France: Keolis renewed to operate and extend public transport services in Haguenau

• On 20 May 2021, the conurbation authority of Haguenau, in north eastern France, renewed its contract with Keolis for the operation and maintenance of its entire public transport network, RITMO.

• The new public service delegation contract starts on 1 August 2021 and will run for seven years, generating cumulative revenues of approximately 31 million euros.

• Keolis Haguenau will be tasked with extending the transport network, which will serve 36 municipalities by 2022, compared to five at present. With this objective in mind, the network will be reinforced with a new city line, three new intercity lines, the incorporation of school services (previously managed by the Grand Est Region) and the deployment of an on-demand transport service in three new municipalities (Bischwiller, Brumath and Val-de-Moder).

An enhanced transport offer and a more connected passenger experience

Currently made up of four urban lines, one intercity line, ten lines serving schools, an on- demand transport service and a rental service for mechanical and electrically assisted bicycles, the RITMO transport network serves all the main activity hubs in Haguenau and Schweighouse-sur-Moder (40,000 inhabitants), as well as the town of Brumath and the municipalities of Kriegsheim and Niederschaeffolsheim, near Strasbourg in north eastern France.

In order to respond with greater precision to the mobility needs of a larger area, the future RITMO network will benefit from several developments from 2022 onwards, including:

• An increase in the number of municipalities served and inhabitants with access to RITMO: the network will serve 36 municipalities (compared to the current five) and 96,000 inhabitants (compared to 40,000 at present). The network will therefore consist of five city lines, four regular intercity lines, 33 school lines and an on-demand transport service covering four hubs.

Renewing the fleet with a focus on alternative energies

As part of the contract, Keolis will introduce two electric buses for the operation of city line number 3, which will now be 100% electric. In addition, a mild hybrid bus (using both a combustion engine and an electric motor) will enter service on the network.

An alternative fuel will also be used to develop the fleet: GTL (liquefied natural gas), a cleaner fuel with lower CO2 emissions, will be used on all the other vehicles in the network to replace
diesel.

Furthermore, the Vélo’Ritmo service will be developed with the acquisition of five additional electrically assisted bicycles.

Keolis confirms its presence in France’s Grand Est region
With the renewal of this contract, the Keolis Group confirms its presence in France’s Grand Est region.

As well as the city transport network of the Haguenau conurbation authority, Keolis operates the networks of Obernai (Pass’O), Epinal (Imagine), Nancy (STAN and SUB), Pompey (SIT), Thionville (Citéline), Chaumont (Cmonbus) and Châlons-en-Champagne (SITAC) and provides technical assistance to the networks of Strasbourg (CTS), Metz (LE MET’) and Colmar (TRACE).

Key figures for the new RITMO network

• 9 regular lines, 33 school lines
• 20 owned and 9 subcontracted vehicles in addition to 46 vehicles available via related contracts
• 34 employees including 30 drivers
• 1,416,000 kilometres covered per year
• 2.3 million annual journeys forecast
• €31 M in cumulative revenues

About Keolis

Keolis is a pioneer in developing public transport systems and works alongside public authorities who want to enhance shared mobility systems to grow the appeal and vitality of their regions.

A world leader in operating automated metro and tramway systems, Keolis and its partners and subsidiaries Kisio, EFFIA, Keolis Santé and Cykleo support the core business with innovations offering new and bespoke shared mobility solutions for modes including trains, buses and coaches, trolleybuses, shared car solutions, river and sea shuttle services, bike share services, car sharing, fully electric driverless shuttles and urban cable cars.

In France, Keolis is the second largest provider of parking management solutions through its subsidiary EFFIA, and the country’s leader in medical transport since the creation of Keolis Santé in July 2017.

The Group is 70%-owned by SNCF and 30%-owned by the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund), and employs 68,500 people in 16 countries.

In 2020, it posted revenue of €6.1 billion.

In 2019, 3.4 billion passengers used one of Keolis’ shared mobility services.

SOURCE : Keolis