Seoul Metro operates one of the world’s largest urban railway networks, comprised of Subway Lines 1 to 8 and the second and third sections of Subway Line 9 (293 stations, 319.3 kilometers).
Every day, more than seven million citizens enjoy the high-quality urban railway service offered by Seoul Metro. Find out more about new face recognition technology in Seoul below.

Employees travelling on Seoul Metro’s Ui-Sinseol light rapid transit line in South Korea are testing a face recognition payment system that enables passengers to pay their fares without needing to tap a smartphone or card or remove their face mask.

The payment system has been introduced at access gates on 13 stations along the line and automatically deducts a user’s fare from a linked account as they go through the gate while looking at a screen.

The system uses a face recognition payment solution developed by T-Money and will be available to passengers who upload a selfie and link it to their chosen payment method via the mobility and payment service’s mobile app.

“During the pilot period, T-Money plans to speed up its commercialisation by tracking and improving the actual payment speed of facial recognition payments,” The Korea Herald reports.

“The company takes pride in the fact that the system accurately recognises users without them having to lower their masks.”

Osaka Metro to introduce facial recognition ticket gates face recognition technology

Osaka Metro Co. unveiled an automatic face recognition ticket gate designed to allow passengers to pass without carrying tickets or commuter passes at a station in this western Japan city on Dec. 9, 2019.

According to Osaka Metro, passengers’ faces are photographed with cameras equipped at stations when they pass through ticket gates and the images are transmitted to servers at the company’s headquarters. The passengers’ faces are then checked against their head shots preregistered with the subway operator. If the data matches, the ticket gates are opened for passengers to pass through.

The demonstration experiment is set to continue until Sept. 30, 2020. Up to two face authentication ticket gates will be tested at Dome-mae Chiyozaki Station as well as at Daikokucho, Dobutsuen-mae and Morinomiya stations, respectively.

By using machines produced by different manufacturers, the company will compare and verify their speeds and accuracy to improve the system. While passengers wearing masks may not be recognized by the current device, the system is expected to be convenient for those using wheelchairs and baby buggies.

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