OREANDA-NEWS. The XIX International Conference "Information Technologies for Rail Transport" began in St. Petersburg on 8 October 2014.

The Company's delegation to the event was headed by Alexey Illarionov, Vice-President of Russian Railways for Information Technology and Management System Development.

The conference began with a plenary session "Business in the Digital Age: Computerisation in Improving the Competitiveness and Sustainability of the Holding's Business Infrastructure ".

In his address to the Conference, Illarionov stressed that the "Infotrans" international conference is a kind of "New Year" for everyone working in information technology in transport, when traditionally the results of the previous year are summed up and plans for the future developed.

Illarionov also said that Russian Railways was not only able to improve significantly the quality of IT-services, but also to reduce their costs significantly.

"Now more than 25% of tickets on passenger trains are purchased over the Internet," he said.

At the end of the plenary session, Illarionov visited an exhibition which is being attended by leading companies in the provision of information technology in transport.