The next train...

On Tuesday, Satoshi recalled a holiday in Europe before the time he could communicate well in English. Hoping to ride an express train in Belgium, he enquired at the ticket office why the train hadn't left at the scheduled departure time.
The attendant replied but he couldn't understand the meaning, so he, unfortunately, had to wait 3 hours on the platform for the next train.
It reminded me of my UK trip this summer. Waiting on the platform at Cambridge station, from time to time, I heard announcements that trains had been cancelled, but was surprised to hear that they also gave the reasons. More than once, I heard 'lack of staff'.
On one occasion, repeated calls were made for the driver to report to the control office. Where was he or she?
Another time, a change of platform was announced. One minute later there was a rumble of wheeled suitcases as a tsunami of frantic passengers hurried past!
Have you had any interesting train experiences abroad or in Japan?