JR East will introduce walk-through ticket gates that need no tap at 40 stations, including every station on the Yamanote Line, from spring 2028, replacing the act of presenting a ticket or card with a phone that is simply carried through.
The gates read Mobile Suica on a compatible smartphone, so passengers pass without holding the device to a reader. JR East announced the plan on Tuesday.
A trial begins next April at 14 stations, among them Shinagawa and Oimachi, with 400 people taking part. JR East aims to have the gates in every station that has ticket machines by the end of fiscal 2031.
What the gate stops doing
The walk-through gate removes the tap, the physical checkpoint where a fare is confirmed. JR East frames the change around smoother movement through stations, where gates are a standing bottleneck at peak hours.
The company has not said how the gates will handle passengers without a compatible phone, or how fare checks will work for them. Those details are expected to emerge from the 14-station trial.