This is true, but I have watched with amusement as a Swiss station master paced, tutted and finally started swearing under his breath as a train from Milan got later and later. It amazed me at the time he cared so much - it seemed personal. But I guess that’s why Swiss rail is so great - that and the funding.

Yeah that's a very Swiss thing. People get upset when trains are more than 1-2 minutes late. It's so reliable even a delay of < 5 minutes is important to people. Not to mention, transfers sometimes are < 5 minutes long, so a train being 1-2 minutes late means you might miss a timed transfer.