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Real time map of trains in Japan

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Re: Real time map of trains in Japan

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Baaahahahahahahahahhahahahaaaaaa Train was 8 minutes late this morning and 3 lines were stopped. Probably due to the Typhoon yesterday causing scheduling problems but even on normal days Japanese trains are not the paragons of time-keeping the west seem to make them out to be (Although they ARE miles better than anything I have seen in the UK for instance.) [EDIT] Note: Previous poster downgraded the conviction of hi…

Nothing is perfect, not even Japanese trains, but in my experience, the grandparent poster is closer to the truth than you are: Japanese trains are paragons of time-keeping ("paragon: a model or pattern of excellence or of a particular excellence"). Obviously right after a typhoon is a bad time to measure anything, but in normal operation, Japanese trains are extremely punctual, to a degree that's downright astonishi…

Slightly off topic, but when my brother was young he became obsessed with preventing train suicides and we actually came to the conclusion that placing an airbag on the front of the train would most likely (help to) resolve this issue.

Based on our calculations it should be feasible to prevent death in at least a few percent of cases.

Given that the biggest draw for train suicides is its near 100% success rate that would probably quickly reduce train suicides by a very significant factor.

Re: Real time map of trains in Japan

#32
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is perfect, not even Japanese trains, but in my experience, the grandparent poster is closer to the truth than you are: Japanese trains are paragons of time-keeping ("paragon: a model or pattern of excellence or of a particular excellence"). Obviously right after a typhoon is a bad time to measure anything, but in normal operation, Japanese trains are extremely punctual, to a degree that's downright astonishi…

Slightly off topic, but when my brother was young he became obsessed with preventing train suicides and we actually came to the conclusion that placing an airbag on the front of the train would most likely (help to) resolve this issue. Based on our calculations it should be feasible to prevent death in at least a few percent of cases. Given that the biggest draw for train suicides is its near 100% success rate that w…

You might end up with idiots jumping in front of trains because 'it's safe now'.

Re: Real time map of trains in Japan

#33
post #32
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slightly off topic, but when my brother was young he became obsessed with preventing train suicides and we actually came to the conclusion that placing an airbag on the front of the train would most likely (help to) resolve this issue. Based on our calculations it should be feasible to prevent death in at least a few percent of cases. Given that the biggest draw for train suicides is its near 100% success rate that w…

You might end up with idiots jumping in front of trains because 'it's safe now'.

True; we didn't think of that.

I still think it would be a good development on the whole though and hope somebody somewhere will build this...

Re: Real time map of trains in Japan

#34
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Baaahahahahahahahahhahahahaaaaaa Train was 8 minutes late this morning and 3 lines were stopped. Probably due to the Typhoon yesterday causing scheduling problems but even on normal days Japanese trains are not the paragons of time-keeping the west seem to make them out to be (Although they ARE miles better than anything I have seen in the UK for instance.) [EDIT] Note: Previous poster downgraded the conviction of hi…

What is considered late there? If a train arrives within 6 minutes of schedule and departs within 11 it's considered 'on time' in my part of Australia.

For frequent trains like like loop lines and subways in major cities, you can generally expect them to arrive when scheduled. These arrive every few minutes, so anything longer than a minute is perceived as a delay. These will be reported and apologized for.

For trains like JR that run longer distances and less frequently, delays of 15-20 minutes due to accidents or weather can happen. This seems to happen once every few months or so.

Re: Real time map of trains in Japan

#38
post #5

It's real-time in the sense that it's based on the published schedules of the train lines, but it's not "real" real-time because it is not based on the actual locations of the trains. It's not useful at all, but it's a cute visualization and because trains in Japan run very nearly on schedule during normal operating hours, it will be mostly accurate the vast majority of the time. edit : In the "About this site" link…

This is a fun visualization, but as you mentioned it's inaccurate precisely when you need it most (when there's a delay). Actually, some JR stations in Osaka already have an indicator that shows when incoming trains are stopped at the previous station or whether they are in between stations.

Re: Real time map of trains in Japan

#40
post #35

Actual GPS data from trains in Finland: http://www.vr.fi/fi/index/aikataulut/junatkartalla.html (finnish only) Close the dialog box that opens, it's a search for trains or stations on the map.

I did a somewhat similar mobile app for Maemo using the open data we have of Helsinki trams: http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/buscatcher-never_miss_another_tram...

Some relevant public transportation data sources for Helsinki: http://www.hri.fi/en/data/hsl-reittiopas-api/

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