Tranpass

Tranpass (トランパス Toranpasu) is the name of a magnetic fare card that can be used with many trains and buses running in Nagoya and its suburbs, especially trains and buses operated by Nagoya City and Nagoya Railroad, commonly known as Meitetsu. The Nagoya Municipal Subway sells magnetic fare cards called Yurica cards, and Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) sells magnetic fare cards known as SF Panorama cards, but are usually Tranpass-compatible and in such cases are also Tranpass cards and therefore may be used on any transportation system that accepts Tranpass cards. Starting on February 11, 2011, another magnetic fare card system called Manaca will supplement and eventually replace Tranpass.[1]

Prevalence

Tranpass cards can be used in all Nagoya Municipal Subway lines, all Nagoya City buses, nearly all stations in Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu), some buses operated by Meitetsu, all of the Aonami Line, and all of the Linimo Line.[2][3] Within the Nagoya area, Tranpass can be used to pay for nearly any public transportation except for JR Central railway stations or Kintetsu stations, which use a different magnetic fare card system, namely TOICA, or Suica in the case of JR Central and PiTaPa in the case of Kintetsu. Unlike other magnetic fare card systems in Japan like TOICA, however, Tranpass can only be used to pay transportation fare, and cannot be used in place of cash at other retail shops like convenience stores or restaurants.

Means of use

The cards are sold at ticket machines near station gates, and generally contain more money for fare than the price of the card in Japanese yen. For example, a card costing 5,000 yen will pay for 5,600 yen's worth of fare. Prices range from under 1,000 yen for cards from Nagoya Subway to cards costing 5,000 yen.

The card cannot be used to enter a gate when the balance runs below the minimum price of a ticket, yet cash cannot be added to a card. To use up the remaining fare on those cards, tickets can be bought with cards and cash in combination, or a new card may be bought with the old card's balance rolled over onto the balance of the new card. For example, a card with 100 yen left may be used to pay for a new card costing 5,000 yen, resulting in a card with 5,700 yen's worth of fare. When buying cards from the subway system, the maximum balance on an old card to do this procedure is 310 yen[2] and for cards bought from Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu), it is a 690 yen balance when buying cards costing 2,000 yen or 3,000 yen, and a 1,500 yen balance when buying cards costing 5,000 yen.[4]

Phaseout

The magnetic fare card known as Manaca will replace Tranpass cards and Tranpass will be phased out. On February 11, 2011, sales of the Manaca magnetic fare card will begin, and sales of Tranpass cards, including Yurica and SF Panorama cards, will cease after the departure of the final train at the end of that day. Tranpass cards may be used after this day, until and including 29 February 2012.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "ICカード「マナカ（manaca）」のサービス開始日について" [Concerning the Starting Date of IC Card (manaca) Service] (in Japanese). Nagoya City Transportation Bureau. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 トランパス（カードによる共通利用システム） (in Japanese). Nagoya City Bureau of Transportation. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  3. ↑ ご利用範囲 [Area of Use] (in Japanese). Nagoya Railroad. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  4. ↑ ご購入について [Concerning Purchasing] (in Japanese). Nagoya Railroad. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  5. ↑ ユリカや磁気定期券などのマナカへの移行 (in Japanese). Nagoya Bureau of Transportation.
  6. ↑ トランパス対応「ＳＦパノラマカード」・「回数乗車券」の発売及び利用終了のお知らせ (in Japanese). 13 December 2010.

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