China has developed an all-in-one train ticketing system that can unite the widely different ticket selling platforms in more than 140 countries on a smartphone app, according to the top national rail science academy.
The system has been tailor-made for member countries of China’s Belt and Road Initiative – the world’s largest infrastructure investment campaign launched in 2013 – and will automatically access and coordinate their ticket selling platforms.
Laos, in the heart of Southeast Asia, is the first country to sign up to the platform, with travellers using their smartphones to book tickets from March 15.
Ticket without borders
The main servers, within the Chinese border, can handle requests from passengers around the world in different languages, according to a paper published by the Chinese-language journal Railway Transport and Economy in March.