Keolis Norge is the Norwegian subsidiary of

Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. Based ...

, holding the contract to operate the

Bergen Light Rail Bergen Light Rail ( no, Bybanen) is a light rail system in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project was a twenty-station stretch between the city center and Lagunen Storsenter, where the first 15 stations comprising a stretch opened in ...

and the Bergen Sentrum bus contract for

Skyss Skyss is the public authority that plans, purchases and markets the public transport services governed by the county authority in Vestland, Norway. Skyss does not have a board, but is governed by the county council. Skyss was established in 2007 ...

History

The company was established in 2008 as ''Fjord1 Partner AS'', a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

Fjord1 Nordvestlandske Fjord1 ASA is a Norwegian transport conglomerate, one of the largest in the Norwegian transport sector. Formed in 2001, company headquarters are in Florø, with the headquarters of the ferry division in Molde. It operates a fleet of environmenta ...

(49%) and ''Keolis Nordic AB'' (51%), a

holding company for its Nordic operations, with the goal of bidding for the Bergen Light Rail contract and other PSO contracts for bus transport in the Bergen area. The contract was announced on 2 April 2009, after Fjord1 Partner had beaten NSB, Tide Bane (

Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

with

HTM Personenvervoer HTM Personenvervoer NV (HTM, from the former name Haagsche Tramweg Maatschappij) is a public transport company in the Netherlands operating trams, lightrail and buses in The Hague, Rijswijk, Leidschendam, Voorburg, Delft, Zoetermeer, Wateringen ...

) and Veolia Transport Bane for the contract. The infrastructure and the

Variobahn The Stadler Variobahn (formerly sold as the ABB Variotram, Adtranz Variotram and Bombardier Variotram) is a German-designed model of articulated low-floor tram and light rail vehicle. Since its introduction in 1993, the Variobahn has been manufa ...

vehicles are owned by Vestland Fylkeskommune, while the operation subsidies are managed by Skyss, a county agency responsible for all public transport subsidies in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

. In 2014, Fjord1 sold their shares to Keolis, and the company changed its name to ''Keolis Norge AS''. In June 2019, the company was awarded the tender for driving buses in the route area Bergen Sentrum, starting on 1 December 2020. This includes driving amongst other vehicles 112 electric buses, of which 102 battery buses from

Yutong Yutong (officially Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese manufacturer of commercial vehicles, especially electric buses, headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan. Yutong also covers areas of construction machinery, real estate, and other inve ...

and ten trolley buses from

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

. On September 6th 2022 DSD AS, the owner of Tide Buss announced they would buy out all shares and take over the running of all their contracts, leaving Keolis Norge defunct.

References

{{- Bergen Light Rail Railway companies of Norway Fjord1 Keolis Norwegian companies established in 2008 Railway companies established in 2008