A is a document issued by a railway company to certify that a scheduled passenger train arrived at a station later than what is stipulated in the company's scheduled timetable. It is provided to passengers affected by the delay, who can then produce it to their superiors at school or work and is considered as a valid reason for reporting late.
This practice is most prevalent in private and public Japanese railway companies, and has been emulated by a number of rail transport operators in other countries.
In Japan Certificates are issued when delays as little as five minutes occur, and even for instances where the delay is caused by circumstances beyond the railway company's control, such as foul weather or rail suicide. These come in the form of handwritten certificates or printouts given out (generally in 10 × 15 cm strips) by conductors or station staff.
Major Japanese railway companies such as JR East, Tokyu Corporation and Tokyo Metro have introduced electronic versions of the delay certificates on their websites,東急電鉄、「遅延証明書」をネット発行－JR東と同時開始へ, シブヤ経済新聞, 19 January 2007ホームページで遅延証明書を発行します。, JR East Press Release, 5 December 2006 which would remain there for a week or less. Affected passengers who were unable to or did not collect the certificate could alternatively access and download it into their mobile phones or computers,JR東、携帯で遅延証明書の閲覧可能に——発生から3日間, Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, 20 June 2008 and print them out if necessary.
In other countries France Paris' RATP issues delay certificates under the name bulletin de retard, for any delays greater than 15 minutes. They can be used, for example, for late admission at university exams.
Germany Germany's Deutsche Bahn issues delay certificates known as , "certificate about train delay".We want to be loved by you..., Richard Johnson, The Sunday Times, 28 May 2006German rail: Comfortable, economical and punctual, Mohan Murti, Business Line, 30 June 2008
Malaysia
Malaysia's Rapid Rail, which operates the MRT, LRT and monorail in the Klang Valley issues such delay certificates or 'late slip' upon request at their counters if the service delay is due to the operator's fault.
Singapore
Operators of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system generally provide travel chits that testifies the commute of the bearer over the affected stretch of the rail network during an event of a delay or disruption. Such travel chits are officially recognised for late admission to all national examinations, such as the Primary School Leaving Examination. Paper chits are distributed by transport operator staff at transit stations during disruptions. Alternatively, electronic travel chits ("e-travel chit") can be obtained from a web service for part of the rail network operated by SMRT Trains, which utilises the geolocation of the user's mobile device to verify that they are affected by the disruption.
References
External links
JR East e-Delay Certificates Tokyo Metro e-Delay Certificates