According to Lu Dongfu, the general manager of the China Railway Corporation (CRC), paperless train tickets will be implemented around the country next year. After a trial run in Hainan Province since November 22nd, the paperless train tickets program will be expanded in all the high-speed railway stations in China.
Instead of printing paper tickets, passengers can scan valid identification credentials such as an ID card to board the trains. The valid ID cards include a second-generation ID card for Chinese mainland residents, foreign permanent residence permits, residence permits for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Mainland Travel Permits for Taiwan Residents, and Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents.
In addition, the bar code of the ticket order on a mobile phone can be used to check in if an ID credential is unrecognizable by the machine. The paperless train tickets service is already available in many cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Wuhan, which helped improve the travel efficiency to some degree.