Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM).
This acronym probably means nothing to you.
ATM is the public company, 100% financed by the city of Milan (Italy), which operates the public transport network of the capital of Lombardy.
During a press conference held this Thursday, March 14 in the morning in Paris, the boss of the ATM group, Arrigo Giana, announced that the operator would be a candidate for the operation of "several batches of buses, in Paris and in small crown", as well as that of line 18 of the Grand Paris Express, which should connect Orly to Versailles in 2030.
After several unsuccessful attempts on lines 15, 16 and 17, ATM and its French partner Egis want to export their know-how to the Paris region.
“We have a long history of operational excellence,” emphasized Arrigo Giana.
The transalpine group already operates 160 bus lines in Milan, as well as 17 tram lines and 5 metro lines.
The operator has conquered large urban transport markets in Europe, such as those of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Thessaloniki (Greece).
The construction of the Grand Paris Express and the opening to competition of the RATP bus network, from 2025, are seen as “an exceptional opportunity” to develop in France.
All that remains is to respond to the calls for tenders published by Île-de-France Mobilités, which mark the end of the RATP monopoly on more than 300 bus lines in Paris and the inner suburbs.
A meeting planned with the RATP unions
The Franco-Italian grouping knows that it must gain notoriety among decision-makers and the French public.
“We are in the process of assembling a 100% French team,” said Giuseppe Proto, director of the ATM France entity.
“RATP Dev has succeeded in winning the transport market in Tuscany and Florence,” underlined Arrigo Giana, convinced that an Italian company had every place to establish itself in France and elsewhere in Europe.
Also read “No more diesel buses in 2029”: Île-de-France is heading towards biomethane and electricity
The end of the monopoly worries some of the approximately 15,000 RATP machinists, who hope to keep their working conditions and remuneration if they change employers.
The two Italian leaders announced their intention to meet the RATP union organizations.
“Given the history of ATM, there is no need to worry,” Arrigo Giana wanted to reassure.
We are attentive to the well-being of our employees, for example with the
Time Care
system , where they can indicate their favorite time slots,” he illustrated.
ATM ensures that it is in in-depth dialogue with IDFM to complete its files, before the allocation of the twelve lots, which will be spread between January 2025 and the end of 2026, in accordance with a law adopted in December to “loosen” the initial schedule.