Keolis

Type	Private
Industry	Rail, road, public transport
Headquarters	Paris
Area served	France, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
Key people	President & Group CEO: Jean-Pierre Farandou Group Executive Vice President & CFO: Michel Lamboley CEO International: Bernard Tabary CEO France: Patrick Jeantet[1]
Revenue	€5.1 billion (2013)
Number of employees	54,400 (December 2013)
Parent	SNCF (70%) Quebec Deposit & Investment Fund (30%)
Website	www.keolis.com

Keolis is the largest private sector French transport group. It runs passenger railways, tramways, bus networks, funiculars, trolley buses, and airport services. Based in Paris, Keolis is owned by the SNCF (French National Railways Corporation) at 70% and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec which is translated as Quebec Deposit & Investment Fund (public pension plans in the province of Quebec) at 30%.

In 2013, Keolis turned over €5.1 billion.^[2] As at December 2013, Keolis employed 54,600 people in France, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is the largest provider of public-transportation services in France.

Operations

Keolis Downer trams at Flinders Street station in February 2013

Australia

Keolis holds a 51% shareholding in Keolis Downer, which has operated the Melbourne tram network since November 2009.^[3][4] Keolis Downer has operated the G:link light rail line on the Gold Coast since July 2014.^[5]

In March 2015, Keolis Downer purchased bus operator Australian Transit Enterprises which operates the Hornibrook Bus Lines, Link SA, Path Transit and SouthLink operations with 930 buses.^[6]

Canada

Keolis is involved in the operation of Quebec intercity bus company Orléans Express.

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.

China

In China, Keolis joins with Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the owner of Shanghai Metro, in creating Shanghai Keolis Public Transport.^[7] This joint venture is planning to operate Shanghai Pudong International Airport's people mover system, which will link the proposed satellite concourse building with the existing Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, as well as the planned tram network within Songjiang Region, a suburb west of Shanghai downtown. An agreement had been signed between Keolis and Hubei Province Government, and Keolis will be responsible for Greater Wuhan area's suburban railway operation.^[8]

France

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.^[9]

Germany

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 81 – Der Leineweber: Bielefeld–Detmold (–Altenbeken)

Future services

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 an neutral VRR design.

Former services

• 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)

The Netherlands

Since 2012, Keolis wholly owns the company Syntus, which operates regional bus and train services.

United Kingdom

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,^[10][11] Southern, Southeastern and London Midland franchises.^[12] Keolis also had a 45% shareholding in First TransPennine Express from February 2004 until March 2016. Upon being re-tendered, FirstGroup took full control.^[13]

In 2012, Keolis lodged a joint bid with SNCF for the aborted InterCity West Coast franchise^[14] and in 2014, in partnership with Eurostar, lodged a bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise.^[15][16]

Keolis is part of a consortium that commenced operating the Nottingham Express Transit tram operation in December 2011.^[17] Keolis also commenced operating the Docklands Light Rail concession in December 2014.^[18]

United States

On October 16, 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.^[19] Keolis began operating VRE on July 12, 2010 after a two-week delay, ending Amtrak's 18-year tenure as operator.^[20] Both Amtrak and Keolis had staffed the VRE lines with about 80 employees.^[19][20] 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.^[21] The operator of the train line, Amtrak, also challenged the propriety of hiring a foreign company.^[20]

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 this time by Leo Bretholz also requested investigations of SNCF's involvement in the war.^[22] 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.^[23] Eventually however, Keolis would lose to Canadian company Bombardier Transportation.^[24]

On November 29, 2011, Keolis Transit America, Keolis's 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.^[25]

In August 2012, Keolis Commuter Services was one of two companies, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) and Keolis Commuter Services (KCS),^[26] 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.^[27][28] On January 8, 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 July 1, 2014.^[29]

India

In 2012 Keolis won the Operation and Maintenance contract of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project.^[30] This marks Keolis's foray into the Indian Market. The "Hyderabad Metro rail project" is valued at 22,000 Crores and is forecasted to be commissioned by 2017. Its first Indian employee is Mr. Sudeep Kumar Batha, a mechanical graduate from MIT.

References

External links

• www.keolis.com Official website
• Company financial reports

Coordinates: 48°52′15″N 2°19′41″E / 48.87083°N 2.32806°E / 48.87083; 2.32806