Transdev was an international

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

group based in

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called in French. It is one of Paris's entrances and is located from Notre Dame Cathedral, whic ...

near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, and operating in several countries. Originally created as ''Société centrale pour l'équipement du territoire'' in 1955 and developing transportation activities since 1973, Transdev was a subsidiary

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Q ...

, a French state-owned financial institution. On 3 March 2011, the group

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

with

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, later renamed Transdev. Veolia Tr ...

, one of its main competitors, into

Veolia Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

. During 2013, Veolia Transdev was renamed Transdev, recognising the planned withdrawal of

Veolia Environnement Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. In 2 ...

from ownership of the group. As part of this merger, the

RATP Group The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under th ...

, a minority shareholder in Transdev, took direct ownership of a number of former Transdev operations in lieu of a cash payment. Transdev was also a shareholder of Transamo, a transport engineering and consultancy firm in Europe, which specialises in the project management of public transport projects in France. It was passed onto

after the merger. Société de Transports intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB) is the other major shareholder of Transamo.

Key figures

As of the time of the merger with Veolia Transport, the group had 47,000 employees and had an annual

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

of €2.5 billion. It had operations in France (representing 39% of its revenue, 18,200 employees), the Netherlands (33% of its revenue, 14,700 employees), the United Kingdom (11%), Italy (6%), Portugal (5%) and also in Germany, Australia, Canada, Spain and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. Its fleet included, by its own account, 15,642 buses and

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...

s, 542 subway carriages, trams and trains and 4,581 demand responsive service vehicles.

History

Transdev, a subsidiary of

Caisse des dépôts et consignations Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Q ...

since its creation in 1990, operates primarily in urban and interurban transport, but has recently diversified into specialist markets such as

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

ground transportation and transportation in

ski resorts A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

. Due to the nature of franchising in France, the actual number of companies and joint ventures in the group is constantly changing.

Australia

In Australia, Transdev held a 50% shareholding in

TransdevTSL TransdevTSL, formerly MetroLink, was a 50/50 joint venture between the old Transdev and Transfield Services that operated trams in Melbourne, ferries in Brisbane and buses in Sydney. The joint venture was dissolved in December 2010 when Tran ...

, a joint venture with Transfield Services. From August 1999 until November 2009, TransdevTSL operated the

Yarra Trams Yarra Trams is the trading name of the operator of the Trams in Melbourne, tram network in Melbourne, Australia, which is owned by VicTrack and leased to Yarra Trams by the Victoria State Government, Victorian Department of Transport and Planni ...

franchise in Melbourne. In August 2001, Transdev purchased

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

bus operator Shorelink. In November 2003, TransdevTSL commenced operating a seven-year contract to operate Brisbane ferry services CityCat and CityFerry. The joint venture was dissolved in December 2010, with Transfield selling its shares to Transdev, and the operations in Sydney and Brisbane are fully operated by Transdev.

Morocco

In 2010, Transdev was awarded a contract to operate the Rabat-Salé tramway in Morocco for six years, but the tramway did not open until after the Veolia-Transdev merger in May 2011. Despite so, the tramway operated with Transdev's old logo until the rebranding of

in 2013.

Netherlands

In October 2007, Transdev entered a 75/25 joint venture with Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten to purchase a 67% share in

Connexxion Connexxion formerly Transdev#Netherlands, Transdev Netherlands, Veolia Transport Nederland, Veolia Transport Nederlands and Connex Netherlands is a large Public transport in the Netherlands, public transport company in the Netherlands, operatin ...

. This resulted in Transdev owning 50% of the business.

Portugal

In 2002 Transdev started operating the

Porto Metro The Porto Metro () is a light rail network in Porto, Portugal and a key part of the city's public transport system. Having a semi-metro alignment, it runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs while using low-fl ...

system.

United Kingdom

Transdev became the first continental European company to acquire an urban bus network in the UK with the purchase of London United in August 1997, giving the company a 9% share of the

London bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...

market. In November 2002, a further London business,

London Sovereign London Sovereign is a bus operator brand under London Sovereign Limited, trading as First Bus, which operates bus services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of First Bus London and operates bus services under contract to Transport for London ...

, was purchased. In March 2004 as part of the Arrow Light Rail consortium it commenced operating the

Nottingham Express Transit Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a tram system in Nottingham, England. The concept of a modern tramway to reduce road congestion and promote urban renewal was formally identified during the late 1980s while detailed planning was undertake ...

tram network with

Nottingham City Transport Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well as beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly owned, it is today the second ...

, a company which it subsequently purchased an 18% stake. In December 2005, Transdev purchased a 90% shareholding in

Yellow Buses Yellow BusesCompanies House extract company no 2004964
Bou ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. In January 2006, Transdev purchased the

Blazefield Group Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...

with 305 buses.

Aftermath of merger with Veolia Transport

Transdev merged with

to form

in March 2011. However, RATP owned 25.6% stake of Transdev. As part of its withdrawal from Transdev's capital, its stake would be exchanged for some of Transdev's operations, for a total value equal to that of its holdings. Some of the operations transferred were: * Transdev Yellow Buses (England) * London United (England) * DolomitiBus (Italy) * Vienne Mobilités (France) * Transdev Champagne (France) * Transdev Savoie (France)

, which was passed on to Veolia Transdev, would also be sold to RATP Group in April 2014. As of January 2016, most of Transdev's operations (including Moroccan) have remained in the new

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

company, with different names and most bearing the new Transdev logo. However, the Arrow Light Rail contract to operate

was cancelled in 2011 when Tramlink Nottingham was selected as the preferred bidder for the construction of Phase 2 of the light rail, with its final day of operation on 16 December 2011.

Operations prior to merger

Upon its merger with Veolia Transport, Transdev operated the following services:

Australia

Transdev Brisbane Ferries Transdev Brisbane Ferries, formerly Metrolink Queensland and TransdevTSL Brisbane Ferries, was the operator of the CityCat, CityHopper, and Cross River ferry networks on the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from November 2003 ...

Transdev Shorelink Transdev Shorelink was an Australian bus company operating services in the northern suburbs of Sydney. It was a division of Transdev (historic), Transdev. In 2013, Transdev Shorelink was absorbed into Transdev NSW. Rebranding into Transdev NSW ...

Canada

* Transdev Limocar a coach and transit bus operator in the province of Québec

France

* Semitan, the bus and tram operator for the city of

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Soléa Soléa is a public transport operator in the French city of Mulhouse. Under contract to the Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, it operates the city's bus network and three of the lines of the city's tram network. It also jointly operates, with the ...

, the bus and tram operator for the city of

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

*Transdev Champagne,

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

*Transdev Savoie,

Haute Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva; to the south and southeast are Mont Blanc and the Aravis mo ...

* Vienne Mobilités (sold to RATP)

Germany

In Germany Transdev SZ operated seven regional bus companies in the

German federal states Federalism in Germany is made of the states of Germany and the federal government. The central government, the states, and the German municipalities have different tasks and partially competing regions of responsibilities ruled by a complex syste ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

with 350 Employees and 360 buses. The headquarters was in

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

. (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Italy

* DolomitiBus (sold to RATP)

Netherlands

Transdev owned a 50% share in

Portugal

*Transdev operated in some Northern regions and is headquartered in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, where it also operated.

Spain

*Metropolitano de Tenerife (MTSA), operator of

Tenerife Tram Tenerife Tram () is a light rail or tram service located on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands in Spain. It is operated by Metropolitano de Tenerife, a limited company now 100% owned by Cabildo de Tenerife. Service started on 2 Jun ...

(Transdev (8.5%) together with Saycr and Ineco to form 14% stake)

United Kingdom

* Transdev London Sovereign (later sold to RATP in 2014) * Transdev London United (sold to RATP) * Transdev Yellow Buses (sold to RATP) *

Transdev Blazefield Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...

** Lancashire United ** Transdev in Burnley & Pendle ** Transdev in Harrogate ** Transdev in Keighley **

Transdev York Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...

Yorkshire Coastliner Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus company that operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield. History The company was established in 1990, when the York-base ...

*Arrow Light Rail, operator of

(18% stake, together with

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

, Carillion, Galaxy, Innisfree)

References

External links

Transdev corporate web site (January 2011)Transdev UK web site (November 2012)Transdev Spain web site (January 2011)
{{Authority control Bus groups in the United Kingdom Public transport operators in France Transport companies established in 1955 Transport operators of the United Kingdom French companies established in 1955 French companies disestablished in 2011 Transport companies disestablished in 2011