Seven companies—Keisei Electric Railway, Keikyu Corporation, Sendai Airport Transit, Tokyo Monorail, Tobu Railway, JR East, and Hokuso Railway—announced on October 13 that they will launch QR ticket services starting in Spring 2027.
The service will cover all lines and stations operated by the seven companies. QR codes will be printed on paper tickets issued by vending machines, and users will enter by holding these tickets over compatible automatic ticket gates. This system is not a smartphone-only method; it continues the use of physical paper tickets.
When exiting, tickets will be inserted into a collection slot provided at the ticket gate. At stations without QR ticket-compatible gates, passengers will use manned ticket counters. Since usage methods will vary depending on the installed equipment, each company plans to provide further details for their respective stations in the future.
QR tickets issued by vending machines will, in principle, be larger tickets measuring 57.5 x 85 mm (vertical x horizontal). Current magnetic tickets are smaller, at 30 x 57.5 mm; the ticket surface will be enlarged to make QR code reading easier.
While the seven companies are primarily promoting ticketless travel through IC cards like Suica and PASMO, and their mobile versions, they are also advancing the transition from magnetic tickets to QR tickets. They have not announced that magnetic tickets will be uniformly abolished at the start of service in Spring 2027. Changes to ticket types and usage methods accompanying this transition will be announced again by each company.
How to insert and collect. The bottom image shows a QR ticket (From the press release)
