Japan will implement a single card for railway transportation

According to reports, 142 operators of Japan’s national railway and public transportation systems announced on the 18th that they will provide compatible services for transport IC cards issued by these 142 operators from March 23 next year.

Included in the scope of compatible services are JR East's "Suica", JR Tokai's "TOICA", JR West Japan's "ICOCA", JR Kyushu's "SUGOCA" and Tokyo's private railway company's "PASMO", etc., passing through major Japanese cities. There are 10 types of railways and buses, and a total of 80 million IC cards. In the future, passengers can use only one of the above-mentioned transportation cards to pass through 4275 stations in Japan.

The compatibility of transportation cards has hitherto been limited to the JR system and its area. However, from March 23 next year, passengers will be able to use Tokyo's “PASMO” card to drive in Kansai’s private railway or public transportation system, which has greatly improved convenience compared to the previous. At that time, operators will put a uniform logo on the automatic ticket gates and shops to facilitate the use of passengers.