The RATP Group (French: Groupe RATP), also known as the RATP or Régie autonome des transports parisiens (English: Parisian Autonomous Transport Administration), is a state-ownedpublic transport operator and maintainer headquartered in Paris, France. Formed in 1949, it has its origins as the city's public transport operator. Its logo represents, in a stylised version, the Seine's meandering through the Paris area as the face of a person looking up.
While RATP's Paris-related activities are still a major part of its business, its operations have extended since 2002 to include business around the globe in various modes of urban and regional transportation. RATP Dev, the Group's international operations and maintenance subsidiary, is present in 16 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.
In 2019, the Group's consolidated revenue was €5.704 billion; it employs 64,000 people.[1] The company describes itself as the fourth-largest actor in public transport.[1]
History
RATP headquarters in Paris
The RATP was created on 1 January 1949 by combining the assets of the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (CMP), which operated the Paris Métro, and the Société des transports en commun de la région parisienne (STCRP), which operated the city's bus system.
Earlier, the CMP had absorbed the Nord-Sud Company in 1930 and the Ligne de Sceaux in 1937, which extended commuter rail to the suburbs. The STCRP had been created on 1 January 1921 by the merger of about half a dozen independent bus and streetcar operators in the Paris area. By the time the STCRP was merged into the RATP, all of its streetcars had been replaced by bus routes.
In the early years of the 21st century, a partnership with the Transdev group resulted in RATP acquiring a minority shareholding in that group, with its many worldwide transport operations. However, in 2009, the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, the majority owner of the Transdev group, started negotiations with Veolia Environnement to merge Transdev with Veolia Transport. As part of the resulting agreement, made in May 2010, it was agreed that the RATP Group would take over ownership of some of Transdev's operations in lieu of cash payment for its holdings in Transdev. This had a considerable impact on RATP's international profile.[2][3][4]
In 2009, RATP entered the United States by purchasing transit contractor McDonald Transit Associates.[5] McDonald operated Fort Worth Transportation Authority (now Trinity Metro) in Texas, Votran in Florida, and Waco Transit System in Texas, among others.
RATP started testing EasyMile EZ10 shuttles on regular roads (with an employee on board) in January 2021, taking passengers to Bois de Vincennes on weekends.[7]
In Paris, RATP operates, under its own name, on behalf of and under contract with Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the Paris region transit authority. RATP's services constitute, in their own right, a multi-mode public transportation infrastructure, but also contribute to a larger multi-mode system extending out into the surrounding Île-de-France communities.
RATP's services in the Greater Paris area include:
The Paris Métro, a system of mostly underground rapid transit lines which run throughout the city, with some lines extending somewhat beyond the city boundaries. The Métro has 16 lines with 226.9 km (141.0 mi) of track and 308 stations.[9][10] Two metro lines are fully automated and driverless: line 1 (since 2012) and line 14 (since its opening in 1998). Line 4 is currently in the process of being converted into a fully automated and driverless line as well, which is expected to be completed later in 2023.
Parts of the RER, the Paris regional express rail network that runs mostly underground in the centre of Paris and overground in the rest of the region. RATP owns and operates line A (except the Nanterre-Préfecture - Cergy-le-Haut and Nanterre-Préfecture - Poissy branches) and line B (except the part north of Gare du Nord), both together representing approximately 115 km (71 mi) and 66 stations. The rest of the RER network is operated by SNCF.
Paris bus route 341 was RATP's first line equipped with 100% electric full-size buses (starting June 2016).[15] By early 2021, there were over 150 full battery electric buses in the fleet with a target of 1,500 by 2025.[16]
Operations outside Paris
RATP Dev (Dev being a contraction of Développement, French for development[17]), established in 2002 as a 100% subsidiary of the RATP Group, provides operations and maintenance of passenger transport services outside of the "historical" RATP network in the Greater Paris area although it also operates some specialised services within Paris. RATP Dev is present in France as well as in 15 other countries, namely Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Hong Kong SAR of China, Italy, Morocco, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Wholly and partly owned operations include the following:[18][19][20]
Agglobus, the network of Bourges in the Cher department (since 2011, renewed for the 2017-2022 period, and again renewed for the 2023-2030 period)[23][24]
ALPBUS, operating various school, shuttle and coach services as well as fixed routes services including, among others, the bus network serving Cluses and cross-border services between France and Switzerland with routes connecting Annecy, Thonon-les-Bains and Sallanches with Geneva Airport[25]
The Bibus multimodal network in and around Brest including the Brest tramway and Brest cable car, in the Finistère department (for the 2019-2027 period)[26][27]
Cars Jacquemard, a coach operator in the Eure department
Cars Perrier, one of the operators of the Sqybus network serving the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines suburb near Paris
Transports de l'agglomération de Charleville-Mézières (TAC), the network of Charleville-Mézières and Sedan in the Ardennes department (since 2012, renewed for the 2017–2024 period)[40]
Tuscany regional bus network including 4,800 employees, 2,700 vehicles and 57 depots, via the Autolinee Toscane subsidiary (since 1 November 2021, for a duration of 11 years)[70][71][72]
RATP Dev's presence in the United Kingdom is mainly concentrated in London with its portfolio of bus services on behalf of Transport for London. Through its three subsidiaries London United, Quality Line (acquired as Epsom Coaches in April 2012) and London Sovereign (acquired in April 2014), RATP Dev manages 1129 vehicles on 96 routes out of 10 garages, and has 3387 employees, as of 2020.[74][75] Early 2021, RATP Dev announced that it is to close its Quality Line subsidiary and Epsom depot.[76] The closure was effective as of July 2021.[77]
On 16 June 2021, the firm announced it had placed an order for 195 electric buses for its London operations to be delivered jointly by Alexander Dennis and BYD Auto, the by then largest ever full battery electric bus order in the UK.[78]
On 22 September 2021, RATP Dev and SeaLink Travel Group (now Kelsian Group) announced that their respective West London bus operations (including London United, London Sovereign and Tower Transit's Westbourne Park garage) would merge into a new joint venture called RATP Dev Transit London, with RATP Dev holding 87.5% of shares and SeaLink 12.5%.[79] The incorporation of the joint venture was finalised on 11 December 2021.[80] Tower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, located in East London, was not part of the joint venture and remained unaffected[79][81] until sold off separately to Stagecoach London.[82]
All of Riyadh's urban bus network which will progressively grow to about 100 lines and 1,000 vehicles over three depots.[106][107][108] RATP Dev and its Saudi Arabian partner SAPTCO have established the network since 2014 and launched revenue service in March 2023[109]
in Brussels, Belgium (since November 2021 with up to 12 fully battery-electric vehicles, as part of an eight-year concession granted by STIB).[115][116]
Other
Since 2013, RATP Dev, in a consortium with TPG and Pomagalski, manages the Salève cable car, in the French Alps.[117] Ridership of the cable car has increased by 50% since 2013, notably after the introduction of shuttle buses from Annemasse and Saint-Julien-en-Genevois.[118] The contract of the RATP Dev-led consortium has been renewed in 2019 for 12 additional years, until 2031.[118]
RATP Dev established in 2018 a "regional office" in Singapore for Asia-Pacific albeit not having any operational activity in the city-state.[119] In December 2020, RATP Dev and SBS Transit announced a partnership for future rail projects in Singapore, without referencing specific commercial targets.[120] RATP Dev and SBS Transit are expected to bid for operations and maintenance of the future Jurong Region MRT line and the future Cross Island MRT line.[121]
In September 2020, RATP Dev announces a partnership with Getlink to jointly bid under the "Régionéo" brand name for regional rail services in France which will gradually opened to competitive tendering.[122]
São Paulo Metro Line 4: technical assistance for start-up and the launch of commercial operations in 2010 and 1% share in the concessionnaire ViaQuatro until 2015[125][126]
^The figure of "308" (stations) does not include the fictional Montmartre funicular station. The latter is indeed considered as a metro station by RATP and statistically attached to line 2, which explains why RATP announces 309 stations and not 308.
^Orlyval is part of the "historic" RATP network but operated by RATP Dev, on behalf of RATP.
^From 2009 to 2020, this operation was managed by RATP Dev Transdev Asia (RDTA), a 50/50 joint venture with Transdev; since 2020 RATP Dev assumes sole control of the Hong Kong tramway operation.
^ ab"RDTA website". Archived from the original on December 25, 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Gaillard, Marc (1991). Du Madeleine-Bastille à Météor: histoire des transports Parisiens (in French). Amiens: Martelle. ISBN978-2-87890-013-2. OCLC25657685.
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