Press Releases（Archive）
FY2012 - FY2003

1. Overview of Services to be Offered

(1)	Using either a Suica or PASMO card, passengers can board or get off transportation of operators that accept either card.
(2)	On Suica or PASMO IC farecards, users can add commuter passes for trains (including passes for routes spanning multiple operators) and buses. (As for buses, Transportation Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan Government is currently the only operator scheduled to support the service in March 2007.)
(3)	Users can charge (add fare to) their IC farecard whether it is a Suica or PASMO card. Similarly, card members can use a service to maintain a particular card balance automatically and take advantage of special incentives for bus riders.
(4)	The IC farecard can be used as electronic money at participating stores that accept Suica or PASMO cards. *  These services are collectively referred to as "Greater Tokyo IC farecard compatibility service" (hereafter, "the service"). For service details, see attachments 1 and 2. * See attachment 3 for new instructions on using Suica cards after the IC farecard compatibility service is introduced. * Please be aware that if you carry multiple IC farecards (Suica or PASMO), they will not work if you touch them to the reader on an automatic fare gate at the same time.

2. Service Starting Date

The service will start with the first departures on Sunday, March 18, 2007.

3. Scope of Initial Implementation of the Service

(1)

"IC farecard compatibility service" The service can be used for 106 transport companies in Greater Tokyo (102 counting operators of both bus and train lines only once). Initially, the service will be supported by 59 transport companies (55 counting bus and train operators once) but will steadily be expanded. See attachment 4 for a list of participating companies. We estimate that the number of IC farecards issued as a result will reach the level of 30 million.

(2)

"Electronic money compatibility service" Both Suica and PASMO cards will be accepted at more than 11,000 stores and restaurants accepting Suica cards and about 1,300 merchants accepting PASMO cards. (These are estimated totals for March 2007, when service begins.)

4. Promotional Campaigns at Launch

Train and bus operators in Greater Tokyo are collaborating in promotions to publicize the service.

(1)	Promotional campaign catchphrase "Greater Tokyo with one card." Adopting a uniform catchphrase in publicity for the service will ensure consistency in publications introducing the service and reflect the coordinated effort behind it.
(2)	Sales of commemorative cards To commemorate the launch of the service, the following special cards will be sold. •  Date of sale: Sunday, March 18, 2007 •  Sales volume: 100,000 commemorative Suica cards and 120,000 commemorative PASMO cards (estimate) •  Vendors: To be announced later online and through other means

5. Efforts in Preparation for the Service

In addition to adopting unified device specifications in preparation for the service, transport companies have been collaborating since October last year in 400,000 operating tests as well as fare collection tests involving 1.23 billion passes through ticket gates.
An organization comprising representatives of multiple transportation companies has been established to ensure compatibility. Masaki Ogata (executive director of JR East) will serve as general manager and Koichiro Shibata and Takeshi Saito (managing directors of Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. and Tokyu Bus Corporation, respectively) will serve as deputy general managers. This office is in charge of scheduling and risk analysis before the service is introduced. Led by this organization, we are now in the midst of exhaustive efforts involving comprehensive checks of the system as a whole to ensure efficient, trouble-free service.

Attachment 1

Details of "IC Farecard Compatibility Service"

Users of either Suica or PASMO cards can take advantage of the following services.

I. Main Components of Service

	1	Use on Trains •  Touching the reader on the fare gate with your IC farecard will automatically deduct the fare from the total stored fare.* •  If you board outside the zone covered by your commuter pass or exit at a destination outside the zone, the additional fare will be calculated and deducted automatically. *  In areas where Suica cards are currently accepted, PASMO cards will not be accepted in the Sendai and Niigata areas for the time being.   *  The term "stored fare" (SF) refers to the monetary value registered on the IC farecard. This amount can be applied toward fare payment, exchanged for passenger tickets, or used as electronic money for purchases.
	2	Use on Buses •  Touching the reader on the fare box with your IC farecard will automatically deduct the fare from the total stored fare. •  If the bus operator offers special bus fares or services as an incentive for using the IC farecard, the special fare will be applied automatically. For details on special bus services, see Attachment 2. *  Bus-related service may not be available using some previously issued Suica cards. Replace these older cards free of charge following the provided instructions.
	3	Issuance of Commuter Passes •  The following commuter passes are available from railway operators on the IC farecards issued by these operators. (1)  Commuter passes for use on particular railway lines Example:  Commuter passes for use on JR East lines are sold on Suica cards. These passes are not available on PASMO or Monorail Suica cards. Commuter passes for use on Tobu Railway are sold on PASMO cards. These passes are not available on Suica cards. (2)  Commuter passes for use in routes spanning multiple lines *  These types of commuter passes are sold for areas where conventional magnetic-stripe commuter passes are used. *  On the occasion of the launch of this service, the areas where these commuter passes are valid will be expanded to include the areas served by Tokyo Tama Intercity Monorail, Yurikamome, and Yokohama New Transit. Example:  Commuter passes valid on both JR East and Tobu Railway lines are available on either Suica or PASMO cards. However, these passes are not available on Monorail Suica cards. •  Bus operators will sell bus commuter passes on Suica or PASMO cards as needed. *  Transportation Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan Government is currently the only bus operator scheduled to offer bus commuter passes on IC farecards starting on the date of introduction in March 2007.
	4	Adding Fare ("Charging" Cards) •  The stored fare on IC farecards can be increased at compatible automatic ticket vending machines in train stations or by fare boxes on buses. A value of up to ¥20,000 may be added to an IC farecard.
	5	Personalized and General Cards •  IC farecards are available as personalized cards that bear your name or as general, non-identifying cards. Purchase of personalized IC farecards requires registration of the user's name, gender, birth date, and other information. •  General cards can be changed into personalized cards if you purchase a commuter pass or subsequently register personal information. •  If a personalized card is lost, a new card with the balance left on the date of cancellation will be issued. Note: Reissuing a lost personalized card incurs a fee.
	6	Sales of Children's Cards •  Special personalized cards are available for children. The children's fare is deducted automatically when the card is touched on the reader of a fare gate or bus fare box. •  If the child boards outside the zone covered by the pass or rides to a destination outside the covered zone, the additional children's fare will be calculated and deducted automatically at the gate.   * As a rule, multiple children's cards cannot be purchased.
	7	Automatic Recharging Service •  When the remaining SF balance drops below a predetermined level, a specified amount of fare will be added automatically when you touch the card to the reader on an automatic fare gate in stations accepting either Suica or PASMO cards. Note that this service is not available at all automatic fare gates. •  Payment for fare added using the automatic recharging service is drawn from a designated credit card account. •  Using this service requires registration in advance.
	8	Reissuance of personalized cards and IC commuter passes (balance coverage) •  If you lose a personalized card or IC commuter pass, go to the nearest station or bus service window and complete the procedure to register for reissuance (balance coverage), which will cancel the lost card. This procedure to register for reissuance can be done at service windows of operators accepting either Suica or PASMO. •  A day or so after reissuance registration is complete, your personalized card or IC commuter pass will be reissued. Details regarding these service windows are as follows. (1)  For Suica cards and Suica commuter passes, use JR East service windows. (2) For Monorail Suica cards and Monorail Suica commuter passes, use Tokyo Monorail service windows. (3) For Rinkai Suica cards and Rinkai Suica commuter passes, use Rinkai Line service windows. (4) For PASMO cards for which railway IC commuter passes were purchased, use service windows of the railway operators selling the respective IC commuter pass. (5) For PASMO cards without a railway IC commuter pass, use any service windows selling PASMO cards. Example:  If you lose a commuter pass for use on Tobu Railway, you can also complete the reissuance registration procedure at service windows for JR East tickets. The card will be reissued a day or so after you complete the registration process at Tobu Railway commuter pass sales and service windows. Tobu Railway commuter pass sales and service windows can also be used for reissuance of PASMO cards sold at Tobu Railway service windows that include commuter passes valid on both Tobu and JR lines.
	9	Exiting Stations if Train Service is Canceled •  If train service is canceled and you must exit, you can simply exit through the automatic fare gate at the station of arrival.

II. How Fares are Collected at Automatic Fare Gates

	•	The full amount of your fare from the station of arrival to the destination station is automatically deducted from the SF when you exit.
	•	No fare is deducted in advance on entry. However, your balance is checked to determine if you have enough fare to ride to the next stop.
	•	On routes spanning multiple railway operators, the amount determined by operators is automatically deducted from the SF when you exit each fare gate. If you use jointly provided direct service and travel on lines of multiple railway operators without passing through the automatic fare gate, you may be charged a fare different from the fare for the route you actually traveled, in some cases.
	•	If you use an IC commuter farecard out of the designated zone, a fare corresponding to the lesser of "A: Separate fare from the ends of the route of a commuter farecard" and "B: Fare for riding through an entire zone of service" will be deducted from the SF at the automatic fare gate of the destination station.
	•	Transfer discounts currently offered by multiple railway operators when using magnetic-stripe farecards are also available when using IC farecards.
	Note that in addition to the preceding rules, your fare as deducted from the SF may differ as collected for a magnetic-stripe farecard and an IC farecard. Details will be given in informational brochures and user's guides.

Attachment 2

Special Bus Service

A special bus service (hereafter "bus rider incentives") is available for passengers who use an IC farecard (Suica or PASMO) to ride buses. Through this service, "special bus tickets" that can be used as bus fare are awarded based on the total of your bus fares during a month (starting the first of every month and ending the last day). In addition, these "bus rider incentives" are accepted the same way by all participating operators.

Details of "bus rider incentives" are as follows.

(1)	"Bus points" determined by each bus operator are added to your IC farecard each time you use the card and a fare is deducted from the SF.
(2)	"Special bus tickets" are added to your IC farecard automatically each time you collect 1,000 bus points. (See the following table.)
(3)	Once awarded, "special bus tickets" are automatically used as your fare the next time you board a bus. However, "special bus tickets" cannot be used on all buses.
(4)	The process repeats after every 10,000 "bus points" you collect on the IC farecard.
(5)	"Special bus tickets" are valid for ten years.

Bus Points	Special Bus Tickets
	Ticket Awarded	Total Tickets
When 1,000 points are collected	100 yen	100 yen
When 2,000 points are collected	100 yen	200 yen
When 3,000 points are collected	100 yen	300 yen
When 4,000 points are collected	100 yen	400 yen
When 5,000 points are collected	450 yen	850 yen
When 6,000 points are collected	170 yen	1,020 yen
When 7,000 points are collected	170 yen	1,190 yen
When 8,000 points are collected	170 yen	1,360 yen
When 9,000 points are collected	170 yen	1,530 yen
When 10,000 points are collected	170 yen	1,700 yen

•

The following operators are participating in the "bus rider incentives" program. Enoshima Electric Railway Co., Ltd. Hakone Tozan Bus Co., Ltd. Haneda Keikyu Bus Heiwa Kotsu Co., Ltd. Hitachi Jidosha Kotsu Co., Ltd. Izu Hakone Railway Co., Ltd. Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu Co., Ltd. Kanto Bus Co., Ltd. Kawasaki Tsurumi Rinko Bus Co., Ltd. Keihin Kyuko Bus Co., Ltd. Keio Bus Corporation Keio-Bus Chuo Keio-Bus Higashi Keio-Bus Koganei Keisei Bus Co., Ltd. Keisei Town Bus Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd. Odakyu Bus Co., Ltd. Odakyu City Bus Rinko Green Bus Sagami Railway Co., Ltd. Seibu Bus Co., Ltd. Tobu Bus Central Co., Ltd. Tobu Bus West Tokyu Bus Corporation Transportation Bureau of Kawasaki City Transportation Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Transportation Bureau of Yokohama City Yokohama Keikyu Bus

Attachment 3

Changes in Suica Services from the Introduction of Greater Tokyo IC Farecard Compatibility Service
Applies to Suica, Monorail Suica, and Rinkai Suica Cards

Current Suica services will change as follows with the introduction of Greater Tokyo IC farecard compatibility service.

1.	Advance payment on entry will be eliminated.

Instead of deducting the minimum fare when you enter the gate, no fare will be collected initially and the full fare will be collected when you exit at the destination station. Generally, however, your card will be checked to determine if you have enough SF left to ride to the first stop.

2.	Personalized "My Suica" cards will be available for purchase.

Personalized "My Suica" cards bearing the user's name will be available to users who provide some personal information (including name, gender, birth date, and, optionally, telephone number). These cards can be reissued if they are lost. Suica iO cards will be replaced with general (non-identifying) Suica cards or personalized "My Suica" cards. Suica cards can be replaced with personalized "My Suica" cards if you provide personal information at a JR East card vending machine or other locations. *  You cannot replace a personalized "My Suica" card with a regular Suica card. *  Tokyo Monorail will sell "Monorail My Suica," and Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit will sell "Rinkai My Suica." Both operators will also introduce the following new services.

3.	Personalized "My Suica for Kids" will be available for purchase.

Personalized "My Suica for Kids" cards will be sold, for which the children's train or bus fare is automatically deducted from the SF. Purchase of personalized "My Suica for Kids" requires registration of personal information (including name, gender, birth date, and, optionally, telephone number). A valid ID must be shown. Additionally, although children's Suica commuter passes to date have not supported charging the SF and using it for purchases, a service will now be provided enabling them to be charged in advance (for example, before transferring to a zone outside the zone of the commuter pass). The children's fare will be deducted automatically.

4.	Commuter passes will be available for purchase on Suica and My Suica cards. Refunds of only the fare on Suica commuter passes will also be possible.

To date, the card and commuter pass portions of Suica commuter passes have been sold and refunded together. Under new Suica services, commuter passes will be available for purchase on Suica and My Suica cards, and the commuter pass portion of Suica commuter passes can be refunded when changing to a My Suica card. *  When requesting a refund for the commuter pass portion, you cannot change to a regular Suica card. Example, in the case of Suica cards

5.	Reissuance fee lowered from 1,000 yen to 500 yen.

Starting March 18, 2007, the reissuance fee for replacing a lost Suica commuter pass will be lowered from 1,000 yen to 500 yen. The reissuance fee for lost My Suica cards will also be 500 yen. (After reissuance, a deposit of 500 yen for the new card will still be required.)

6.	If you must exit a station when train service is canceled, your card will be processed differently.

Previously, if train service was canceled because of an accident or other problem, Suica users were inconvenienced by waiting in line at a staffed service window to have their card processed before exiting. Under new Suica services, users can simply touch their card against the automatic fare gate at the station of arrival to exit.

Attachment 4

Transport Companies Supporting Suica and PASMO Farecard Compatibility Service Initially

When IC farecard compatibility service is introduced, five of the following operators in the Suica group and 23 railway and 31 bus operators in the PASMO group will support the service. This corresponds to 74 business locations and about 4,500 vehicles. Support by bus operators will be limited to service on a few routes initially but will be steadily expanded.

Transport Companies Supporting Service Starting Sunday, March 18, 2007

Suica Group

(Train and Bus Operators: 5 Transport Companies)

East Japan Railway Company
JR Bus Kanto Co., Ltd.
Saitama New Urban Transit Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Monorail Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Co., Ltd.

PASMO Group

(Train Operators: 23 Transport Companies)

Enoshima Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
Hakone Tozan Railway Co., Ltd.
Hokuso-Railway Co., Ltd.
Izu Hakone Railway Co., Ltd.
Keihin Electric Express Railway Co., Ltd.
Keio Corporation
Keisei Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company
Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
Sagami Railway Co., Ltd.
Saitama Railway Corporation
Seibu Railway Co., Ltd.
Shin-Keisei Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
Tobu Railway Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Tama Intercity Monorail Co., Ltd.
Tokyu Corporation
Toyo Rapid Railway Co., Ltd.
Transportation Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Transportation Bureau of Yokohama City
Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company
Yokohama New Transit Co., Ltd.
Yurikamome Ltd.

(Bus Operators: 31 Transport Companies)

Enoshima Electric Railway Co., Ltd.*
Fuji Express
Hakone Tozan Bus Co., Ltd.
Haneda Keikyu Bus
Heiwa Kotsu Co., Ltd.
Hitachi Jidosha Kotsu Co., Ltd.
Izu Hakone Railway Co., Ltd.
Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu Co., Ltd.
Kanto Bus Co., Ltd.
Kawasaki Tsurumi Rinko Bus Co., Ltd.
Keihin Kyuko Bus Co., Ltd.
Keio Bus Corporation
Keio-Bus Chuo
Keio-Bus Higashi
Keio-Bus Koganei
Keisei Bus Co., Ltd.
Keisei Town Bus
Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Odakyu Bus Co., Ltd.
Odakyu City Bus
Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus
Rinko Green Bus
Sagami Railway Co., Ltd.*
Seibu Bus Co., Ltd.
Tobu Bus Central Co., Ltd.
Tobu Bus West
Tokyu Bus Corporation
Transportation Bureau of Kawasaki City
Transportation Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan Government*
Transportation Bureau of Yokohama City*
Yokohama Keikyu Bus

Transport Companies to Introduce the Service in and after 2007
PASMO Group

(Train Operators: 3 Transport Companies)

Chiba Urban Monorail Co., Ltd.
Kanto Railway Co., Ltd.
Maihama Resort Line

(Bus Operators: 44 Transport Companies)

Asahi Motor Corporation
Chiba Chuo Bus
Chiba City Bus
Chiba Flower Bus
Chiba Green Bus
Chiba Kaihin Kotsu
Chiba Nairiku Bus, Co. Ltd.
Chiba Rainbow Bus
Chibakotsu, Co. Ltd.
City Bus Tachikawa
Danchi Kotsu
Enoden Bus
Fujikyu City Bus
Fujikyu Heiwa Kanko
Fujikyu Shizuoka Bus
Fujikyu Shonan Bus
Fujikyu Yamanashi Bus
Fujikyuko
Fujisawa Kanako Bus
Funabashi Shin-Keisei Bus
Ibakyu Motor Corporation
Ichikawa Kotsu Jidosha
Kawagoe Motor Corporation
KB Bus
Keio-Bus Minami
Keisei Transit Bus
Kokusai Juo Kotsu
Matsudo Shin-Keisei Bus
Narashino Shin-Keisei Bus
Nishi Tokyo Bus
Sagami Kanako Bus
Seibu Jidosha
Seibu Kanko Bus
Shonan Kanako Bus
Shonan Keikyu Bus
Sotetsu Bus
Tachikawa Bus
Tama Bus
Tobu Bus East
Tokyo BayCity Koutsu
Tokyu Transsés
Tsukui Kanako Bus
Yamanashi Kotsu Co., Ltd.
Yokohama Kanako Bus

Suica and PASMO IC farecards can be used on buses displaying this sticker.

A total of 106 transport companies will support the service (102 counting operators of both bus and train lines only once).

* Train and bus operators adopting the IC farecard system (4 transport companies)