China T-Union (交通联合(Chinese)), also known as TU (交联(Chinese)), is a contactless transport card widely used in China. Cardholders can pay for public transport fares in any covered service in China, but card reloading is limited to the locale of initial issuance or through the card issuer’s mobile application, where available.
The Ministry of Transport approved the development of the card and pilot projects in 2012.[2] In 2015 the card was launched in Zhenjiang. In 2016, 110 cities supported the card and the following year this number was raised to 165.
By Dec 2023, 336 cities in China supported the card, and all urban rail transport systems in mainland China support T-Union cards except in Hohhot.
On 26 March 2024, the China T-Union system marked its first expansion beyond mainland China in Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Shuttle Bus service beginning to accept China T-Union cards at select ticket vending machines in its Hong Kong Port.[3]
The China T-Union organization itself does not directly issue cards; instead, local authorities handle card issuance. Hence, the design of the card varies by issuing region.
In 2018, the Hungarian government invited CTTIC to discuss potential implementation of the system in Hungarian public transport.[4]
Transport services covered
As of December 2023, the card can be used in 336 cities in China as following:[5]
All buses (Excluding customized buses), subway and Line S2
Other suburban railways than S2 line (Huaimi, Sub-Central, and Tongmi lines) only support Beijing Yikatong, as real-name register are required. Not all T-union cards of other cities are supported, because Beijing Municipality government controls their own whitelist system for opt-in.[6][7]
Tianjin
All buses of Tianjin Bus, Tianjin Binhai Public Transport, Tianjin Transportation Group, Eco-city Bus[8] and Jizhou Transport (except long-instance customize services) and metro lines
Hebei
All bus and metro lines in Shijiazhuang
All bus routes in Baoding, Cangzhou, Chengde, Handan, Hengshui, Langfang, Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Xingtai and Zhangjiakou, as well as in Xiong'an
Shanxi
All bus and metro lines in Taiyuan
All bus routes in Changzhi, Datong, Jincheng, Jinzhong, Linfen, Lüliang, Shuozhou, Xinzhou, Yangquan and Yuncheng
Inner Mongolia
All bus routes in Baotou, Bayannur, Chifeng, Hohhot, Hulunbuir, Ordos, and Alxa League
Buses in Kailu and Jarud Banner of Tongliao, Tuquan and Horqin Right Front Banner of Hinggan League, Liangcheng County of Ulanqab, Xilinhot and Erenhot
Hohhot Metro only supports single/stored tickets, or mobile Apps, they have negative interests in supporting IC cards. Wuhai buses no longer support T-union since 20 September 2024.[9]
Liaoning
All bus and metro lines in Shenyang and Dalian
All bus routes in Anshan, Benxi, Chaoyang, Dandong, Fushun, Fuxin, Huludao, Jinzhou, Liaoyang, Panjin, Tieling and Yingkou
Jilin
All bus and metro lines in Changchun
All bus routes in Baicheng, Baishan, Jilin, Liaoyuan (except Weijin bus), Siping, Songyuan, Tonghua and Yanbian Prefecture, as well as in Changbaishan area
Heilongjiang
All bus, metro and ferry lines in Harbin
All bus routes in Daqing, Hegang, Heihe, Jiamusi, Jixi, Mudanjiang, Qiqihar, Qitaihe, Suihua, Yichun and Daxing'anling region
All bus, metro, commuter, ferry and tram lines in Shanghai
Jiangsu
All bus, metro, taxi and ferry lines, as well as shared bicycles in Nanjing (cards must have no secret keys of MOHURD City Union)
All bus, metro and taxi lines in Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Xuzhou
All bus, tram and taxi lines in Huai'an
All bus and metro lines in Nantong
All bus and taxi lines in Lianyungang, Suqian, Taizhou, Yancheng, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang
Zhejiang
All bus and metro lines in Hangzhou, Jinhua, Taizhou, Wenzhou
All bus, metro and commuter lines in Ningbo and Shaoxing
All bus, metro and tram lines in Jiaxing
All bus routes in Huzhou, Lishui, Quzhou and Zhoushan
Anhui
All bus and metro lines in Hefei, Wuhu and Chuzhou
All bus routes in Anqing, Bengbu, Bozhou, Chizhou, Fuyang, Huaibei, Huainan, Huangshan, Lu'an, Ma'anshan, Suzhou, Tongling and Xuancheng
Fujian
All bus and metro lines in Fuzhou
All bus, metro and ferry lines in Xiamen
All bus and ferry lines in Putian
All bus lines in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Sanming, Nanping and Ningde, as well as in Pingtan area
Rural buses in Longyan (Longyan urban area no longer supports T-union since 2021[10])
Jiangxi
All bus and metro lines in Nanchang
All bus lines in Ganzhou, Ji'an, Jiujiang, Jingdezhen, Pingxiang, Xinyu, Yingtan, Yichun, Shangrao and Fuzhou
Shandong
All bus and subway lines in Ji'nan
All bus, metro and ferry lines in Qingdao (however, fabricate cards of Apple Pay don't support Qingdao Metro)
All bus lines in Yantai, Ji'ning, Weihai, Linyi, Dezhou, Binzhou, Heze, Zaozhuang, Zibo, Tai'an, Rizhao, Liaocheng, Weifang and Dongying
Henan
All bus and metro lines in Zhengzhou and Luoyang
All bus and Water Bus lines in Xuchang
All bus routes in Pingdingshan, Anyang, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, Shangqiu, Xinyang, Zhumadian, Puyang, Kaifeng, Nanyang, Luohe, Sanmenxia, Hebi, Zhoukou and Jiyuan
Hubei
All bus, metro and ferry lines in Wuhan
All bus and tram lines in Huangshi
All bus routes in Xianning, Qianjiang, Jingmen, Suizhou, Ezhou, Yichang, Xiangyang, Xiantao, Tianmen, Xiaogan, Huanggang and Shiyan
Some bus routes in Shennongjia
Hunan
All bus and metro lines in Changsha and Xiangtan
All bus routes in Zhuzhou, Hengyang, Shaoyang, Yueyang, Changde, Zhangjiajie, Yiyang, Chenzhou, Yongzhou, Huaihua, Loudi and Xiangxi Prefecture
Guangdong
All bus, tram, water buses and metro lines in Guangzhou All bus, tram and metro lines in Shenzhen and Foshan All bus and metro lines in Dongguan All bus routes in Zhaoqing, Qingyuan, Huizhou, Shaoguan, Zhuhai, Shantou, Jiangmen, Zhanjiang, Maoming, Meizhou, Shanwei, Heyuan, Yangjiang, Zhongshan, Chaozhou, Jieyang and Yunfu
All bus routes in Liuzhou, Qinzhou, Baise, Hezhou, Laibin, Guilin, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Guigang, Yulin, Congzuo, Wuzhou and Hechi
Hainan
All bus and tram lines in Sanya
All bus routes in Haikou and Danzhou
Bus routes in Wenchang no longer support T-union since 2023.
Chongqing
All metro lines, all bus routes except in Changshou District, Yangtze River Cableway and two escalators
Only buses in urban area, Jiangjin, Dianjiang County and Wansheng development zone, or buses with single fare regime support T-union cards of other cities
Sichuan
All bus and metro lines in Chengdu
All bus lines in Bazhong, Dazhou, Deyang, Guang'an, Guangyuan, Leshan, Luzhou,[11] Meishan, Mianyang, Nanchong, Neijiang,[12] Panzhihua, Suining,[13] Ya'an, Yibin, Zigong, Ziyang, and Ngawa, Ganzi, Liangshan Prefectures[14]
Guizhou
All bus and metro lines in Guiyang
All bus lines in Bijie, Liupanshui, Tongren, Zunyi, and Qiandongnan, Qiannan, Qianxinan Prefectures
Some bus routes in Anshun
Yunnan
All bus and metro lines in Kunming
All bus lines in Baoshan, Lijiang, Lincang, Pu'er, Qujing, Yuxi, Zhaotong, and Chuxiong, Diqing, Honghe, Nujiang, Wenshan, Xishuangbanna Prefectures
Some bus routes in Dali and Dehong Prefectures
Tibet
All bus lines in Lhasa, Shigatse, Chamdo, Nyingchi, Shannan, Nagqu and Ngari Prefecture
Shaanxi
All bus and metro lines in Xi'an and Xianyang
All bus routes in Baoji, Tongchuan, Weinan, Yan'an, Hanzhong, Yulin, Ankang and Shangluo, as well as in Yangling area