[S.T.D.]

found the episode if anyone is interested... Seconds From Disaster - S06E07 - Runaway Train - YouTube

[Beerinkol]

Did the management get prosecuted? They sound like a bunch of cunts.

[Ifroham4]

From the Wiki page:

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.

There aren't any sources, but I'm not sure how you'd bullshit that.

[tgs]

I think it may be the case here as well. What is the real benefit or him gettig there a few minutes early?

The Wikipedia article explains that, that the tolerances for transfers in the Japanese rail system are extremely tight (for that particular train, it couldn't be any more than 28 seconds late.)
I know the Spanish high speed train (AVE) gives refunds if it is late, but there doesn't seem to be any suggestion that the driver was speeding to make up time, from the Facebook stuff it seemed quite the opposite, it was just something he did for kicks (it also wasn't an AVE.) But in this case it may have simply been an accident; the train is required to go at full speed for the preceding, straight, 80km before the sharp turn and it seems he just braked late, not that he was deliberately 'speeding'.

[NeroASERCH]

We dont know company culture to say if they do punish lateness or not. As far as i can tell from the facebook stuff, he was bragging about doing the limit on a certain part of track that allowed higher than average speeds.
I'm not defending him, but we need to look at motives, its not uncommon for a company to put someone in an impossible bind for the sack for company statistics.

[tgs]

I'm not defending him, but we need to look at motives, its not uncommon for a company to put someone in an impossible bind for the sack for company statistics.

There's absolutely no indication of that though. The train was only running five minutes late, which for the type of train involved (an Alvia) is considered 'on time.' 'Late' for that train starts at 20 minutes delay.

[NeroASERCH]

That's fine. But i'd rather know the company policies rather than indications. Is there a quota system? Is there a bonus system?
I'd just like to know the motivation before making an opinion.

[tgs]

If there's absolutely no indication of something being a causative factor, the default position is to not consider it a factor.
There is no indication that he was speeding on the straight section before the turn, just that he failed to brake in time.
Honestly, Japanese and Spanish corporate culture could not be more different, I don't think it makes sense to try extrapolating from a particular incident in Japan to this one. Particularly as the train wasn't late to start with.

[NeroASERCH]

Its not that im comparing. Im just not making a snap judgment. I would like to hear his motivation.

[tgs]

You specifically said you thought it might be the case here that he was speeding trying to make up for a delay, same as that case in Japan, with absolutely no indication that might be the case and plenty of indications it wasn't the case.
All the indications are that wasn't the cause: he wasn't speeding on the straight but braked too late, which wouldn't have made up any significant amount of time, and the train wasn't 'late' anyway.

[NeroASERCH]

Yeah i said i THOUGHT that it MIGHT be that. Why don't you lay off a bit? I don't know enough to say what happened, why are you trying to force me to commit to something?

[tgs]

I'm not trying to "force you to commit" to anything, I'm just saying it probably isn't what you speculated and explained why it probably isn't that. Nothing more. Not a personal attack, and I found it very interesting to read about the Japanese case, thank you for the link.