The rumor is no longer a rumor.
This Tuesday, Bruno Bernard chose to confirm that on the occasion of the allotment of the TCL network, Keolis would operate the bus network, and that RATP would take care of heavy modes (metros, trams, funiculars, Rhônexpress, control securities and infrastructure management).
The decision remains to be ratified by a vote of the Sytral board of directors on March 28, but these are the two candidates that the president of the Métropole de Lyon will submit to the choice of elected officials.
Since environmentalists have a large majority, the announced upheaval is therefore official.
“On the bus lot, which has the largest number of agents and the highest annual turnover, it is the quality of the technical offer which was decisive. On the heavy modes lot, we had two equivalent technical offers; it was the overall cost of the contract that made the difference”explains the president of the Métropole and Sytral Bruno Bernard in a press release.
Keolis, which has managed the TCL network as a whole for decades, will therefore only take care of buses and trolleybuses on January 1, 2025, and until 2030 before a new call for applications.
RATP Dev, well known for managing the Parisian network, is the big winner of this allotment with the operation of the largest contingent, and until 2034.
As for Transdev, also a candidate, it leaves empty-handed.
It remains to be seen what this will actually change for the basic user from next January.