Keolis moves global rail and UK HQs to Wales

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

French transport operator Keolis will move its global rail headquarters from Paris to Wales by 2020, following KeolisAmey’s successful bid for the 15-year Wales and Borders operator and development partner (ODP) contract (LTT 08 Jun).

Keolis UK’s head office will also move from London to Wales next year, with the company predicting that it will become involved in buses, cycling, parking and mobility technologies in the UK. 

Overseas, Keolis operates bike-hire schemes in 25 cities, has 23,000 buses and coaches,  nine car-share or car-pool networks, and manages 141,000 car park spaces. It is also involved in trials of autonomous road vehicles in several countries, including the UK.

Keolis is 70 per cent owned by SNCF, France’s state-owned railway operator, and 30 per cent by a Canadian pension fund. The office moves will bring 130 jobs to Wales, in addition to the 600 new Wales and Borders jobs envisaged over the course of the ODP contract.

Keolis is a partner in several UK rail operations including Govia, operator of the South Eastern and Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchises. 

KeolisAmey operates Manchester Metrolink and the Docklands Light Railway, and Keolis is part of the consortium operating Nottingham Express Transit. Its other rail operations include light rail or heavy rail services in Boston, Washington, Virginia, Québec, Ontario, Bergen, Porto, Hyderabad, Shanghai, Melbourne and several French cities.

Keolis UK chief executive Alistair Gordon said: “Being selected as Transport for Wales’ partner for the next 15 years means that we’ll be a part of the fabric of Wales for almost a generation. Moving our headquarters here underlines our commitment and embeds us within the communities we’ll be serving.

“As part of the procurement process, KeolisAmey was exposed to both business and life in Wales and we were impressed with the commitment, skills and quality of life Wales offers. This, coupled with the extensive and innovative nature of Transport for Wales’ ambitions, means that Wales is an obvious location for us.”

He said the offices in Wales would be a centre of knowledge for all Keolis businesses, and would also support the further development of Keolis’ businesses in the UK. New developments in parking, cycling, buses and technology in the UK would all be led from Wales. 

Two years ago, Gordon said Keolis had “big hopes for bus franchising across the UK”.

Alongside the head office moves, KeolisAmey will open a shared services and customer contact centre in Wales for all of the joint venture’s operations. Amey Consulting will establish a new design hub in Wales.

Nicola Hindle, Amey’s managing director of consulting and rail, said: “This new office will be a fantastic addition to our strategic network of consultancy hubs across the UK in Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Motherwell, Edinburgh, Belfast and Crawley.