Location-based train ticketing technology testing starts in Kazan

A technology of fare payment started to be tested in suburban trains in the capital of Tatarstan. Russian Railways told Realnoe Vremya about this.

The experiment kicked off on a line between Kazan’s central railway station and the Gabdulla Tukay international airport.

“Participants in a focus group consisting of volunteers can take part in a pilot project to introduce a fare payment system, which is unique for railway transport,” Russian Railways noted.

The new mechanism is planned to be tested for a month.

It should be reminded that during Kazan Digital Week 2023 in late September, Russian Railways — Digital Passenger Solutions, Sodruzhestvo JSC, Digital Transport and Logistics Association and Datapax signed an agreement on launching a smart payment system in suburban trains, which will replace paper tickets with digital ones. The whole process is assumed to take place in a passenger’s smartphone according to location data.

“In fact, we will be able to offer a passenger to pay a fare without using a bank card, without expecting for their turn at the cashier: it is necessary just go through a turnstile, confirm the start of a trip and enter a train. The app and the new location-based fare payment algorithm for railway transport will do the rest for the passenger,” Vice Director General of Russian Railways Yevgeny Charkin explained.

This system is expected to allow transport companies to save a lot of money. The system is supposed to be launched in the Kazan public transport system in the future.