Veolia Transport (formerlyConnex andCGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational companyVeolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise toVeolia Transdev, later renamed Transdev.[1] Veolia Transport traded under the brand names of Veolia Transportation in North America and Israel, Veolia Transport,Veolia Verkehr in Germany and with the former name Connex preserved inLebanon,Melbourne (until it ceased operations in 2009) andJersey (until it ceased operations on 31 December 2012) .
Until 2011, Veolia had diverse road and rail operations across the globe, employing 72,000 workers worldwide and serving completely or partly about 40 metropolitan areas with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.
The company was established on 1 January 1997 asCGEA Transport, created from thepublic transport business of Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Automobiles (CGEA), which was a subsidiary ofCompagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE).[2][3]
CGEA was previously acquired by CGE in 1980, and its waste management and environmental services division was already rebrandedOnyx Environnement in 1989, leaving CGEA with only the transport business.[3]Compagnie générale française des transports et entreprises (CGFTE) was also acquired by CGE in the 1980s, was also absorbed into CGEA in 1988.[4][5]
CGE, the ultimate parent company, was later renamed toVivendi in 1998, and createdVivendi Environnement in 1999 to consolidate its environmental divisions including the transport division. Vivendi Environnement was renamed Veolia Environnement in 2003.
As a result, the name of CGEA Transport was rebrandedConnex in 1999, adopting the brand that itsSouth Central andSouth Eastern rail franchises inSouth East England had traded under since 1996.[6] In 2005, as a result of global rebranding of all Veolia Environnement subsidiaries, Connex was renamedVeolia Transport.[7][8] Some operations such asConnex Melbourne retained the Connex name and logo.
In 2007, the group posted revenues of €5.6 billion,[9] and soldVeolia Cargo, the rail freight branch of Veolia Transport in 2009 toSNCF andEurotunnel.[10]
A merger between Veolia Transport andthe old Transdev was announced on 23 July 2009.[11] Transdev was then a subsidiary ofCaisse des Dépôts. The merger was completed in March 2011. Veolia Transdev became the world's private-sector leader in sustainable mobility with more than 110,000 employees in 28 countries.[12] Veolia Transdev was renamed and simplified to Transdev in 2013.
In July 2011, amid disappointing financial results, Veolia Environnement announced the launch of new restructuring plans and redeployment of assets and businesses.[13] In December 2011, Veolia announced a €5bn divestment program in 2012 and 2013.[14] As part of this programme, Veolia would divest its participation in Transdev and exit the transport business altogether. In January 2019, Veolia sold the last of its Transdev shares to the Rethmann Group, the owner ofRhenus.[15]
The company was the third largest private sector operator of public transport and operated:
7 tramway networks across the country: 5 in service (Bordeaux,Nice,Rouen,Nancy) ; 1 in construction in suburbanLyon, (Lesly) and two in project (Le Havre andToulon)
A Veolia bus in Helsinki advertising theHesburger fast-food chain
Helsinki: Veolia owns Helsinki Metropolitan Area's bus companyVeolia Finland, which was previouslyLinjebuss and operated essentially inVantaa, a northern suburb of Helsinki.
Tampere: Veolia owns the regional bus company previously known as Alhonen & Lastunen
Seinäjoki: Veolia owns yet another local bus company, now known as Veolia Transport West Oy, operating both local and long-distance routes.
Veolia Transport Finland Oy has since been passed on toTransdev and has been known as Transdev Finland Oy since 5 February 2015.[19]
Veolia Verkehr, formerConnex Verkehr, offers train services, several of a regional character such as theBayerische Oberlandbahn fromMunich, and two long-distance services. Veolia owns a number of bus companies, mostly in suburban areas. It also operated tram systems:
Pforzheim: Urban network won by Veolia in August 2006. Network included in "Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund GmbH" (KVV) and linked to it by Tram-Train line,
Dublin: Veolia operated theLuas tramway which started operations in June 2004. Operation of the Luas tramway has since been passed on toVeolia Transdev and renamedTransdev Ireland.
Galway: Veolia owned the Nestor Airlink bus company which operated between Galway andDublin Airport. However Jim Burke & Sons own and run it as of March 2009.
Veolia Transport Nederland became part ofTransdev in March 2011 and was brought under common ownership withConnexxion to form Transdev Nederland.[24] Both continued to operate independently until June 2015 when both were brought under common management.[25] When the Limburg concession expired on 11 December 2016, the remainingHaaglanden operations were rebranded as Connexxion.[26][27]
On 6 May 2011, Veolia Transport Norge was sold in amanagement buyout and renamedBoreal Transport Norge AS. The new owners wereTransport Management AS (1.4%) (the management) andCube Norge AS (98.6%), a subsidiary ofCube Communications Infrastructure S.C.A. (Cube Infrastructure Fund) ofLuxembourg.[28]
Veolia Transport Sverige AB was the umbrella company of Veolia Transport companies in Sweden:
Gothenburg: Veolia owns the ferry companyStyrsöbolaget that operated the cross-river ferries (Älvsnabben) as well as the ferries to the south archipelago. Veolia also operate some local city bus networks or interurban lines on contract to the local authorities (Västtrafik).
Malmö: Veolia runs long-distance trains from Malmö to Stockholm,[31] in the winter season going further on toÅre, and the long-distance train from Malmö toBerlin with train ferry viaTrelleborg toSassnitz in the summer season.[32]
Veolia Transport Sverige AB has since been passed on toTransdev and is now known as Transdev Sverige AB since February 2015.[33]
Connex South Eastern - A train operator in south-east England that ran from 14 October 1996 to 9 November 2003. The contract was due to run until 2011; but their contract was revoked owing to poor financial management after repeated warnings from Government.[34][35]
Connex South Central - A train operator in the south of England that ran from 26 May 1996 until 25 August 2001. Initially their contract was due to run until 2003. In October 2000 the new contract was awarded toGovia. Soon after they and Connex worked out a takeover of the remainder of Connex's contract; starting in August 2001.[36][37][38][39]
Connex Bus UK - a bus operator formed in mid 1999 by Connex, operating bus services in greaterLondon. Sold toNational Express in 2004 after losing the rail franchises above.[40]
Paul James Coaches (Taken over byCentrebus in October 2011)
Veolia Transport – Running a number of Nexus secured local bus services inTyne & Wear. Veolia local and sightseeing services inYork were taken over byTransdev York in August 2008.[42]
As a result, Veolia Transport had no more operations in UK by the time of Veolia Transdev's rebranding in 2013. However, since the services in York were taken over by Transdev York (part of theold Transdev), they still eventually became part of Veolia Transdev and the current Transdev.
Veolia Transport Central Europe was a daughter company for Central Europe. It was later passed on toVeolia Transdev and then sold to Arriva in the spring of 2013.[43][44]
Veolia Transport was one of the largest bus operators, operated also one regional railway line and one trolleybus network. Main acquisitions carried out (as Connex) in 2002–2004 (ČSAD Ostrava, Třinec, Praha-Vršovice, Příbram, DP Teplice), smaller in 2005 (MAD Kolín), 2008 (Nerabus), 2010 (Spojbus) etc. In summer 2008, it changed its trademark from Connex to Veolia Transport. In 2004–2007, several times competed or offered for passenger railway transport, however have got no new job yet.
Veolia Transport Česká republika a. s. (since 2006 a daughter of German company Veolia Transport Central Europe) has 4 operator subcompanies:
Veolia Transport Morava a. s. (based on former companies ČSAD BUS Ostrava→Connex Morava and ČSAD Třinec→BUS Slezsko), operated regional bus transport inMoravian-Silesian Region andOlomouc Region, urban bus networks in 7 cities, e. g.Třinec,Český Těšín,Šumperk andKrnov, many long-distance bus lines, some skibus and cyclobus lines etc. Operated the local railway line 293 (Desná Railway).
Veolia Transport Praha s. r. o. (based on the former companies ČSAD Praha-Vršovice→Connex Praha, ČSAD Příbram→Connex Příbram, NERABUS s. r. o. and SPOJBUS s. r. o.), operated regional bus transport mostly south and south-east of Prague, including several bus lines of Prague city transport and urban bus networks inPříbram,Neratovice,Roudnice nad Labem,Říčany etc.
Veolia Transport Teplice s. r. o. (based on the former city enterprise DP Teplice), operated urban network of bus and trolleybus lines inTeplice.
Veolia Transport's more recent operations in East Asia were operated as a joint venture withRATP Group, known as Veolia Transport RATP Asia (VTRA). It was created in July 2009 and absorbed all existing Veolia Transport operating companies and contracts.[45] Veolia Transport's share has since been passed on toVeolia Transdev, with the joint venture renamedRATP Dev Transdev Asia (RDTA).
Macau:Veolia Transport RATP Dev createdReolian Public Transport Co. to operate buses in Macau. Services began August 1, 2011 and is operating two of five groupings of routes, also to be the more important arterial routes of the city. The joint venture announced filing for bankruptcy on 1 October 2013. The operation was finally terminated in July 2014 and passed on to another operator.
Connex operated theBonifacio Transport Corporation in the Philippines in the early 2000s.[48] It is unknown when exactly did Connex stop operating the bus services.
Jerusalem: Veolia won a $500 million contract in 2003 to build and maintain theJerusalem Light Rail system, which will comprise eight lines running across the city. It is expected to be completed by 2020. The first line, fromPisgat Ze'ev toBeit HaKerem, began operation in 2011. Due to the controversial nature of the project, Veolia became a target of theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.[49] In September 2009, the company considering selling its share in the project to theDan Bus Company for $15–20 million.[50] In October 2010, it agreed to sell its stake toEgged instead. As a result, Dan sued Veolia.[51] After the operation was passed on toVeolia Transdev, the sale to Egged was finally approved in August 2015.[52]
Veolia operates buses in Israel under Veolia Transportation brand. It used to operate with both the Veolia Transportation brand and the Connex brand together in the late 2000s.[53] They operate:
Modi'in: Intercity and urban buses in a city located betweenJerusalem andTel Aviv. Formerly run by Margalit.
In 2012, Denis Gasquet, Veolia's senior executive vice president, visited Israel, where the company has reached a turnover of 1.5 billionshekels a year. After 20 years of investment in the country, Gasquet said the company had never lost a tender due to its commitment to Israel. Despite operational hitches, Veolia stated that there were no political problems with the Arabs or the Jews, and the company was "not ashamed to say that we make money in Israel."[54]
After these operations was passed on toVeolia Transdev, the buses in Modi'in were sold to Kavim in July 2013,[55] while the rest were soldtoAfikim in September 2013.[56]
Around a 40 km radius fromBeirut : Connex operates school bus services for theGrand Lycée Franco-Libanais in Achrafieh, Beirut using a fleet ofTEMSA Prestij buses,Nissan Civilian buses andNissan Urvan vans. The operation was part of Veolia Transportation from 1998 till 2008.[57] After 2008, it retained the Connex branding and logo.
Connex changed its name to the same as its French parent company's,Veolia, in January 2006. Branding on buses and trains was changed to reflect this position, with the exception ofConnex Melbourne.Turnover for Australia was overA$635 million.
Veolia also operated theSydney Monorail andlight rail network as Veolia Transport Sydney, on behalf ofMetro Transport Sydney since August 1998. It was CGEA Transport's first venture into Australia and first operated as CGEA Transport Sydney. It also owned 51% of the monorail between 1998 and 2001.[64][65]
With the exception of Connex Melbourne, the other Veolia Transport operations have since been passed on toVeolia Transdev and grouped to form its Australasian subsidiaryTransdev Australasia (together with Veolia Auckland andold Transdev).
Veolia Transportation was the North American business unit of Veolia Transport[69] It has since been passed on toTransdev and renamedTransdev North America in 2014.
In April 2005 Veolia were awarded the contract inYork Region in suburban Toronto, Ontario, Canada running the bus rapid transit (BRT) naming the routesVIVA and joining withYork Region Transit (YRT) as a one fare transit system.[70]
Veolia also operated transit services in the Greater Montreal Area.
Connex arrived in the United States in 2001, with the acquisition of Yellow Transportation inBaltimore, Maryland.[71][72] On September 1, 2005, Connex acquired ATC fromNational Express, making Connex-ATC the largest privately owned public transportation company in North America.[73] ATC was formed in 1951 and originally owned bus companies before becoming a contractor.[74] In 2006, Connex-ATC changed its name to Veolia Transportation, acquired ShuttlePort, and won several contracts in the US, including:
Austin:Capital MetroRail and bus routes throughout Austin and surrounding communities. In March 2009, employees of Veolia Transportation were said to have tested trains on rail sections without prior approval and hence the Capital MetroRail was delayed.[75]
Los Angeles:Metrolink, 2005–2010.[80] A Connex/Veolia engineer texting on-duty was responsible for a head-on collision causing 26 deaths and 135 injuries, the deadliest incident in Metrolink history, leading the Metrolink board to return to the previous contractor, Amtrak.[81]
Veolia employed over 16,000 employees with 6,500 vehicles and a revenue of over $1 billion. in 2005 in North America. Its executive team included Mark Joseph (CEO of VTNA). It was headquartered inOak Brook, Illinois.
Veolia also owns the SuperShuttle shared-ride airport shuttle service, as well as the ExecuCar black car/sedan service. Veolia also operated taxicab services across the country under various brands.
Santiago: Veolia ownedRedbus Urbano, which operated feeder services to the Metro and "Troncales" in northern suburban Santiago. This operation has since been passed on toTransdev.
Bogotá: Veolia, in conjunction with three other operators, ran a 90 km right-of-way bus line called theTransMilenio system, used by more than 1,400,000 persons a day. This has since been passed on to Transdev.
^"Rapport financier 2003" [Annual Report](PDF) (in French). Connex. 26 April 2004. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 19 January 2017. Retrieved25 August 2015.
^"Our partnerships". Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) Co. 2009-02-02. Archived fromthe original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved2013-02-08.The MBTA Board of Directors officially approved a new three-year contract with the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. to run the commuter rail.
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