SNCF/Keolis: short review of recent activities

Posted on May 22, 2008 by Matthieu Desiderio

Below is a review of the year 2007 with several recent contracts that Keolis, a SNCF subsidiary that operates public transportation networks worldwide, won in France and across the world. This article also gives future perspectives for Keolis in 2008 and further…

With a 2007 turnover worth €2,764 million (up from €2,594 million in 2006, +6.6%), Keolis confirms its position as a leader in the public transport operation sector wordlwide. Last year, Keolis Group became the main stockholder of its subsidiaries in Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium (where Keolis became the first private bus operator when the company bought Eurobus), and Germany (with two new rail operation contracts, Keolis being now the third private rail operator in Germany).

Keolis recently won the bid to operate all public transport networks in the Charente Maritime region (west of France). The 8-year €150-million contract will begin on July 4, 2008. Keolis will operate 264 vehicles, on 19 main routes and 254 secondary routes. Also, Keolis was awarded on May 16, 2008, a 5-year contract to operate Oyonnax network (East of France) from July 1, 2008 : the total amount of the contract was evaluated at €4 million. Both these contracts confirm Keolis success in 2008, and insures the company to remain the first transit operator for mid-size cities.

Also, Air France (the French national airline) and Keolis signed a contract agreement to extend and improve the service “Les Cars Air France” (Air France Buses), that link Paris city to Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports, and thus created a common subsidiary, named Aerolis. Les Cars Air France are transporting 2.5 million passengers annually, from any airline landing in both the Parisian airports. In England (26% of Keolis’ turnover), the company won three major contracts, whereof the operation of London Midlands, a 8-year €5 billion contract started in November 2007.

In 2007, Keolis hired around 4,000 people and is part of a team of 10 companies that plan to hire 15,000 people in 12 steps, during 2008. After winning the contract to operate Narbonne transit network (see a previous article on Transport Expertise), Keolis plans to bid on call for tenders to operate new urban transit networks (Bordeaux network, operated until now by Veolia) and intercity operations.

At an international level, Keolis will bid to operate Stockholm (Sweden) metro, already sent a proposal to operate Rabat transit (Morocco), and bid for Algiers (Algeria) commuter rail. In Ireland, Keolis is part of the consortium (with Bouygues and Alstom) that has been pre-qualified to build and operate the Northern Line of Dublin metro. Also, Keolis Group continues its external growth and is looking for opportunities in the United States and Eastern Europe.

Keolis expects 2008 results to be even better than 2007, with a turnover reaching €3.2 billion, equally shared between French and international operations… To be continued!