International Train Service Eurostar Adds Google Pay Support

High-speed rail service Eurostar is adding Google Pay support to its service in an effort to reduce the usage of paper tickets, according to reports.

With the Google Pay tickets feature, customers using Google Pay on an Android 5.1 or higher can save a ticket directly to their Google Pay account from inside the Eurostar app. Riders can use the mobile ticket to head directly to departure stations instead of having to print out a physical ticket.

The train connects the U.K. with Europe and can take people from London to Paris, Marseille, Brussels and as far as Amsterdam.

The Google integration is new to the service, but Eurostar has had Apple Wallet compatibility for a while now.

Eurostar wants to reduce its paper usage by 50 percent by the year 2020. Since last year, Eurostar has seen a one-third reduction in the printing of paper tickets, which now only account for about 10 percent of all Eurostar trips.

“We are working to provide an effortless travel experience for all our customers, and by enabling paperless tickets to be stored on Google Pay, we hope that more travelers will be encouraged to switch from printing paper,” said Perrine Allain, head of digital for Eurostar. “High-speed rail is already an environmentally friendly option for short-haul international travel, and encouraging more of our customers to use paperless tickets helps further reduce our impact on the environment.”

In other international Google Pay news, Google joined forces with gold bullion refiner MMTC-PAMP to let Google Pay users in India purchase and sell gold on the app, according to reports. The service is already offered in the region through companies like Paytm, MobiKwik and PhonePe. MMTC-PAMP is India’s only LBMA-accredited refinery. Through the partnership, users can buy 99.99 percent 24-karat gold.

“Gold is core to Indian culture and tradition, making India the world’s second largest consumer of gold. Indians buy gold to mark auspicious occasions each year, be it Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras or Diwali,” said Google Pay India Director of Product Management Ambarish Kenghe.