Definition of "tardiness"

Some ten years ago, an evening excursion train from the Walsall area to Manchester, when travelling well over the heavily-graded Walsall-Rugeley line, was brought to a stand at a level crossing at Hednesford by the tardiness of a gatekeeper, who was pottering about in his garden instead of attending to his duties.

1947 January and February, “Notes and News: Drivers' Reprisals”, in Railway Magazine, page 53