Keolis Moves People
National Bus Trader
The Magazine of Bus Equipment for the United States and Canada Volume XLIV, No. 1 December, 2020
Serving the bus industry since 1977. Visit us at www.busmag.com.
Keolis Moves People
by Larry Plachno Photos courtesy of Keolis unless otherwise indicated
Keolis is an international company that manages and operates transportation systems of all types. In addition to rail and bus, the company is also involved with a variety of other transportation modes including coaches, trolley buses, river shuttles and cable cars. This scenic photo shows the RRTTC Ride service in Reno, Nevada.
n common with several previous arti- subsidiaries, otthher companies were acqquuired and a few neighboring countries. It is prob- cles, this one originated with questions or merged and reorganized. This led to the ably best known for its high-speed TGV to our “Curious Coachowner” column. creation of two companies: Cariane that con- trains that operate on several routes. My Presumably due to increasing contracts centrated on interurban service and VIA- wife Nancy and I have ridden on a number Iand operations in North America, readers GTA that concentrated on city service. of them and have been impressed with the have been asking about Keolis. Since it was fast and comfortable service. The newer not possible to adequately respond in one SNCF became the leading shareholder in cars are double deck and have a refresh- or two paragraphs, we did the research for VIA-GTI in 1999 and then merged this with ment bar in each trainset. SNCF also has this article. Cariane in 2001 to create Keolis. Since some- a 70 percent holding in Thalys Interna- one will ask, we can say that research so far tional that runs international trains and 55 A simple answer is that Keolis is an inter- has not turned up the origin or meaning of percent of Eurostar International that oper- national company headquartered in Paris, the Keolis name. By 2005 the company was ates rail service through the Channel TTuun- France that manages and runs transportation already active with a rail franchise in the nel to England. systems. While tthhey own some systems, tthhey United Kingdom. In the following years, also operate and manage operations ffoor gov- Keolis took control or began managing bus The National Assembly of Québec cre- ernment and private companies. This can and rail companies around the world. ated Caisse in 1965 to manage the funds of include virtually all aspects of the operation the Québec Pension Plan. It is basically a including labor negotiations and coordina- Keolis is owned (70 percent) by SNCF pension plan management and investment tion with planning agencies. (Société national des chemins de fer operation and has subsequently been français), tthhe French National Railway Com- entrusted with other pension and insurance The company can trace its roots back pany and (30 percent) by Caisse de dépôt et ffuunds. It has investments all over the world more than a century to earlier companies. placement du Québec (Quebec Deposit and including Keolis. What was probably the first was organized Investment Fund). in 1908 as the Société des transports auto- TToodayy,, Keolis operates public transport mobiles. Another was founded in 1911; an SNCF is a major European rail operator networks for 300 transport authorities in 16 electric compannyy named Lesexel tthhat helped owned by France. It has a staff of about countries on four continents. The compannyy’s to develop tramways. In addition to creating 260,000 and operates throughout France operations include 10 modes of transporta-
NNaatiioonal Bus TTrrader / Decemberr,, 200220 • 13 DC@EHHHHHHCECE8 DBFCEA5 7:AGA FE> <@F<=GA5 DB@?2 ?G67:AGA5HHA=FBG> ;BC1FDG HH>BC1GB 1G=C $;G #EHH*/)*5 6ED:A HHHCE D=G +GD=GB?FE>A H.FA F<:CBG>HHFE> BGEF9G> H3G@?CA H+G>GB?FE>4 3G@?CAHHHHHHH+@B8G .FA While its roots go back as far as 1908, Keolis is a modern company operating the newest rail and -,H F0G @E2B@F> H@;GBFDC@EA HHFE> 9@ECD@B2 bus equipment in many areas. The major owner of Keolis is SNCFF,, the French National Railways. +'4 CE8 Shown here are two SNCF trains at Garde du Nord station in Paris. -,H E2DC9G ;GB0@B9FE #EHH*/)*5 3G@?CA HF<:CBG> H B? FEA $;BGAAHHCE FEF>F HFE> HA:7AG:GED?6 G$;FE>G>HHHHH@;GBFDC@EA FA 3G@?CA FEF>F5 F A:7AC>CFB6HH@0 3G@?CA H(9GBC 14 • Nattiional Bus TTrrraader / Decemberr,, 200220 company provides intercityy,, charterr,, air- Keolis has numerous operations in the Foothill TTrransit is known for their pioneering port, urban, school and paratransit ser- United States. In California, it operates para- electric bus operations using the Proterra vices with a fleet of 392 vehicles including transit service in VVaan Nuys, Lancaster and buses. 62 coaches. Keolis is the second largest Fresno. Noteworthy is that Keolis operates intercity operator in Canada. Keolis also local and express routes for Foothill Transit In Nevada, Keolis operates fixed route is a partner in the operations of the Ion in Southern California with a fleet of 139 local and express transit routes in Las VVeegas rapid transit s ystem in the Waterloo vehicles including 14 Proterra electric buses. for the Regional TTrransportation Commission Region of Ontario. This includes express bus service to of Southern Nevada. This service includes Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles. the resort corridor of Las VVeegas Boulevard as well as the Deuce on the Strip and the In addition to bus operations, Keolis also runs several rail services. This photo by George TTeenney Strip and Downtown Express routes. WWeeek- shows trains of the Virginia Rail Express. The trains connect Northern VViirginia suburbs with WWaash- day ridership on these routes is nearly ington, D.C. 120,000 with 87,000 riders on Saturday and 76,000 on Sunday. It might be noted that in 2017, Keolis partnered in the launching of a self-driving autonomous shuttle project in downtown Las VVeegas. Further north, in the Reno area of Nevada, Keolis has been operating and maintaining the RTC Ride fixed route bus service in Ashoe Counttyy since JJuuly 2019. This operation serves more than seven million annual passengers on 56 peak-operated vehicles operated on 27 routes. In Florida, Keolis provides several ser- vices at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport including the employee shuttle, terminal connectorr,, trans- port to car rental services and remote park- ing shuttle connector. Partnering with Broward County TTrransit, Keolis operates Pompano Beach’s fixed-route bus service. Keolis has been active in North Carolina operating the Greensboro TTrransit Author- ity’s fixed route and paratransit services since Jannuuary of 2019. This service includes Keolis operates the local and express fixed route transit operations for the Regional TTrransportation 16 routes plus five Higher Education Area Commission of Southern Nevada. In addition to local residents, the operations on Las VVeegas Boule- TTrransit routes that provide approximately vard and Strip routes carry many visitors to Las Vegas. Weekday ridership is 120,000 and less but 3.8 million passenger trips annually. Since still impressive on weekends. November of 2018, Proterra electric buses have been included in the 43-bus fleet. Since 2010, Keolis Rail Services Virginia has operated the Virginia Rail Express (VRE) serving the Northern Virginia sub- urbs of WWaashingtonn,, D.C. Keolis is credited with increasing ridership, improving cus- tomer service scores and improving on- time performance. The newest Keolis oper- ation in Virginia is the OmniRide bus service of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission. Keolis was awarded a five-year contract that starts on November 1, 2020. The largest rail operation managed by Keolis is in the Boston area. Since July 1, 2014, Keolis has been operating the 14 com- muter rail lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Credited with being the fifth busiest in the nation, MBTA commuter rail serves 127,000 passengers daily with 14 lines, 138 stations and 500 daily trains serving Greater Boston and Rhode Island. Future plans propose a commuter rail extension to New Hampshire. Keolis introduced the MBTTAA Commuter Rail app. to help plan travels. An enhanced version NNaatiioonal Bus TTrrader / Decemberr,, 200220 • 15 22 22 2 22 2 will provide additional features including systems for their cities. Keolis says that it is commuter rail travel times. dedicated to passengers’ individual needs and works to provide more ennjjoyable, and Keolis calls itself an expert in multi- more sustainable commute options for all modal transportation. They partner with of tthhe passengers they transport around the public policymakers, transportation leaders, world. It is perhaps noteworthy that the technology companies and commmuunittyy orga- mantra of the Keolis organization is “ThinkK- nizations who want the highest level of ser- ing Like a Passenger.” vice and tthhe most innovative transportation 2005 MMCICI J4500 Keolis operates numerous different transportation systems at many locations in both the United States and Canada. Shown here is the fixed-route bus service in Pompano Beach, Florida that is Detroit / Allison - 515,817 operated through a partnership with Broward County TTrransit. Just south of here, Keolis provides miles - $45,0$45,000 OBO several services at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. • Well maintainedtained 56-pass coach • Comfortable highhigh-back reclin- ing seats • Large tinted windwindows • Enclosed overhverhead interior compartmentst • Restroom • Power outlets andand USB ports • Large underbodyerbody luggage com- partments • TV Monitors/DVVD/D/Stereo • Interior PPAA system • Located in St. Louis Contact LLynnynn at (314) 750-750-6172 or LSansone9@gmailcom From the December, 2020 Issue of National Bus Trader 9698 W. Judson Road • Polo, Illinois 61064 Ph: (815) 946-2341 Fx: (815) 946-2347 www.busmag.com 16 • Nattiional Bus TTrrraader / Decemberr,, 200220