Mumbai: Sybase (), a leading enterprise infrastructure and integration company, has announced that its database software has been instrumental in the successful launch by the Indian Railways of its Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS).

This came at the heels of its announcement one month ago on its leadership position in China Railway's database market. Two of the world's largest railways are powered by Sybase technologies.

A pilot project was undertaken by CRIS (Centre For Railways Information System), the IT unit of Indian Railways, using Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) and Replication Server to cover 23 stations in New Delhi under Northern Railways.

This was successfully implemented at five railway stations in August 2002, and extended to the other 18 stations in October 2002. The new system helps to increase operational efficiency and enhance customer service by allowing passengers to purchase their tickets up to 30 days in advance from any counter.

The management of Indian Railways will benefit from a computerised database of its ticket sales. Advanced planning and rational analysis of passenger demands will be made feasible and will improve train services to cater for customers' needs. With the success of the pilot project, the UTS will be extended to other Indian Railways zones phase by phase.

''Indian Railways had experimented successfully for the first time with Sybase ASE and Replication Server on its National Train Enquiry System (NTES), and with that experience we selected the same platform for the UTS. Both these applications require high level of reliability and transaction handling,'' says A K Datta, additional member, IT, Railway Board, New Delhi.

''The Sybase software is designed to support the demanding requirements of transaction-intensive, mission-critical OLTP and decision support applications. Indian Railways will now be able to provide a more efficient and user-friendly service to its customers, saving time and manpower,'' says Mark Wang, senior vice-president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Sybase.

CRIS was started in 1982 by the Indian ministry of railways as Freight Operations Information Systems (FOIS), and got the present name in 1986. The centre looks after all computer activities on Indian Railways.

Sybase pioneers software that integrates platforms, databases and applications. Sybase solutions create information liquidity - transforming data into economic value. With Sybase, companies can attain maximum value from their data assets by getting the right information to the right people at the right time.