Paris Metro to bid goodbye to cardboard tickets after 120 years
Paris
Phasing out of cardboard tickets is marking an end of an era for Paris Metro travellers as the simple form of ticket may soon be a thing of the past after being in circulation for 120 years. Paris Metro is taking steps towards a contactless future. Though shift to more efficient technology might improve the service, the tickets, which have been part of Parisian life will evoke nostalgia.
Beyond their intended use as a transport token, the tickets with their trademark magnetic strip have inspired artists, filmmakers and singers, served as emergency notepads and, most of all, bookmarks.
"As the metro ticket disappears, so does a part of our lives," said Gregoire Thonnat, a collector and author of a book on the history of the metro ticket. "The metro ticket is part of how we picture Paris."
Ile-de-France Mobilites, which operates the metro's ticketing system, wanted the pack of 10 tickets, known as 'carnets' gone by the first quarter of the year, the effects of pandemic, Ukraine war and global microchips shortage put a spanner in the plans.
The number of cardboard tickets sold still totals 550 million per year. This requires more than 50 tonnes of paper.
"We were in a hurry, but the chip crisis slowed us down," Laurent Probst, director-general at Ile-de-France Mobilites told AFP.
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The operator has started cutting the number of metro stations that still sell carnets to nudge clients towards plastic cards, and many turnstiles can no longer read cardboard tickets.
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