The Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Operation Company has replaced the old magnetic tickets with QR (quick response) code tickets, the company said on Thursday.
“As of today, the one-way and two-way subway tickets are digitized and the old magnetic tickets are not in use anymore,” the public relations officer of Tehran Metro, Ehsan Moqaddam, said.
“As all turnstiles at metro stations across the city are now equipped with readers for QR codes, passing through the entrance gates will be possible only with the new cards.”
The new system was piloted last November and had been in operation along with the old tickets until Thursday. The old tickets can no longer be used, and to access the metro, passengers will now have to touch the readers with the QR code on their printed tickets at the equipped turnstiles.
For both locals and foreign tourists, the Tehran Metro is the most popular means of transport in the sprawling capital now home to 12 million people.
It carries nearly four million passengers a day. Ticket price is fixed for each journey, regardless of the distance traveled, but using prepaid tickets (in the form of electronic cards) costs much less. On all Tehran metro trains the first, second and last carriages are reserved for women. Train services start at 5:30 am and run until 11 pm with one every 2-10 minutes.
Noting that the new system is error-free, Moqaddam said the technology will prevent potential felonies such as forging tickets.
“QR codes are faster and convenient for the user, and reduce turnstile maintenance costs. The old mechanical systems are not in use anymore,” he noted.
The new system will also help users purchase tickets online, making it more accessible for people who at times have to wait in line at busy stations to buy tickets.
Tickets will be sold at the same price as the previously used magnetic tickets.
At present, the subway system comprises five operational lines (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 – line 3 is not yet complete) with nearly 100 stations. Lines 6 and 7 are currently under construction.
In June, Seyyed Jafar Tashakkori Hashemi, deputy mayor of Tehran for transportation affairs, said Line 6 is 50% complete and the entire project would be completed in September 2017.
