Southwest Japan railway company introduces QR codes to partially replace paper tickets

FUKUOKA — Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) on Sept. 26 introduced QR codes for express and bullet train discount tickets reserved online to partially replace conventional paper tickets.

The service can be used by holding a digital ticket displayed on a smartphone or other device over a reader at a station, and is expected to reduce congestion by eliminating the need to pick up reserved tickets at counters or vending machines.

The service covers five types of discount tickets available only online for limited express trains that depart and arrive at Hakata Station in the city of Fukuoka, such as the Limited Express Sonic, excluding Kaio trains, and for bullet trains on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line’s Nagasaki route, also known as the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen Line. For the Kyushu Shinkansen Line’s Kagoshima route, the digital tickets are available through the membership reservation system.

At stations without automatic ticket gates or code readers, passengers can scan a QR code on posters to confirm their digital ticket purchase, and then go through the gate.

The service is available at a total of 197 stations in Fukuoka, Saga, Oita and Nagasaki prefectures in the northern Kyushu region. Digital tickets can also be used at stations other than limited express train stops if they are within the discount ticket area.

When digital tickets are reserved for multiple people, such as family members, the data can be sent to their smartphones or tablets via the Line messaging app or other means.

Digital tickets are valid only when the devices are connected to the internet, and screenshots or printouts cannot be used. JR Kyushu is planning to make the service available for limited express trains in southern Kyushu in fiscal 2025.

JR Kyushu President Yoji Furumiya said at a regular press conference on Sept. 20 that the company was introducing the system because it has become quicker to read QR codes, adding, “In the future, I think it will spread even further.”

(Japanese original by Tomohiro Shimohara, Kyushu Business News Department)