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China offers joined-up rail ticketing to belt and road countries
- Laos is first to sign up to the universal platform, which uses Swiss francs, not the US dollar for international payments
- The system is based on China’s domestic app and can handle requests from around the world in different languages, the developers said
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Stephen Chenin Beijing
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.
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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.
The team was led by computer scientist Zhang Zhiqiang from the China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation, a government research agency overseeing the development of new train technology.
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Laos’ China-made railway brings connection at a cost
Laos’ China-made railway brings connection at a cost
Instead of the US dollar, the belt and road ticket machine will use Swiss francs as its standard currency for international exchange, the team said.
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