Beginning of Reform in 2001 and Foundation of Russian Railways in 2003

The sharp drop in investment following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the Russian railway system with a wide range of deep-seated problems

The Russian Federation is the only shareholder of the Company and delegates shareholder control to the Government. The Ministry of Railways retains control of regulation and government policy on railway transport, while Russian Railways manages the Company’s economic operations.

On 9 March, 2004, President Putin signed a decree abolishing the Ministry of Communications. Its regulatory functions passed to the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, while its former executive power, as well as service and property management functions, were assumed by the Federal Agency on Railway Transport.

The railway system belonging to Open Society "Russian Railway" is divided between 17 branches:
The East-Siberian railway
The Gorki railway
The Far East railway
The transbaikalian railway
The Western-Siberian railway
The Kaliningrad railway
The Krasnoyarsk railway
The Kuibyshev railway
The Moscow railway
The October railway
The Privolzhsky railway
The Sakhalin railway
The Sverdlovsk railway
Northern railway
The North Caucasian railway
The Southeast railway
The South Ural railway

Each railway in the structure has branches of railways (except Krasnoyarsk, Sakhalin, Kaliningrad), the enterprises of road submission.

The specialised branch — Management of the high-speed message is engaged in a management, introduction and development of high-speed lines.