MOSCOW, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Rail network uses IBM hardware and software to manage freight and
passenger operations

Russian Railways, one of the largest railway operators in the world, is
working with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to help optimize its IT infrastructure and is
using new technologies to improve its freight and passenger management
systems.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

Russian Railways manages an enormous network of passenger and freight
trains relying on a powerful and dynamic IT infrastructure. To gain better
control of this complex rail system, IBM is working with Russian Railways to
migrate its freight and passenger management, as well as financial
management, applications to three new consolidated, disaster-proof data
centers based on IBM mainframe technology. Prior to this latest project, the
company's human resource management system, which caters for the company's
1.3 million employees, was implemented on the new infrastructure.

The project, which is scheduled for completion in 2010, will enable
Russian Railways to achieve a system reliability and fault-tolerance level of
99.9 percent while substantially reducing operating costs and capital
required for future development.

"Rail networks in Russia have been using IT for more than fifty years,
but in recent years technology has left the industry behind. Now we have
access to the most powerful and intelligent hardware and software available
to consolidate our large-scale IT infrastructure. This is increasingly
important to us as we are integrating our operations and moving towards a
centralized company structure," said Valeriy Vishnyakov, Director of the Main
Data Center at Russian Railways.

IBM is partner to many other leading rail operators in various projects
around the world where it is helping to build smarter rail systems. By using
a combination of IBM hardware, software and services, leading rail networks
are able to improve the speed, safety, reliability and efficiency of both
passenger and freight trains.

"National railways are the backbone of the economy in many countries
which is why governments all over the world are investing heavily in IT
solutions to make railways more efficient and secure, and to improve the
speed and maintenance of rail networks," said Kirill Korniliev, Country
General Manager of IBM Russia. "IBM's technologies and rail expertise allow
Russian Railways to lay the foundation for smarter railway transportation
across Russia."

IBM specialists developed an IT strategy that involved consolidation of
the 17 Regional data centers and the main data center to only three data
processing facilities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ekaterinburg. Replication
between the facilities will enable data and process recovery in case of a
regional disaster or failure at one of the centers, in which case the
workload will be distributed between the other two operational centers.

Each data center complex consists of two or more IBM System z10 servers
running IBM DB2 and more than 15 high-end and midrange IBM Power6 servers.
Earlier this year, IBM also signed a contract with Russian Railways to
provide maintenance services for the data centers.

Russian Railways is also using IBM WebSphere software for core internal
and external web portals. The internal portal is used for information
management and document sharing amongst railway employees. The external
portal improves the passenger experience by allowing tickets to be booked
online without passengers having to visit a train station in advance.

About Russian Railways

Russian Railways is one of the biggest railway companies in the world,
operating 85,500 km of track and employing 1.3 million people. Russian
Railways carries nearly 1.3 billion passengers each year and accounts for
over 3.6% of Russia's GDP, handling almost 80% of all transportation in
Russia and shipping 1.3 billion tons of freight per annum.

For more information on IBM's work with leading rail networks around the
world, go to:
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/smartplanet/topics/smarterrailroads/20090511/index.shtml

To view IBM's Institute for Business Value Paper, "The Smarter Railroad,"
go to: www.ibm.com/travel/smarterrailroads

To view a video on IBM's smarter transportation initiatives, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fCjXMCMjgw

Contacts:

    Matt Berry
    IBM
    mhberry@us.ibm.com
    +1-914-766-1715

    Jonathan Batty
    IBM Russia
    Jonathan.Batty@ru.ibm.com
    +7-495-775-8800