sympathize with Takami I understand the fear of not being able to do a job properly and getting punished and it has led me to make mistakes as well like the lac-megantic disaster I feel that most of the blame should reside on the company

[@DeathMetalDerf]

I find myself wondering if it's weird that I enjoy these "disaster" videos as much as I do. It's not because of the toll they can take on human life, but I think it's important to analyze these things to an extreme level of detail, because there is always some kind of lesson to be learned from them, and hopefully at least one person learns what NOT to do in these situations.

[@Ealsante]

Every safety regulation is written in blood. So every time blood is shed, it's important to study what happened and consider what regulations to add or change.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

It's a worthy point to history. I doubt any of us are going to run amok in the halls of state, or create a purposeful international incident to incite a war... SO it's not likely we NEED all the history we're taught from Caesar attacking a Roman City and burning it to the ground because of a shooting star... only to find out he already HAD control of the city in question... to the war of 1812, or either of the World Wars and the Holocaust... BUT these videos bring us the history involved in industry, rail, and other transport and processing... ALL places we might well be employed at some point in our lives. It's helpful to be able to look back and recall where certain regulations and safety equipment CAME FROM when we're just trying to earn a living wage in the world. "Safety rules are written in blood." As they say... These videos show us some of the blood they're written in. ;o)

[@creid7537]

I don’t believe that these videos can take a toll on human life.

[@alistairreid965]

Any time anyone suggests a cut corner when we are discussing a health and safety issue at work, I direct them to this channel. Learn from the mistakes of others and pass it on.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

@@alistairreid965 good idea

[@MultiMightyQuinn]

Too broke to afford to support outside the like and comment, but I really enjoy your work. Thanks for all the hard work. You are the highlight of my Saturday morning.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

No worries thanks for the comment

[@MarioGoatse]

Wow. I’m actually surprised there weren’t more deaths, considering how packed Japanese trains are.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

I believe whilst density caused a lot of death, it also saved some lives... basically the tightly packed mass of the crowed served as a cushion & preventing people from being flung into things when the rapid deceleration happened. many many people got what were effectively crush injuries, but unlike being impaled, as say in the Paddington Derailment, these were still survivable.

[@unlapras9365]

That situation sadly reminds me of the KLM 747's at Tenerife. Companies should just stop putting their staff under pressure, it's absolutely counter productive for safety.

[@monkofdarktimes]

We gaan

[@mightyV444]

A yes! I remember this tragic event being featured in an episode of 'Seconds From Disaster' (or a similar programme) quite a few years ago, and the humiliating practices of that rail company still infuriate me now! Also very sad that the driver hadn't realised already earlier in his career that this job wasn't the right one for him 😔

[@aslamnurfikri7640]

Japan has employment for life culture. Once you join a company you'll stay there until retirement. Changing jobs is frowned upon there

[@mightyV444]

@@aslamnurfikri7640 - Oh wow! 🤯 Thank you for the info!

[@theshermantanker7043]

​@@mightyV444 Glad to see I'm not the only one that absolutely loved Seconds from Disaster

[@23GreyFox]

@@mightyV444 You should look up Japans lost generation. From the late 90's onwards millions couldn't find a job because of stagnant economy. Which itself made them undesirable for any company years later, which itself made them not desirable for marriage, so they gave themself up. The rest has to work themself to death to keep the economy high, so they also don't have time to make children. Japan is in a death spiral.

[@chesspiece81]

BTW John, I have been a subscriber since you had 2 Patreon members congratulations on the growth it's insane. 2023 looks like it's your year for a Mille. Keep up the good work!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you for your support!!

[@janemiettinen5176]

Ive been watching that counter too. Theres some channels I wish I could sub and like twice, they are just that good. This one is easily on my top10, my designated deserted island companion :)

[@flowertrue]

I would like to add that his growth is well-deserved as he puts out such interesting and well made content

[@bearstarpresents2264]

I’ve watched another documentary on this accident. The “retaining” was meant to humiliate employees to the point of suicide. He probably had PTSD.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Very true, I didn’t include it in the video but JR west driver suicide rates were like 3x the national average

[@RichardWatt]

​@DeadManWalking *cough* DLR *cough*

[@philwoodward5069]

What struck me about the "Seconds from Disaster" episode about this accident is, when investigators asked the conductor why he didn't notice the train was over-speeding and call the driver, he said he was busy dealing with commuters who were hammering on the door of the rear driver's cab demanding to know why the train was running between 60 and 90 seconds late. There must be a happy medium between a culture where fear of lateness causes drivers to over-speed round corners (which you absolutely don't want - the lateness is always to be preferred) and the culture we have in the UK, where nobody working on the railway appears to give a flying toss if trains run on time or not and avoidable delay is endemic.

[@jnelson4765]

Signaling is one of those underappreciated bits of tech that are still safety critical - the NYC subway system still has some of the original relay logics from the late 19th century still running. Thought about getting a job there, relay logic work is a lot of fun.

[@aubreyhart9810]

reading the title made me want to suggest looking into the Ohio derailment. It's a current disaster and bring some attention to the situation might get the word out about it and bring awareness to the dangerous effects it will have on the surrounding environment. Regardless, thanks for all the good vids!

[@JAF30]

Wasn't there another derailment this past week in another state, I think I saw a few reddit post on it. Will have to look for them.

[@toymachine2328]

He did post a Shorts video on that earlier in the week. I'd expect a full video when more details are known.

[@SaltyAndSassy]

Nothing to see here….keep moving. 🤬 (Yes, that was a totally sarcastic comment. I’m just disgusted with how the entire country…with exception of a few politicians and independent media…is just ignoring East Palestine!)

[@jmrcs2935]

​@@JAF30 it was in Michigan over by Detroit

[@davep5698]

@@JAF30 apparently there is 1700 of them a year and they just go unreported but now since there have been chemical spills and environment damage there is a lot.more eyes on it and media doing what it does amplifies the doom. So now they are reporting on a lot more of the derailments.

[@paddlefaster]

Placing crazy expectations on the drivers always ends badly. I remember coming down the Andes in Peru on a major bus line. The driver was absolutely driving like a maniac down these steep blind corners. Six hours later we arrived at our destination and I asked him why he drove like that. He said that he had less than 15 minutes of Room to play with if he ran late.

[@joefox9875]

Sounds like it was really close to being a KZbin video!

[@dianewilliams7856]

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@railgap]

You posted this almost simultaneously with me learning of "Defect Detectors" (and similar, including amazing new whole-car inspection stations which operate automatically with trains passing through at speed... amazing. And I'm not even a railfan!

[@betonarchese]

I was the head Funeral director and embalmer on this accident. It was my first day of work in Japan. I worked over 100 hours that week to get everyone taken care of.

[@Kitaliae]

I never thought I would be so into rail signaling and train stuff until I found this channel. Please always geek out for us - the rail videos have wound up being my absolute favorites to watch and learn from.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

a few small additions: 1. (by some sources) the turn was actually made tighter to allow for the construction of the apartment block... the building being partially owned by the station. 2. The particular branch (JR-West Minami-Osaka) was especially known within the company for harsh discipline and an abusive work culture. 3. some claims say there was also an issue with the train model they were using... 207-S52, was a heavier train than the line was used to operate previously, thus, having less of a margin for error given the distance between the entering brake zone marker signals and the station was built for a higher braking-force to weight ratio older model 117 series... this was never fully confirmed, but, many stations, did require very precise manual braking action to prevent an overrun, much more so than was average on the system. 4. Lessons were very much learned from this by JR, especially JRWest, with no serious accidents in recent times. however, the practice of punitive education is still widespread for functions, and in industries not considered safety critical.

[@ffwast]

That escalated awfully quickly for an industry where they issue official apologies for being 30 seconds behind schedule.

[@Deltarious]

Any safety critical system which punishes mistakes inerrantly *encourages* people to cut corners and risk safety or otherwise attempt to hide or downplay their mistakes if they make one. Mistakes and overages that are *properly reported* really need to be 'no fault' issues where the driver will never be penalised as there needs to be a strong incentive to report things and a good safety culture. If the driver is independently assessed to need a little help or is repeatedly not meeting the standards then sure action needs to be taken, but certainly humiliating them is completely wrong.

[@eaglescout1984]

European/NA philosophy: "Let's get to the bottom of why you made this mistake and find a solution to prevent it." Japanese philosophy: "Let's shame you and force you to do menial tasks to prevent you from wanting to do it again."

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Two different ways to do it

[@floriangallus7760]

I've worked in similar environments in Europe before. Not the absolutely insane punishments detailed here, but publicly shaming people for minor mistakes and inaccuracies while not actually discussing any mistakes or their causes themselves. Especially not if made by higher ups. Needless to say, there was more than one occasion, where disaster was just closely avoided. Time pressure/workload was often a factor.

[@sparkybolt2085]

As someone who lived in Nagoya for a few months, I can say that the Japanese rail/transit system is just phenomenal. Transit is far less mentally draining than driving, which makes going anywhere far easier. It was one of my biggest culture shocks coming from Suburbia, America where cars are a necessity outside of a select few cities.

[@JamesSmith-op7yc]

I remember a full length documentary concerning this tragedy. Too many things things involved to lay blame on any one "thing". We all together have to "live and learn". Thanks for sharing.

[@sterlingnilssen5812]

Your passion for trains made this video so much better

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@sterlingnilssen5812]

@@PlainlyDifficult no my friend, thank YOU for all your wonderful videos

[@davidb8539]

You're the only person I know who can make trains interesting, I usually come for the radiation but I do enjoy the train bits

[@mstrider80]

There were also reports of physical abuse of employees as punishment and this is known to occur at a variety of old-fashioned Japanese companies.

[@CoryRwtfyt]

I'd suggest the ohio derailment and the proceeding government meddling that made it far worse. But that can wait about 10 to 20 years when the full effects of the chemical spill and burning are known. Edit: I live within the area they know will be somewhat affected. I've had a cough and a burning throat.

[@truthylucy7068]

No excuse for the handling of this chemical nightmare. I'm sorry for those effected & feeling the effects of this debacle! At this rate we won't be around in 10 to 20 years.

[@MarianneKat]

I've added 'Ohio River on fire' to my 2023 bingo card.

[@numbersbubble]

Acid rain with cancer causing forever chemicals, oof

[@thaliabirrueta8456]

If you can, it's best to evacuate. We've seen countless cases of future health problems whenever such a disaster takes place.

[@bradsanders407]

Being in building restoration, I can't help but to think of how big of a pain in the ass it has to be to do work on the buildings right up against the rail tracks

[@robertl6196]

At least PD won't run out of rail disasters to look into; here in the US we're making more every day. 😬

[@PlainlyDifficult]

The list never ends!

[@mysock351C]

I can say from working in such shitty work environments that yes, it will cause exponentiating mistakes. The best approach, and the one supported by psychology, is a “blameless” system for those who make mistakes, but were acting in good faith. This allows all parties involved to examine a situation objectively, and not surprisingly, the mistakes become not only less severe, but can also become almost non-existent in such systems. Pressure leads to poor judgement, and such corporate systems that do operate this way should be considered poor industrial hygiene.

[@MarkusxJxKeetz]

Seconds from Disaster introduced me to a lot of disaster stuff, and you continue to keep me interested in this stuff. I’m glad to be a supporter of your channel through Patreon :) Keep up the good work, boss!

[@lipstickzombie4981]

Talk about blast from the past, I miss that show. 😔

[@MarkusxJxKeetz]

@@lipstickzombie4981 it was a good show

[@moistbread86]

The Japanese work industry is extremely efficient, but super unforgiving. The reeducation program used by the JR is completely inhumane and would never pass in other first-world countries

[@colinmartin9797]

All this, and Seattle's light rail shut down entirely for two entire days because it rained... It rained in Seattle... I'm glad most of my commute is on our extremely punctual and reliable ferry service.

[@EeveeFromAlmia]

Dude, I want a train geek to talk about this sort of stuff. There is real passion and knoweldge on the topic that you just don't get with regular true crime creators. Please talk about trains as much as you want.

[@ROMAQHICKS]

I commented about this event on Fascinating Horror and will say it here again. Regarding the time table being so tight. I do project management for a living. You don't stack a timeline with such little wiggle room that end up causing a cascading failure of steps. You don't schedule trains with such specificity that a late train causes all other trains to be late, that is insanity and counter to the idea of efficiency. Trains are are all subject to staff and riders causing delays, you can't work that out of the system, you have to work IN to the system. Build the delays into your system, it is the only safe, efficient, realistic way to actually create a schedule that is workable.

[@tschonewille6284]

I think it's not about if you build margins into a schedule, but how much. and as horrifying as an accident like this is, let's not forget that many many more people die on the roads each day. Safety is much more relative than many people are willing to accept.

[@james.black981]

I welcome any further Rail signalling related geekiness. Love the stuff. No complaints from me 😁

[@ebnertra0004]

Yes! More signal geekery! They're an extremely interesting part of railway operations

[@Mark-yk1ny]

Always better late than dead 😕 thank you John 👍

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I agree

[@brieframe6746]

Honestly, one of the greatest joys in life is to listen to someone geek out about their interests. It is also, for better or worse, the best way to gain a new obsession. Pardon me while I disappear down a rabbit hole of learning about train signals...

[@Yadobler]

Thanks for covering this. The west likes to "fetishise" the japanese, but as an Asian, the culture here is depressing. It's very very VERY competitive and often times in Japan and Korea, innovation and "work smart" is looked down upon - only the traditional way is good. It's basically like the US-level of overworking, but with social pressure to maintain and not complain. For years, including my cohort, the tiny country of Singapore, produces half of the world's 45 pointers for International Baccalaureate exams. HALF. And it's from only 2-5 schools. Compared to the rest of the entire world. Singapore IB average is 42/45, while the world is at 28-35

[@sullivandeffinger4970]

First KZbinr to actually announce ads beforehand. Actually appreciate that

[@Ms.HarmonyJ]

My friend your context is amazing sensational job as always

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you so much 😀

[@Ms.HarmonyJ]

@@PlainlyDifficult your welcome I really enjoy it I know it's a tragic story but I love train videos

[@saragrant9749]

As soon as you said “launched into an apartment building” I thought- how the hell is that even possible!?!? What a horrible incident, and a tragic lesson in how not to incentivize work.

[@mimsydreams]

The pressure for "excellence" is often way too high in Japan. Sometimes we need to stop and remember that everyone is human and can't operate like a robot.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Here’s this weeks outro video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3nKgmunf7iojLs My Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult? Any suggestions for future videos let me know.

[@soral94]

Any chance you'll do a video on the train derailment and subsequent leakage from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio? It'll still be months if not years till the FRA releases the investigation report but it is one of the worst train disaster in U.S. history and has been highly under reported. Cheers, John! Edit: Spelling and Ohio clarification

[@rtqii]

@@soral94 I will second that motion.

[@nanonymous9139]

East Palestine, Ohio (or unsub) *joking

[@custardo]

Some suggestions: the Jyväskylä rail accident, the Enschede fireworks explosion, the Bois du Cazier mine disaster and the Summerland fire. So many disasters to choose from...

[@emilschw8924]

What about the attempted theft of uranium from Pelindaba near Pretoria?

[@samiyarossini]

... I really hope, some day, you get to guest on WTYP. The nerding out is A+ content.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I wouldn’t say no

[@brianhull2407]

4:45 I just love this card here.

[@Llamarama100]

I can't help but feel that the obscenely tight schedules in Japan are more of a hinderance than a help.

[@jooei2810]

You are a legend among KZbinrs.

[@aethyerfrostblade5770]

Heyo John, this is actually the first time I've ever been at an area covered by your videos. I've actually ridden on that same exact JRWest line of which this story takes place in 2019. I studied abroad and was living in Takarazuka at the time. That station was an end of a line station with one half dedicated to JRWest and the other to Hankyu Railway. Anytime I wanted to go exploring Osaka it was that same exact line I took to get there. Interesting to think that such and event occurred right by the Amagasaki station, and that the memorial was built that same exact year.

[@zJoriz]

As a fellow part-time train geek, I thought I'd fill you in on some more narrow-gauge stuff. As you know, most of Japan's lines can't be standard gauge even if they wanted to, because of the many tight curves (mountains!). There's a several hours long video on YT of a 'Romancecar' train leaving a city on nice wide banked high-speed curves and ending up in the mountains, where the wheel flanges are screaming for mercy even though it's a narrow-gauge line. Long bogies, I'm guessing. Anyway, the rural lines have three properties that would make them bad, in theory. First, like you said, narrow gauge should cause less stability. Secondly, the vast majority of lines consist of sections of rail that are 50m long or so. Thirdly, the gaps between these rail sections are not smoothly overlapped like where I live, but just flat ends bolted to each other. The thing is: you notice nothing of these drawbacks. The trains have incredibly well sorted suspension and dampening, and the trains don't drive as fast as they do over here either, so it's actually quite comfortable! ... As long as the driver doesn't fear for his sanity, I suppose.

[@phil4986]

Excellent video, Plainly. Every rail system should have an active speed control system on corners...especially sharp corners...there should be no way a human can overspeed any train through any corner....this accident has happened numerous times on many train systems worldwide and the cause is always the same, "I have to make up time." Then the train wrecks and everything turns to 'mess'. My condolences to the families of those killed in this completely preventable crash.

[@northeden8661]

"Do not fail to meet my impossible requirements or you will be punished !!!" It's reminiscent of how Darth Vader liked to run things.

[@SraTacoMal]

I will watch anytime this accident is recovered. I feel so badly for the conductor, to my core.

[@hueginvieny7959]

Another great Saturday morning thanks to plainly difficult waffles and a disaster video

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@DFDelta]

90 seconds delay on a train? Here in germany you can still consider it to be "on time" if the delay is less then 10 minutes, maybe 2 or 3 minutes for a tram.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Kinda the same here in the uk

[@erikziak1249]

Hi John. If you compare identical rail vehicles, one on standard and one narrow gauge, then everything else being equal (wheel profile, rail type used, geometrical position of the sleepers, etc.), the narrow gauge train is actually less prone to derail. And by derail I mean that the wheel flange "climbs" on top of the rail and thus the car derails. At the same time, the standard gauge train is less prone to tip over to the side. Explanation: Observe how the center of gravity affects the forces between the wheel and the rail. On narrow gauge systems, the risk of derailment is actually lower than on standard gauge systems. Narrow gauge systems can drive with less friction (and faster) around bends. But at a higher risk of being turned "on its side". There was a very interesting streetcar tip-over in Bratislava (meter gauge). When all passengers managed to climb out, the car actually rotated and put itself "on the wheels", as the center of gravity was so low, that an empty can was able to "stand up" by itself. It is documented in photographs. Happened on 28th September 1968. It was a ČKD Tatra T3, PCC type car. That the car was able to "lift itself on the wheels" was confirmed by multiple eye witnesses. There is even photographic evidence of the car number 301 laying on its side, taken from the window of a house nearby, before all passengers climbed out through the front and rear broken windows. Nobody was seriously injured, as the tram came to a complete stop just a couple of meter after it fell over to its left side. (I provided some materials for a book where this, among other accidents, is mentioned - ISBN 978-80-904456-1-1). I also heard about another "tip-over" of a car like that in Bratislava, but it was a service ride without passengers and it happened at a terminus. I was not there and it was not as heavily investigated (not all windows broke), but somehow, nobody could explain how some tufts of grass managed to get stuck on the pantograph, or to be more precise, on the curved end of the lateral horns.

[@benjaminweston2065]

Love the music, John! Great stuff, thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@bbybby91]

A fellow rail enthusiast… nice! I’ve watched probably every single train crash video you have at this point.

[@timhinchcliffe5372]

I always wonder why "rail geeks" when discussing rail gauges never mention the advantages of narrower gauges. One advantage being you can have much tighter turns, which comes in handy in hilly, mountainous places... like Japan.

[@ElNeroDiablo]

This video was a wonderful documentary about the incident and the various factors (both human and machine) that lead up to it. As an Aussie; I'd suggest doing a video covering the 1970's Granville Railway Disaster (aka: "Day of the Roses", which is also the title of the 2-part docudrama from the 1990's covering the event and what lead up to it), as it is a perfect example of what bad engineering design (the original traffic bridge over the tracks), poor maintenance (the lead bogies on the loco and the track leading in to the station), and high stress of a tight schedule (the train in question fed in to Sydney CBD, workers that lived in a highly important voting district) can cause when mixed together.

[@lilytea3]

0:34: 🚂 A train derailment in Amagasaki, Japan reveals the pressure and fear of failure in the railway industry. 4:44: 🚆 Overview of Japanese railway signaling and train protection systems. 9:34: ❗ A train derailment in Takarazuka, Japan, resulted in multiple cars crashing into buildings after the train overshot its station stops and was speeding on a curve. 11:58: 🚂 The video discusses the Amagasaki train disaster in Japan, exploring the potential reasons behind the driver's actions and the company's punitive policies. 16:14: 🚂 A train derailment in Japan was caused by a combination of speed, lack of awareness, and a flawed protection system. Recap by Tammy AI

[@aanchaallllllll]

Thanks a lot!

[@TransistorBased]

My first notable experience with Japanese trains was on the first day of my visit. There had been some sort of accident, and as a result the trains were running about a minute behind. The intercoms were apologizing profusely for the huge delay. The fact that some type of accident occurred and the delay was that minimal, yet they were apologizing so much for it was amazing. American trains seem to just show up when they show up. Their rail system really is incredible and as someone who's never had any interest in trains it really amazed me how efficient everything was.

[@Heideman606]

Interestingly, as part of the annual training related to this accident the Japanese railway industry is required to undertake, I've never received the "the driver was concerned about being unduly punished" explanation in the training... This is as a railway signalling equipment supplier, which itself isn't really related to the main causes of the accident. The accident was more related to the operator choosing whether to install the train protection systems rather than the function of the systems themselves. I've never been sure what lesson we're supposed to directly learn from the accident, except maybe that we should be selling more train protection systems?

[@PlainlyDifficult]

can never have too many train protection systems

[@johnoneill5661]

That sounds typically Japanese just like they won’t admit to the atrocities that they committed during WW2 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I've been at two underground crashes, as a first responder. I was at Moorgate.

[@bluepotato1354]

I've missed the train accident vids! I really enjoy the explanation of the safety systems or lack thereof, it's hard to find similar content on here

[@Name-ot3xw]

Let's be real, if you've already racked up 2 write-ups in a trip a 3rd for pulling the e-stop on the curve isn't going to make it much worse.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I agree, the passing a signal at danger is probably the worst!

[@Beliar_83]

While true, he probably was not thinking clearly at this moment. Fear tends to cause that.

[@arashi32900]

That "retraining" program was a disaster waiting to happen and, in my opinion, is directly responsible for the accident.

[@TerrinX]

If this video does well I'd also suggest the 2003 Daegu subway fire

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@amicanadian2946]

I was living in Ōsaka when this accident occurred and was at work when I heard about it; my colleagues and I were concerned that someone we knew may have been on board. In the years following I took the same train line dozens of times and clearly saw the apartment building that the train had hit. The train slowed quite noticeably for that curve.

[@amicanadian2946]

Minor pronunciation quibble, Takarazuka is pronounced “Taka-Razu-Ka”.

[@TrineDaely]

I can never fully process all the info on signaling, et al., but it's actually rather adorkable when you geek out on it. If you haven't you should do a video dedicated to it.

[@tin2001]

I agree. Dedicated train signalling and safety systems video would be awesome.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

One day!

[@TrineDaely]

@@PlainlyDifficult Should include emergency and evacuation procedures, too!

[@ゴミエイム先輩]

運転士さん当時オーバーランの距離を少なく報告するよう車掌に頼み込んでてみたい… 少なく報告してと頼むほど運転士さんは切羽詰まってたんだよね…

[@SpankyK]

Great Work John, love this sort of thing. Understanding problems is the best way of creating solutions.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@madsli]

Other countries when you make a mistake: A few harsh words from your boss. Japan: Writing "I will not XXXXX" lines on a blackboard, weed removal, public shaming, seppuku.

[@Hue_Sam]

They still do this brutal course in JR West

[@kamikazemelon787]

another very well done video John- an absolutely tragic event.. thanks for your work

[@simongleaden2864]

11:20 Having previously criticised some of this narrator's pronunciations, I unreservedly praise his pronunciation of "kilometres" here, with a slight emphasis on the first syllable, like millimetres and centimetres, rather than the common, but erroneous, emphasis on the second syllable as if a kilometre is a device that measures the number of kills. I'm thinking of a speedometer or an odometer as measuring devices in which the second syllable is emphasised when saying their names.

[@Tyrian3k]

Once people fear the consequences of minor problems that inevitably arise from unforgiving and stressful work environments, they will eventually and inevitably create big problems in an attempt to cover up the minor ones.

[@nophone9311]

People are giving the company credit for owning up to the fact that they caused the derailment, but how about companies not treat their works like machines that cannot make mistakes? Or how about the punishment for mistakes not being so harsh that conductors would rather act recklessly and endanger lives than face said punishment. Companies like this deserve no praise even when the do what is "right" after their actions led to a accident, because if they were ethical in the first place, they wouldn't be in a situation where they would have to accept blame.

[@gibusspy5544]

Was waiting for you to cover this accident. Rarely find any videos about this.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@puregero]

This incident is very well known in japan, and it is said to have improved working conditions across the country (although I don't believe that it helped in any significance unfortunately), so it was great getting to watch your well-produced detailed video on it! I had no idea about all his mistakes leading up to the incident on the day of

[@em84c]

Its so ironic he was so scared of getting in trouble he lost his life and took so many people with him.