West Tokyo rail operator’s video shows clever design feature.

For locals and tourists alike in Tokyo, pretty much every day involves a train ride. But even with riding the rails being so ingrained into everyday life, Japanese train networks can still surprise us with cool little details we somehow never noticed until now.

Helping to draw our eyes to a few of them is rail operator Keio, which runs the Keio and Keio Inokashira Lines in Tokyo. In a recently shared video, Keio demonstrated an often overlooked feature of its ticket vending machines, which is that they also supply refunds.

Imagine you’ve gotten to a Keio station and just purchased a ticket from the machine, only to notice that you screwed up and bought the wrong one. No problem! All you have to do is tap the button at the bottom left of the screen, the one that says 買いまちがい　払い戻し, meaning “Mistaken purchase, refund.”

Then insert your ticket in the bottom left-hand-side of the machine, the same place where the ticket comes out when you buy it.

The machine will suck the ticket back in…

…and spit out your refund, in cash!

This quick, automated procedure saves you the trouble of having to track down a station attendant, which can be hard to do if the gate where you purchased your ticket is unmanned. Plus, even if you can find an attendant, they might be busy helping someone else, and the din of a crowded station at rush hour can often be hard to communicate over.

Other tidbits shown in the video include a peek into one of the staff rooms for employees who’re on late-night shifts and might need a place to sleep at the station, as well as the impressive bit of engineering that lets you to insert your ticket by any orientation (front or back side up, straight or sideways) into the ticket gate and still have the machine read it and return it to you in an easy-to-grab extension.

Just a few more things to love about Japanese trains, even when they’re not giving you views of beautiful rows of roses.

Source: YouTube/京王電鉄公式チャンネル via IT Media
Top image: Wikipedia/MaedaAkihiko
Insert images: YouTube/京王電鉄公式チャンネル
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