Île-de-France: the sale of cardboard ticket books stops this Thursday across the entire network

One more step towards the disappearance of the famous cardboard ticket well known to public transport users in the Ile-de-France region is about to be taken. From this Thursday, September 21, it will no longer be possible to buy cardboard ticket books. “A new step in the modernization of transport tickets”, estimates the RATP, which has been working for several months – under the aegis of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) – on the dematerialization of transport tickets “to facilitate the life of Ile-de-France residents and preserving the environment.

“The cardboard ticket book says goodbye…”, warned the RATP in an email sent to public transport users in the Ile-de-France region. This book “has bowed out in favor of more advantageous alternatives”, continues the management, which recalls that “each year, nearly 5 million tickets were demagnetized due to their proximity to keys or coins” . One ticket in ten was thus lost, on average. Dematerialization will also prevent millions of tickets from continuing to be thrown on the ground, according to IDFM, which even mentions “an ecological gesture”.

Also read Île-de-France: the endless queues to buy a transport ticket soon to be over?

As a reminder, the end of the metro ticket is a long process that has been underway for several years. Launched on October 14, 2021, the end of ticket books began with the end of the sale of the latter in 102 RATP stations, and continued on October 13, 2022, with the end of the sale in 182 stations and stations of the RATP and SNCF network. Since this date, the sale of notebooks has been maintained in particular in tourist areas. From Thursday, it will finally be the end of the sale of ticket books in all machines and ticket offices on the RATP and SNCF network. That’s 265 stations in total.

Several alternatives were presented to the public, who will be able to continue to purchase t tickets individually, either on the bus (2.50 euros) or at any ticket machine (2.10 euros). But the idea is to move towards the development of contactless supports, which allow “to gain speed and health security”, “while facilitating the transition to validators”. “Grouped in the same place on a pass or a phone, it is the assurance of finding and using them,” rejoices IDFM. Among them, the Navigo Easy pass, for passing users (tourists, etc.), the Navigo Liberté pass, for regular users but not subscribers, and finally, the dedicated application - only available on Android - which allows you to pay directly with your smartphone.

Thanks to these new features, the sale of cardboard tickets has already significantly decreased, according to the organizing authority for public transport in the Ile-de-France region. “71% of ticket books are sold electronically (on mobile via the application, on a Navigo Easy pass, or by Navigo Liberté)”. “There are only 29% of titles remaining that are sold in magnetic booklets,” specifies IDFM, which affirms that sales of dematerialized titles “should increase further with this third wave.”