China's Ministry of Railway will revamp its nationwide passenger train ticketing and reservation system using a suite of Sybase (SY) products.

Covering more than 3,000 major train stations, China's railway system runs an average of 2,000 trains per day, and serves 1 billion passengers per year, which have resulted in a complex ticketing and pricing infrastructure. With the continuing growth of the network, the Ministry of Railway was searching for ways to improve the quality and competitiveness of its services.

"Since 1996, the ticketing system of China's railway has been operating smoothly using Sybase's database management system," said Horace Chow, vice president of Sybase Asia Pacific and general manager of Sybase Greater China. "Furthering its Unwired Enterprise vision, Sybase continues to meet the needs of the Ministry of Railway for a comprehensive solution that delivers high ROI, outstanding performance and scalability in the future. The strength of this customer relationship demonstrates Sybase's ongoing commitment to serving the Chinese market and growing with its customers."

In addition to its products, Sybase will also provide tailor-made consulting and support services to the ministry. These include inspection services during peak traffic periods, field technical support to ticket offices, business system upgrades, and consulting services to increase application development efficiency and quality.

"The Ministry of Railway has enjoyed a successful relationship with Sybase for the past 11 years. Their robust database management solutions and customized technical support guarantee smooth operation of the rail network," said a spokesperson from the Ministry of Railway. "This latest cooperation further strengthens our strategic partnership as well as improves the reliability and quality of the ticketing system."