An outbound Lowell Line train at Anderson/Woburn in 2023.
(Ilia2011, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

KEOLIS
Keolis is a French transportation company that operates public transport systems all over the world. It manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus, and funicular services. Based in Paris, France, the company is 70% owned by SNCF and 30% owned by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Keolis operates a number of networks in France (Transports Bordeaux Métropole in Bordeaux, the Lyon public transport on behalf of SYTRAL, the public transport service for the Greater Rennes area since 1998, Transpole in Lille, and the entire mobility chain in Dijon). Internationally, it manages buses in several cities in Sweden, central and eastern regions of the Netherlands, and in the United States. It also manages various rail networks internationally, such as the commuter rail in Boston, the Hyderabad Metro, the Melbourne tramway, the Docklands Light Railway in London, the Pujiang line (Shanghai Metro), the Nottingham tramway, and the Manchester tramway.
History
Origins
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 routie.rs 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-GTI, focused primarily on urban transport, and Cariane, specialized in interurban public transport.
Creation and development in the 2000s
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 South Eastern rail franchise in the United Kingdom. In 2006, Keolis won the franchise for Hellweg Net in Germany and later on for Maas-Rhein-Lippe Net and Teutoburger-Wald Net in Deutschland and Nederland. 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.
Operations
Canada
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. In addition, under its own brand, Keolis provides shuttle bus services between Ottawa Train Station and Montreal Airport for Air France and KLM passengers.
From 2004 to 2012, the company 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 July 2024, Keolis announced that it is acquiring Pacific Western Transportation's Transit and Motorcoach operations.

A VRE train crossing the Potomac River in 2013.
(Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
United States
Keolis America is based in Boston, Massachusetts. It does business as Keolis North America, operating public transportation contracts in both the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., its subsidiaries operate commuter rail systems in Virginia and Massachusetts, as well as fixed-route and shuttle bus systems in several states. In Nevada, Keolis operates bus services along 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. Keolis began operating VRE on 12 July 2010 after a two-week delay, ending Amtrak's 18-year tenure as operator. Both Amtrak and Keolis had staffed the VRE lines with about 80 employees. 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 the Second World War before the Keolis contracts could move forward. The operator of the train line, Amtrak, also challenged the propriety of hiring a foreign company.
It 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 conflict. 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. Eventually however, Keolis would lose to Canadian company Bombardier Transportation.
On 29 November 2011, Keolis Transit America, Keolis' US subsidiary, announced 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.
On 8 January 2014, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority awarded Keolis Commuter Services a contract to operate 664 miles of passenger service 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. It began operating the MBTA Commuter Rail on 1 July 2014.
Keolis bus operations in the United States include Foothill Transit, OC Bus, and CapMetro Bus.
Corporate responsibility and strategy
The firm is expanding into new markets (through public calls for tenders in France and worldwide) and launching innovative initiatives in mobility.
Autonomous shuttles and automated metro systems
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.
- Automated metro systems in Shanghai and Hyderabad.
Digital services
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
- The Launch in 2018 of an open payment solution on the Dijon transport network (bank cards can now be used as tickets)
- The introduction of the HelloGo app, which enables passengers to plan, reserve and purchase their tickets for all modes of transport in Utrecht
Electromobility and alternative energies
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
Transport for passengers with reduced mobility
Keolis operates transport services for passengers with reduced mobility, such as PAM75 in Paris and PAM94 in the Val-de-Marne department of France.
Key data
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.
Overview
Company type: Private
ISIN: FR0000036196
Industry: Public transport
Founded: 2001
Headquarters: Paris, France
Area served: Worldwide
Key people: Marie-Ange Debon (Executive Chairperson)
Revenue: €6.6 billion (2019)
Number of employees: 68,500 (2019)
Parent: SNCF (70%); Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (30%)
Website: keolis.com/en/