Île-de-France Mobilités awards rail network contract to Keolis-SNCF Voyageurs consortium

On 12 October 2023, the Board of Directors of Île-de-France Mobilités (IdFM), the public transport authority for the Île-de-France region, selected a Keolis-SNCF Voyageurs consortium to run the T4 and T11 tram-train lines and the Esbly-Crécy branch of line P. The contract will begin on November 2023, with operational takeover scheduled on March 2025.

“Keolis is honoured to have been awarded the first section of the Transilien rail network to be put out to tender by Île-de-France Mobilités. We firmly believe that our partnership with SNCF Voyageurs, built on our experience in tram and railway operation, respectively, will enable us to provide the very best service to passengers. Our expertise in tram-train operation and our collective knowledge of the region will be key assets in helping us to meet the transport needs of residents of the Île-de-France region, at the service of Île-de-France Mobilités,” said Marie-Ange Debon, Keolis Chairwoman and Group Chief Executive Officer.

Christophe Fanichet, Chief Executive Officer of SNCF Voyageurs, said: “SNCF Voyageurs is very proud to have been awarded the first rail contract to be put out to tender in Île-de-France. Every member of our teams is determined to rise to the challenge of meeting the high ambitions that Île-de-France Mobilités has for travellers in the region. The trust that has been placed in us is a testament to our ability to reinvent ourselves and succeed in a competitive world. It also comes as a reward to the consortium that we have established between SNCF Voyageurs and Keolis, which combines the expertise of the SNCF Group – our Transilien brand, the mass transit expert in open environments for trains and RER services – and of Keolis, the global expert in tram operation, which has already proven itself in Île-de-France as the operator of the T11 and T13 tram-train lines.”

“This success belongs to all the teams at Transilien and Transkeo who, each and every day, strive to improve the service that they provide to passengers on the T4 and T11 tram-train lines and the Esbly-Crécy Line P branch. Transilien SNCF Voyageurs, as Île-de-France’s leading expert in mass transit, put forward a bid tailored to the community served, combining ambitious passenger service goals and an excellent social framework for employees of the future dedicated company. We will repay the trust that Île-de-France Mobilités, our public transport authority, has placed in us,” said Alain Ribat, Managing Director of Transilien SNCF Voyageurs.

To support Île-de-France Mobilités, Keolis and SNCF Voyageurs have joined forces under the Stretto consortium to offer a renewed ambition: that of the tram-train, which combines the speed of the train with the flexibility of the tram, providing the very highest service standards.

Stretto benefits from Keolis’s experience as the world’s leading tram operator worldwide, Transilien SNCF Voyageurs’s public transport expertise as the leading mobility operator in Île-de-France, and both companies’ experience of running tram-train lines in the region.

As a result, Stretto has committed to taking a major step forward in terms of punctuality, operating performance and passenger information, bringing the three lines up to the highest standard of service. These improvements will be possible thanks to the recent modernisation of the rolling stock on the T4 line and the Esbly-Crécy branch of Line P. Stretto will also be responsible for the maintenance of the T4 infrastructure and the operation control of both T4 and T11, including managing the line’s points.