FRANCE: Paris transport authority Ile-de-France-Mobilités has awarded Keolis and RATP Cap Ile-de-France contracts to operate the future Grand Paris Express metro Line 18 and existing tram-train services T12 and T13.
The 35 km fully automated Line 18 is to open in three phases, from Massy to CEA-St-Aubin in October 2026; from Massy to Orly Airport in October 2027; and from CEA-St-Aubin to Versailles-Chantiers in 2030. Ridership is predicted at 110 000 passengers/day.
Keolis beat RATP Dev and ATM France-Egis to win the seven-year operating contract, which can be extended in six-month periods to a maximum of 10 years. When Line 18 reaches Orly, Keolis will become the operator of the airport station served by lines 18 and 14.
Keolis said it aims ‘to raise Line 18 to be among the best in the world in terms of performance and service quality’, offering ‘a new experience: that of a more effective, more connected and more people-friendly metro, thereby reinforcing Keolis’ position as the world leader in automatic metros and an unavoidable mobility player in Île-de-France’.
Tram-train service T12 runs 20 km from Massy-Palaiseau to Evry-Courcouronnes and T13 runs 19 km from St-Cyr-l’Ecole to St-Germain-en-Laye. Both lines are currently operated by the Transkeo T12-T13 51:49 joint venture between Keolis and SNCF Voyageurs.
The next contract has been awarded to RATP Cap Ile-de-France, which currently operates T10. It is set to run for eight years, including a 16-month mobilisation period, with staff to transfer from Keolis to RATP Cap IDF. The contract includes traffic and station management delegated by national rail infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau, and operation of an extension of T13 to Achères which is scheduled to open in 2028.
