Keolis

Keolis was formed from several former companies:

• Société des transports automobiles, which was created in 1908, and its subsidiary Société générale des transports départementaux
• Lesexel, an electricity company created in 1911 to support the development of tramways
• Société de transports routiers de voyageurs (STRV), a subsidiary of SCETE and later SNCF, which was renamed Cariane in 1988 during its merger with STV

These companies underwent a series of reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, which resulted in two companies: VIA-GTA, focused primarily on urban transport, and Cariane, specialized in interurban public transport.

In 1999, SNCF became the leading shareholder in VIA-GTI, which merged with Cariane in 2001 to become Keolis. In 2005, through its stake in GoVia, Keolis became co-owner of the Southeastern rail franchise in the United Kingdom. In 2006, Keolis won the franchise for Hellweg Net in Germany. In 2007, Keolis acquired City-Trafic in Denmark. In 2008, Keolis took control of Eurobus Holding in Belgium. In 2009, Keolis set up operations in Melbourne, Washington, D.C., Bergen and Bordeaux. In 2010, EFFIA (car parks company) became a Keolis subsidiary.

In 2012, Keolis acquired 100% of Syntus in the Netherlands and Orléans Express in Canada. The company also set up operations in Hyderabad, India. In 2013, Keolis won part of the Las Vegas urban network. In 2014, Keolis won a 30-year public-private partnership contract to maintain and operate the Ion rapid transit in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

In the same year, Keolis won the operations and maintenance contract for Metrolink, the United Kingdom's largest tramway network, in Manchester,[3] and was also selected by Foothill Transit to operate and maintain the Municipal Transit Network for the Eastern San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County .[4]

The company also expands in Asia, starting operation of Hyderabad's automatic air metro network, and winning, as part of a joint venture with RATP Dev and the Qatar Hamad Group, the contract to operate and maintain Qatar's first public transport network, including the operation of the future automatic metro in Doha and the tramway network in the new city of Lusail.[5]

In 2018, Keolis started operating the Pujiang metro line (formerly known as 8.3), the first automatic metro line in the Shanghai network,[6] and a contract to operate the Wales & Borders rail network in Wales.[7]

Keolis holds a 51% shareholding in Keolis Downer, which has operated the Melbourne tram network since November 2009.[8][9] Keolis Downer has operated the G:link light rail line on the Gold Coast since July 2014.[10]

In March 2015, Keolis Downer purchased bus operator Australian Transit Enterprises, which operates the Hornibrook Bus Lines, LinkSA, Path Transit and SouthLink operations with 930 buses.[11] In July 2017, Keolis Downer trading as Newcastle Transport took over the Newcastle Buses & Ferries business under a 10-year contract.[12][13] Newcastle Transport also operates the Newcastle Light Rail since February 2019.

Keolis Canada operates as a subsidiary of Keolis America. The majority of its Canadian operations are located in Montreal, where it operates the Quebec intercity bus company Orléans Express and part of the Exo Mascouche sector.

From 2004 to 2012 it also operated Acadian Lines intercity buses in The Maritimes. The latter services have since been taken over by independent operator Maritime Bus.

Keolis is a partner in the GrandLinq consortium and operator of the Ion rapid transit system in Waterloo Region, Ontario.

In China, Keolis and Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the owner of Shanghai Metro, created a joint venture called Shanghai Keolis in March 2014.[14] Shanghai Keolis started operating the Pujiang line (formerly Phase 3 of Shanghai Metro Line 8 ) in March 2018.[15] It would also be operating Shanghai Pudong International Airport's people mover system in 2019, which will link the proposed satellite concourse building with the existing Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. as well as the Songjiang Tram within the Songjiang Region, a suburb west of Shanghai downtown, in 2020.

An agreement had been signed between Keolis and Hubei Government, and Keolis will be responsible for Greater Wuhan area's suburban railway operation.[16]

Keolis Danmark is the second biggest bus operator in Denmark with 500 buses and 1.500 employees, Keolis entered the Danish market in 1999 when they bought 49% of the Danish bus operator City-Trafik[17] in 2007 City-Trafik became a wholly owned subsidiary of Keolis,[18] in 2014 City-Trafik surprised the Danish bus industry when they announced their plans to merger with Nettbuss Danish subsidiary in a joint venture[19] where Keolis owned 75% and Nettbuss 25%, until the merger was accepted by the Danish authorities the former City-Trafik was named Keolis Bus Danmark and the former Nettbuss Danmark was named Keolis Danmark the Danish authorities accepted the merger in late 2014 and in 2015 both the companies were merged into Keolis Danmark. It was also in 2015 that Keolis won the contract on operating the first tram in Denmark in Aarhus set to open in 2017. In 2016 Keolis SA bought the last 25% of the shares from Nettbuss AS making Keolis Danmark 100% Keolis owned[20]

Keolis has extensive operations in France. It provides transit services in many cities including Bordeaux, Brest, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Orléans, and Rennes. In January 2016, the 260 vehicle Transports Daniel Myers business was purchased. Based in the Essonne/Val-de-Marne basin, its main operations are in Montlhéry, Etampes and Avrainville.[21]

Eurobahn Stadler Flirt Class 428 in Westönnen, 2009

Under the brand name Eurobahn, Keolis is operating multiple regional train services in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and in the Netherlands. They also operated, and will do so again in a few years, in Lower Saxony. Eurobahn uses Stadler FLIRT electric multiple units and Bombardier Talent diesel cars to serve these lines.

Maas-Rhein-Lippe-Netz December 2009 to December 2025:

• RE 3 – Rhein-Emscher-Express: Hamm–Dortmund–Herne–Gelsenkirchen–Oberhausen–Duisburg–Düsseldorf
• RE 13 – Maas-Wupper-Express: Hamm–Unna–Hagen–Wuppertal–Düsseldorf–Neuss–Mönchengladbach–Venlo

Hellweg-Netz December 2008 to December 2018:

• RB 50 – Der Lüner: Dortmund–Lünen–Münster
• RB 59 – Hellweg-Bahn: Dortmund–Unna–Soest
• RB 69/89 – Ems-Börde-Bahn: Münster–Hamm RB 69: –Gütersloh–Bielefeld RB 89: –Soest–Paderborn–Warburg (–Kassel)

OWL-Dieselnetz December 2013 to December 2025:

• RB 67 – Der Warendorfer: Bielefeld–Gütersloh–Warendorf–Münster
• RB 71 – Ravensberger Bahn: Bielefeld–Bünde–Rahden
• RB 73 – Der Lipperländer: Bielefeld–Lemgo-Lüttfeld
• RE 82 – Der Leineweber: Bielefeld–Detmold (–Altenbeken)

Teutoburger Wald-Netz December 2017 to December 2032:

• RB 61 – Wiehengebirgsbahn: Bielefeld–Osnabrück–Rheine–Bad Bentheim–Hengelo
• RB 65 – Ems-Bahn: Münster–Rheine
• RB 66 – Teuto-Bahn: Münster–Osnabrück
• RB 72 – Ostwestfalen-Bahn: Herford–Detmold–Altenbeken–Paderborn
• RE 78 – Porta-Express: Nienburg–Minden–Bielefeld (–Rheda-Wiedenbrück)

S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr December 2019 to December 2034:

• S 1 – Dortmund–Bochum–Essen–Duisburg–Düsseldorf–Solingen
• S 4 – Dortmund-Lütgendortmund–Dortmund-Stadthaus–Dortmund-Wickede–Unna

For these services, Eurobahn will be leasing DBAG Class 422 trains from Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr. The trains will be running in a neutral VRR design.

• RB 77 – Weser-Bahn: Bünde–Löhne–Hamelin–Hildesheim (December 2003 to December 2011)
• RB 79 – Lammetal-Bahn: Hildesheim–Bodenburg (December 2003 to December 2011)
• Long distance trains (not tendered): Cologne–Düsseldorf–Dortmund–Gütersloh–Bielefeld (December 2000 to January 2001)

In 2012 Keolis won the Operation and Maintenance contract of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project.[22] This marks Keolis's foray into the Indian Market. The "Hyderabad Metro rail project" is valued at 220 billion and is forecasted to be commissioned by 2017.

Keolis hyderabad along with L&T had started metro rail operations from 27 November 2017.

Stadler Flirt EMU at Almelo de Riet station

Keolis's subsidiary in Netherlands is Keolis Nederland, originally named Syntus.

In 1999, Keolis commenced operations in the Netherlands through a 33% shareholding in Syntus.[23] In 2007 this was increased to 50%.[24] In 2012, Keolis purchased Nederlandse Spoorwegen's 50% share, acquiring 100% control.[25][26] The Syntus brand was retired in October 2017 and replaced by the Keolis Nederland brand.[27][28][29]

Keolis's subsidiary in Norway is Keolis Norge. It was first formed in 2008 as Fjord1 Partner, a joint venture between Fjord1 Nordvestlandske (49%) and Keolis Nordic (51%). It has been fully owned by Keolis since 2014.

Southern Class 377 at Battersea Park in June 2010

In the United Kingdom, Keolis owns 35% of Govia that currently operates the Govia Thameslink Railway and Southeastern franchises and previously operated Thameslink and London Midland.[30][31][32] Keolis also had a 45% shareholding in First TransPennine Express from February 2004 until March 2016. Upon being re-tendered, FirstGroup took full control.[33]

In 2012, Keolis lodged a joint bid with SNCF for the aborted InterCity West Coast franchise[34] and in 2014, in partnership with Eurostar, lodged a bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise.[35][36]

Keolis is part of a consortium that commenced operating the Nottingham Express Transit tram operation in December 2011.[37] Keolis in partnership with Amey operates the Docklands Light Railway and Manchester Metrolink concessions.[38][39]

On 14 October 2018, KeolisAmey Wales commenced operating the Wales & Borders franchise,[40] under the Welsh Government owned Transport for Wales brand. On 7 February 2021, the franchise was nationalised by the Welsh Government, moving to a concession model with KeolisAmey retaining an involvement in delivering dome infrastructure projects.[41]

Keolis America is based in Boston, Massachusetts. It does business under the moniker Keolis North America because it operates public transportation contracts in both the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., Keolis subsidiaries operate commuter rail systems in Virginia and Massachusetts, as well as fixed-route and shuttle bus systems in several states. In Nevada, Keolis provides bus service for the Las Vegas strip through a contract with the Regional Transportation Commission.

On 16 October 2009, the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) Operations Board approved an $85 million contract with Keolis Rail Services America to operate and maintain VRE trains for five years.[42] Keolis began operating VRE on 12 July 2010 after a two-week delay, ending Amtrak's 18-year tenure as operator.[43] Both Amtrak and Keolis had staffed the VRE lines with about 80 employees.[42][43] However, during the bidding, a group of Holocaust survivors and Maryland politician Heather Mizeur called for investigations into SNCF's role in transportation of Nazi prisoners to concentration camps during World War II before the Keolis contracts could move forward.[44] The operator of the train line, Amtrak, also challenged the propriety of hiring a foreign company.[43]

Keolis has also bid to run some California commuter rail segments and two MARC lines in Maryland, even though with the latter, the company is running into similar issues with the VRE bidding. Another group of Holocaust survivors, led by now-deceased Leo Bretholz also requested investigations of SNCF's involvement in the war.[45] As a result, a law was passed to enforce this, leading to major criticism because SNCF had already documented their role in the deportation and had in fact released their archives for research and educational purposes in 1996.[46] Eventually however, Keolis would lose to Canadian company Bombardier Transportation.[47]

On 29 November 2011, Keolis Transit America, Keolis' US subsidiary, announced the acquisition of Tectrans Inc., a California-based privately held provider of contract transportation services. Tectrans holdings included in the acquisition included Mobility Plus Transportation, Western Transit Systems, and Diversified Transportation.[48] Keolis bus operations in the United States include Foothill Transit, Tri-Rail Commuter Connectors, and RTC.

In August 2012, Keolis Commuter Services was one of two companies, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) and Keolis Commuter Services (KCS),[49] to bid on a commuter rail contract for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in Boston, Massachusetts. The contract was to operate 664 miles of passenger service.[50][51] On 8 January 2014 it was released by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that Keolis had won the contract for $2.68 billion over eight years, with the possibility for two two-year extensions that could bring the total price to $4.3 billion. Keolis began operating the MBTA Commuter Rail on 1 July 2014.[52]

On 7 December 2017, Qatar Rail, the Qatari national public transport operator, awarded RKH Qitarat — the joint venture based on a consortium between RATP Dev and Keolis (49%) and the Qatari company Hamad Group (51%) — the operations and maintenance contract for the new automated metro of Doha, the capital of Qatar with more than two million residents, and a light rail network in Lusail. Lusail is located 15 km from Doha’s city centre and is currently being built and, once completed, is expected to house 240,000 residents

Västtrafik Keolis MAN Lion's City G NG313 CNG operating a line 52 service in Kungsportsavenyn, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Keolis Svergie was founded in 2003 after Keolis bought 70% Busslink and the rest in 2010. Keolis Svergie is second largest operator in Swedish bus market.[53] Keolis Svergie operates 1000 SL bus in Stockholm and 1800 buses in rest of Sweden.[54]

Keolis is developing its business by expanding into new markets (through public calls for tenders in France and worldwide) and launching innovative initiatives in mobility.

The company's main innovations in public transport operations are driverless shuttles and automated metro systems:

• Public transport services by self-driving shuttle (through a partnership with Navya, a French manufacturer of self-driving shuttles), which started in September 2016 in Lyon. Keolis currently runs self-driving shuttle services in France and worldwide, particularly in La Défense and Las Vegas.[55]
• Automated metro systems in Shanghai[56] and Hyderabad.[57]

Keolis offers trip planning, booking and payment services:

• The launch in 2015 of the Plan Book Ticket digital app, which combines “plan” features to organize trips, “book” features to reserve them and “ticket” features to obtain and validate a ticket directly using a smartphone[58]
• The Launch in 2018 of an open payment solution on the Dijon transport network (bank cards can now be used as tickets)[59]
• The introduction of the HelloGo app, which enables passengers to plan, reserve and purchase their tickets for all modes of transport in Utrecht[60]

Keolis uses electromobility and alternative energies on several of its networks:

• Launch of a biomethane bus service in Sweden in 2015
• Launch of electric bus service in Rennes, Orléans and Los Angeles
• Launch of a natural gas bus service in Montargis in 2018

Keolis operates transport services for passengers with reduced mobility, such as PAM75 in Paris and PAM94 in the Val-de-Marne department of France.

Keolis generated revenues of €5.4 billion in 2017. Net profits (group share) amounted to €51 million.

Keolis transports 3 billion passengers annually. International business represents 45% of the company's revenues

In 2017, the company had 63,000 employees in France and worldwide.