Keolis Nederland is a

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

company operating bus and passenger train services in the Netherlands. Originally created as Syntus and owned by

Connexxion Connexxion is a large public transport company in the Netherlands, operating in the west, middle, east and southwest parts of the country. It is owned by Transdev and Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Netherlands. Hi ...

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. ...

and

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and t ...

, since 2012 Keolis Nederland has been a 100% subsidiary of Keolis. Syntus is an acronym for Synergy between Train and Bus.

History

In 1991 Geldersche Streekvervoer Maatschappij (GSM) and the

Dutch Railways Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and the ...

started a transport integration project called Integratie Gelderland Oost. Integration between train and bus was the main goal. GSM later merged with Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf Arnhem to form Gelderse Vervoersmaatschappij. In 1999 Syntus commenced rail operations,

and

each owning one-third. In 2007 Connexxion's share was purchased by Keolis and Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In 2012 Keolis purchased Nederlandse Spoorwegen's 50% share. In October 2017, Syntus was rebranded Keolis Nederland with a new visual identity.

Visgraatmodel

Syntus propagates synergy, which is based on a so-called 'visgraatmodel' (fish bone model). In this model train service represent the backbones. Bus services represent the spokes that feed train services. After a while other public transport companies like

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Veolia Transport Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev. Veolia Transport traded under the ...

copied the model.

Operations

In 2005, Syntus briefly operated a cross border service into Germany from

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

to Emmerich. From December 2006 until December 2013, Syntus operated the

Almelo Almelo () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, ...

Mariënberg Mariënberg ( Dutch Low Saxon: ''Mainbarg'' or ''Mainbarrug'') is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the countr ...

rail concession under sub-contract to

. In August 2010, Syntus commenced an eight-year contract to operate services in

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of U ...

. In December 2010, it commenced a 10-year contract to operate services in

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. In December 2016, it commenced a seven-year contract to operate services in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

.Syntus Keolis Group wins third contract in a row
Keolis 27 September 2016 In December 2017, Keolis Nederland has commenced a ten-year contract to operate bus services in

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere compr ...

. In the same month, it has commenced a 15-year contract to operate rail services in the province of

from

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is on ...

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

and Zwolle to Kampen. These will be operated by 16 Stadler Flirts.

Branding

Syntus' corporate identity consisted of the colors yellow, white and blue. Every region has its own identity incorporated in the corporate identity. The Syntus brand was be retired in 2017 and replaced by the Keolis brand.Stadler EMUs enter service with Dutch operators
''International Railway Journal'' 14 December 2016

References

External links

{{Transdev Deventer Keolis Nederlandse Spoorwegen Companies based in Overijssel Railway companies of the Netherlands Transdev Transport companies established in 1999 Transport in the Netherlands 1999 establishments in the Netherlands