Beijing's electronic railway ticket dispensing system has almost resumed normal operations after malfunctioning for about three hours after 8am yesterday.

Ticket dispensing speeds dropped markedly, causing large crowds to be delayed, railway authorities said.

The authorities said the system had almost returned to normal by 11am, but the ticket dispensing speed remained slower than usual.

"The station staff responded quickly to appease stranded people, and keep the waiting order," said Yao Hongren, an official at Beijing's Western Railway Station.

The ticket lobby at the station resumed normal order at 11:10am as people with tickets started streaming out of the area.

The system's malfunction also affected the Southern Railway Station at 8am, causing delays there also, according to eye-witnesses.

The railway authority said yesterday it was investigating the cause of the ticket system failure.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2008)