Han Ximin
PASSENGERS taking the Shenzhen-Guangzhou bullet trains will not need to buy tickets before boarding from Wednesday. They can instead pay by swiping an IC bankcard issued exclusively by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
The bankcards will be scanned at the entrance and exit gates at railway stations in Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen. Passengers will be able to obtain seat reservations on machines being installed in waiting lounges.
The introduction of the card is expected to significantly reduce operation costs, promote inter-city light rail development, Chen Yingchun, vice mayor of Shenzhen, said at a launch ceremony at Wuzhou Guest House on Friday.
The IC bankcard, jointly developed by the Guangzhou Railway Group and ICBC Shenzhen Branch, will be the same as a regular debit card and a credit card with a payment function for the trains. It will also be capable of paying public transport fares in all Pearl River Delta cities in the future.
The train fare will be automatically deducted from passengers’ bank accounts when they exit a train station. Credit card users will have a maximum 56-day interest-free period. Receipts can be obtained at the station exit halls.
Travelers can apply for the new cards at all city ICBC outlets. Applications must be accompanied by ID cards.
The bullet trains between Shenzhen and Guangzhou handle around 90,000 passengers a day with departure intervals of around 15 minutes. During holidays, a record 140,000 passengers a day departed at five-minute intervals. The fast trains carry an average of 30 million passengers a year between Shenzhen and Guangzhou.