On April 4, JR East announced that it will introduce a “new Suica ticket gate system” employing a central server system within this fiscal year.
It will be introduced at 45 stations in the three northern Tohoku areas (Aomori, Morioka, and Akita) on May 27, and gradually introduced in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Sendai, and Niigata areas from summer onward.
The fare calculation, which was previously performed at the ticket gate, is now performed by a server, and from the user’s perspective, the method of passing through the ticket gate will remain the same. On the other hand, Suica IC cards have limited memory capacity, and the transition to the new system will be useful for further development of services beyond the current “IC commuter passes in the Tokyo metropolitan area,” “mutual use of the balance on nationwide railroads,” and “mutual use nationwide as transportation-related electronic money.
Under the new system, for example, it will be possible to seamlessly travel across the Tokyo metropolitan area, Niigata area, and Tohoku area, which are currently not served by Suica, and in the future, new services such as discount fares by issuing coupons at retailers’ Suica checkout will be introduced. In the future, new services such as discount fares by issuing coupons at retailers’ Suica checkout will be introduced.
© Source travel watch