Operating networks

Steeped in our underlying mission and public service values, we focus on both the long term and short term, respect for public money, financial transparency and a partnership approach with the local authorities and transport authorities.

Over the decades, we have developed a strong culture of maintaining and upgrading the facilities for which we are responsible, for example in Paris, where for the past sixty years we have been developing, maintaining and operating a century-old metro system in a complex urban environment. Today, we have technical expertise in rail, metro, tram and bus networks. Our service level is such that in 2011 we were able to rise to many challenges not only in the Île-de-France, Savoie and Champagne-Ardennes regions of France, but also in Algiers, Manchester, Hong Kong, São Paulo, Johannesburg and Charlotte in North Carolina.

Ability to make proposals and provide solutions

In our historic market of Île-de-France, network upgrade and extension work was once again a key priority, with investment totalling almost €1.5 billion in 2011. This multimodal network, which is one of the densest in the world, carried an additional 50 million passengers in 2011. Somewhat a victim of its own success, it is increasingly congested during peak times. RATP has suggested a number of areas for improvement to STIF (the Île-de-France transport authority). They include new route proposals, an improved offering and passenger information and the development of operating tools shared with SNCF, the second largest urban railway operator in the region.

In Haute-Savoie, near the Swiss border, the extension of a tram line from Geneva to the centre of Annemasse provided an opportunity to revise the structure of the urban network and to create a “High Service Level Bus” (HSLB) route linking two major parts of the agglomeration at the tram terminus. With their expertise in all the transport methods under consideration (tram, HSLB, traditional bus), RATP’s experts supported the city of Annemasse throughout the project and helped it select the best route, optimize commercial speed and properly evaluate future operating costs.  

Photo : New entrance inaugurated at Nanterre Préfecture station on RER line A in May 2011 (Île-de-France Region)

“Upgrading and extending our networks is one of RATP’s key priorities”

In Manchester, where RATP Dev has operated the tram network since August 2011, we have committed to much more than our contractual obligations as operator by providing the transport authority with valuable technical assistance to resolve malfunctions on existing lines. With its experience in complex networks and finding solutions in similar cases, RATP Dev has been able to help prevent technical problems related to the project to triple the network’s size by 2016, as well as validate solutions.

Innovative financing

In many countries, local authorities are subject to increasingly tight financial constraints and are struggling to finance transport infrastructure projects despite growing needs and sustainability requirements. The RATP group offers them innovative solutions for optimizing and financing their networks. Drawing on our experience in Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in South Africa and Italy and our excellent credit rating, we were able to offer SGP (Société du Grand Paris) a PPP solution for a section of the Greater Paris Express network project, in partnership with several industrial companies. In addition, to finance the purchase of 107 trams for new lines or extensions in Île-de-France, which STIF is responsible for financing, in November 2011 RATP and STIF negotiated an innovative financing package with the European Investment Bank and French banking group BPCE, based on two thirty-year structured lease agreements totalling €378 million.

“RATP Dev’s experience in complex networks and solutions helps to prevent technical problems”

Doing more with less

In the field, the RATP group proposes innovative solutions for pooling and sharing resources with a view to offering superior service at lower investment cost or exploiting synergies between urban and intercity transport. By combining scheduled with on-demand services under a “flexible service approach”, we can offer mobility solutions to people living in rural areas. STI Centre in the Indre department (central France), an RATP Dev subsidiary, has developed a mixed transport service for the L’Aile Bleue network, which offers an innovative public transport solution to each town in the department at optimum cost. The nineteen lines all offer a door-to-door on-demand service, combining flexible routes with on-demand transport. Following its success, STI Centre has increased the size of some vehicles on several lines. FlexCité, a subsidiary specialising in disabled transport services and on-demand transport, set up a single booking system for its three disabled services in Annemasse (74), Saint- Julien-en Genevois (74) and Vienne (38) in 2011. By pooling services provided by three neighbouring RATP Dev subsidiaries, we can offer superior service at better cost: extended, harmonised timetables, effective management tools and shared depreciation…

“STI Centre has introduced flexible routes coupled with on-demand transport services for rural areas”

Increase revenue, reduce expense

In Annemasse (Haute-Savoie), RATP Dev and its local subsidiary TP2A had made specific commitments on revenue growth: this has proved successful, as passenger numbers have grown by 100% from 2005 to 2010. In Modena, Italy, the “bus qualità” anti-fraud campaign, inspired by RATP’s “bus attitude” programme in Paris, helped the network to increase the number of tickets punched by almost 13%, onboard sales by 110% and collection of fines by 65%.