EDB to supply operating services to a leading European railway company

EDB to supply operating services to a leading European railway company

(Oslo, 14 January 2004) Railion Nederland NV has entered into an agreement for EDB to take over responsibility for mainframe operations in respect of its freight handling system. The agreement will come into effect on 1 February and is for an initial period of one year with the option to extend for two to three years. This contract represents business volume of approximately NOK 5 million, and will be managed by EDB IT Operations in Sweden.

Railion Nederland NV (Railion) is the largest player in Holland for railway transport of passengers and freight. Railion is part of the German-owned Stinnes Group, which is in turn owned by Deutsche Bahn AG, a stock exchange listed German company.

Railion will now transfer its mainframe based IT operations from its current supplier in Holland to EDB in Stockholm. EDB will provide services in collaboration with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, which is responsible for the administration and development of Railion's applications for freight handling.

Accessibility, reliability and punctuality are key concepts for Railion, which distributes 25 million tonnes of freight annually. This represents 80% of all freight carried on the Dutch railway network. Railion has 1,200 employees in Holland, and operates more than 350 trains. The Railion group, which operates railway transport throughout Europe, has 28,000 employees in total and annual turnover of approximately € 4.8 billion.

"A central factor in Railion's choice of partner for IT services was knowledge of its own area of activities. EDB has extensive expertise in transport and logistics, combined with experience of taking on and relocating production-critical IT environments. These were important factors in Railion's decision to choose EDB as its IT operations supplier", explains John-Arne Haugerud, Executive Vice President - EDB IT Operations. "EDB welcomes this contract as an expression of confidence in our expertise, the solutions we offer and our Swedish operation", adds John-Arne Haugerud.

Any enquiries may be addressed to:

John-Arne Haugerud, Executive Vice President - EDB IT Operations, EDB Business Partner.

Tel. +47 901 15 337 (mobile).
Reidar Gjærum, Executive Vice President - Corporate Communications, EDB Business Partner.

Tel. + 47 908 55 101 (mobile).

EDB Business Partner is one of the leading suppliers of IT operations and software in the Nordic region. We provide industry-leading total solutions in the areas of banking and finance, telecommunications and IT operations. Our objective is to contribute to our customers' value creation by offering productivity-enhancing IT solutions combined with flexible and reliable operating solutions with unique economies of scale. EDB Business Partner has some 2,500 employees and reported turnover of NOK 4.3 billion in 2002. We are represented in Norway, Sweden, the USA, England, France, Spain and Switzerland. EDB Business Partner is listed on Oslo Børs with the ticker code EDBASA.