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Metro

The metro is the ultimate light rail solution, catering for high city-centre patronage: upwards of 100 000 passengers per day and per line. The arrival of a metro in a city is a big moment for the population and the region alike.

In the early 1970s Keolis started its involvement in metros, and was for many years the world's leading operator of driverless metro solutions. Keolis runs the world's first automatic metro system, in Lille, France, with 45km of track, launched in 1983, which for a quarter of a century was also the longest in the world.

Different types of metro exist and can be operated together: the traditional metro with a driver, the driverless (automatic) metro, metal wheel- or tyre-mounted, underground or overground, but always on specifically designated tracks.

Skills across the board

Keolis is a partner to local authorities throughout the life of the project.

  • from the system's conception, as a complement to the operating contract,
  • the design of the transport system and the network route, right up to the organisation of test runs;
  • during the reorganisation phase of the bus network;
  • during the 'invitation to tender' process for operations and maintenance (O&M) contractors;
  • during the build-up to operations, with the drawing-up of procedures and regulations;
  • in the field of staff recruitment, training and assessment.

Its experience gained in designing and managing systems in Lyon, Lille, Rennes and Charles-de-Gaulle airport has brought Keolis metro teams the opportunity to provide support and training in operations, maintenance and safety, to other automatic metro systems: Toulouse in France, but also Lausanne, Turin, Chicago and Taipei in Taiwan.

Keolis is also active in advising the Lyon transport authority SYTRAL on the transformation of metro lines A and B from semi-automatic attended systems into automatic systems. Line B is also due to be extended over the next eight years.

Key figures

  • 87 km of metro operated of which 70 km driverless
  • 4 systems
  • 9 lines of which 4 driverless
  • 300 million passengers per year
  • 125 stations
  • 250 trains