JR East begins hi-tech card trials for faster ticketing

AKABANE, Japan - A passenger at East Japan Railway Co.'s Akabane station on the Saikyo Line passes a card containing an IC chip over a sensor at a ticket barrier in trials of the new cards that began April 8. After three months of trials, the cards are expected to be made available for use at around 350 stations in Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures served by JR East by the end of the year.