Slowly but surely, the frequentation of the metro and Parisian buses goes up. Now, it reaches 35% to 40%, depending on the time of day. Now that the bulk of the health crisis has passed, RATP can look to future issues. Thus it formed a consortium with the rolling stock manufacturer Alstom and the Singaporean metro operator, ComfortDelGro. This company, of which RATP Dev, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RATP, has the majority of the shares aims to operate lines 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express and to maintain the trainsets which will circulate there. A sacred piece because line 16 is 27 km between Saint-Denis and Clichy-Montfermeil and line 17 connects Saint-Denis to Mesnil-Amelot, or 26 km.
Concretely, this group led by RATP submitted a file Thursday to Île-de-France Mobilités as part of the prequalification to the call for tenders concerning the operation of these two future lines.
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The first sections should open in 2024. The alliance with Alstom is a plus: the French manufacturer has been selected to manufacture the rolling stock for lines 15, 16 and 17. It would therefore be easier for him to insure it maintenance. The presence of ComfortDelGro in this consortium is more unexpected. "We join him because he is a king of the customer experience," says Laurence Battle, president of the board of directors of RATP Dev. Active in seven countries, the Singaporean operates buses in the United Kingdom, metro lines in Singapore and taxis in Australia.
According to our information, several players have submitted a file for this prequalification. Given his interest in the Grand Paris Express, Keolis should be among the lot. However, Transdev will not be there. In particular "because of the impact of the Covid", explains the group.
