Press Releases(Archive)
FY2012 - FY2003

Progress in Making Suica, ICOCA, and PiTaPa Cards Compatible

East Japan Railway Company
Tokyo Monorail Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit, Inc.
West Japan Railway Company
Surutto KANSAI Council

April 27, 2004

  • Steady progress is being made toward compatibility of the Suica (issued by JR East, Tokyo Monorail, and Tokyo Waterfront Railway (TWR)), ICOCA (JR West), and PiTaPa (Surutto KANSAI) IC cards. This compatibility will expand the area passengers can travel using any one of these IC cards, making travel in the Greater Tokyo, Sendai, and Kinki areas more convenient than ever.
  • The Suica and ICOCA cards will be compatible first, effective from Sunday, August 1 this year.
  • Illustration of compatibility -----  See Attachment 1. [PDF/108KB]

    On a technical level, compatibility uses the "stored fare" (SF) function of the IC cards issued by each issuer for travel in areas where any of these cards are valid.

  • Compatibility of Suica and ICOCA
    (1) Start of availability -----  Sunday, August 1, 2004.
    (2) Overview of service  ----- 
    See Attachment 2. [PDF/31KB]
    (3) Valid areas ----- 
    See Attachment 3. [PDF/221KB]
    • Suica
    -----   JR East: 532 stations (466 stations in Greater Tokyo and 66 in the Sendai area)
    Tokyo Monorail: 9 stations on the Haneda Line
    TWR: 7 stations on the Rinkai Line
    • ICOCA
    -----   JR West: 254 stations
  • Compatibility of PiTaPa with Suica and ICOCA

    Preparation is underway to introduce this in 2005. Details will be announced as they become available.

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