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Chinese Railway Claims World’s Largest Contactless RFID Ticket Purchase

Written by Evan Schuman
September 1st, 2006

The Guangshen Railway Company, which is part of the world’s largest public transport operator, has purchased 125 million RFID tickets in a deal it’s describing as one of the largest RFID purchases ever.

Guangshen’s parent operation, the Ministry of Railways of China, transports more than 3 billion people a year. The railway said in a statement that it hopes the contactless cards will help it reduce ticket fraud and “break the current price barriers for paper tickets.” The contract was awarded to Finland-based RFID vendor Confidex. The company said that Guangshen operates the strategically located railway between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, one of the most modern railways in China. When it starts delivering the tickets next month, Guangshed Railway will be the first in China to switch from the traditional barcode tickets to a contactless-only fare collection.

Posted in Payment Systems, RFID
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