The differences in timing jitter between a gain-switched single-mode semiconductor laser and a gain-switched multimode semiconductor laser are examined using rate equations that include Langevin noise. The timing jitter in a gain-switched multimode semiconductor laser is found to be effectively suppressed by a decrease in the coherence time of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) based on a broad bandwidth of multimode oscillation. Instead, fluctuations in the ASE cause amplitude jitter in the pulse components of the respective modes. A pulse train of gain-switched pulses from a multimode semiconductor laser with timing jitter is equivalently simulated by assuming a high spontaneous emission factor and a short coherence time of the ASE in the single-mode semiconductor laser rate equations. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics