The following extracts are taken from recently published Beijing...

The following extracts are taken from recently published Beijing newspaper articles.

Beijing Youth Daily
9 June
With the introduction of the AFC system, paper tickets have been withdrawn from use. On the 9 June
the Beijing metro system bid farewell to the familiar paper tickets that had been in use for 38 years.
“One card presentation, one card insertion” will complete the whole entry and exit process and enable
Beijing to realize a paperless ticketing system and enter into a new era of automated smartcard travel.
For passengers, one of the most significant aspects of the automatic fare collection (AFC) system is the
ability to purchase metro tickets using self-service equipment.
Before operation of the new system commenced all the metro staff, volunteers and supervisors helped to explain the new process to passengers and answered their questions.


Beijing Evening News
9 June
Early today, 300,000 Passenger Journeys were conducted using Electronic Metro Tickets within 3 hours.


The First
9 June 2008
Metro Enters the Era of Electronic Tickets
At around 11 PM yesterday, paper tickets, which had been in service for 38 years in the Beijing metro system, completed their historical role. When the first train commenced operations this morning, electronic cards introduced Beijing to an era of automated smartcard
travel.
In addition, televisions which have been installed on Beijing subway trains to live broadcast Olympic
events to the passengers during the Games, continue to play videos that explain how the new fare collection system works.


From the Beijing 2008 website
11 June
First day of AFC system goes off without a hitch
(BEIJING, June 10) -- According to numbers obtained from the subway management company of Beijing, on the first day that the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system was in place, from 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 1,920,000 swipes of subway cards were registered, which averages out to 80,000 customers per hour. No problems were reported, and the system ran smoothly, thanks to the
help of 3,500 workers and volunteers stationed at various stops throughout the system, reported Beijing Daily.
At 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Beijing's first ever single journey ticket was sold at the Xizhimen station to Mr.
Han from Inner Mongolia. After he was caught on camera making the purchase, his surprise turned to
joy. He returned to face the ticket window to purchase another single journey card. "One as a souvenir," he said as he pocketed his historic purchase. 12 minutes later, Liu Jing became the first Beijing native to buy a single journey pass. As she entered the station, her husband reminded her that it was the first day of the AFC system. She immediately ran to the counter to buy a single journey ticket to save as a souvenir.
It turned out that many people had the same idea. Lots of single journey cards were sold yesterday, but
more passengers kept them than used them for a trip. Official souvenir single journey cards will be
released to the public after they have been cancelled for use; these cards will be worth even more than the ones purchased on Tuesday.
According to a representative of the subway management company, 4,000 people will be on hand today
to help better acquaint commuters with the AFC system.