Devising projects

The RATP group has stacked up a wealth of competencies through its Engineering, Project Management, Project Engineering and Maintenance departments which boast some 1,200 engineers. The Group also has several engineering subsidiaries specialised in the cutting edge technologies of their field, such as Xelis which handles rail infrastructures, Telcité which deals with communication infrastructures and Systra, which has been involved in projects in 150 countries.

Examples of the RATP group's expertise:

• Studies and planning
• Project engineering
• Project management
• Design and construction engineering
• Tender follow-up
• Supervision of rolling stock design and manufacture
• Assistance with commissioning and operations
• Equipment renovation diagnostics
• Quality certification
• Technical, marketing and business audits, etc.

The RATP group is a globally recognised pioneer of automatic metros. It is currently accomplishing another world first in Paris with the automation of line 1, the city's oldest metro, with no major service interruption or disruption. Paris metro line 14, opened in 1998, was the world’s first wide gauge automatic metro line. It has more than surpassed expectations, providing the punctuality, availability and comfort appreciated by its 450,000 daily users. The Greater Paris project to create 130 km of new automatic metro lines is the result of the work and proposals drawn up by RATP since 2006 to ease congestion on the Île-de-France transport network. This expertise is renowned and sought after throughout the world, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Rome, Italy.

The RATP group has committed to making every innovation an integral part of a sustainable development strategy. The company integrates sustainable development right from design stage and during the entire life of its projects. Its tramways are silent and low-pollutant. Its new buses comply with the strictest standards. Its latest metro trains have brake energy-recovery systems. Its buildings and equipment are eco-designed. Its bus drivers are specially trained in fuel-saving driving techniques and are encouraged to use the techniques through in-house competitions. Today using the metro, tram, bus or the RER rather than driving a car means cutting energy consumption by a factor of five and greenhouse gas emissions by a factor of fifty.

110 years after the first Parisian metro was opened, safety remains the RATP group's number one priority. As such, it designs solutions adapted to all kinds of networks such as traffic management systems and centralised operational control rooms. Continuous speed control systems installed on standard lines shorten the intervals between trains to 95 seconds (soon to be 90 seconds) during rush hour. Of course, increased rates go hand in hand with increased safety. On the surface network, the new High-Service-Level Bus enables the quick and inexpensive set up of a high-capacity solution open to the city.

Safety, security, acoustics, pollution, vibrations, equipment compatibility, simulation drills: the RATP group’s laboratories are experts in every type of surface and underground transport. They provide their services to industry operators and transport stakeholders worldwide to test and qualify materials, equipment and software. New regulations, pollution and noise control, urban network congestion, the growing demands of residents and passengers and the necessary protection of personnel keep increasing needs in this field.