TheRATP Group (French:Groupe RATP) is a Frenchstate-owned enterprise (EPIC) that operatespublic transport systems primarily in Paris, France, with growing presence internationally. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under the nameRégie autonome des transports parisiens (English:Parisian Autonomous Transport Administration,lit. 'Autonomous Management of Parisian Transportation'). Its logo represents theSeine's meandering path through theParis Region stylised as the face of a person looking up.
Describing itself as the third largest actor in public transport worldwide, in 2024, RATP Group consolidates a total revenue of 7.1 billion euros, employs over 73,500 people, and provides for over 4 billion passenger journeys annually.[1]
RATP Group was established in 1949 with the express purpose of operating Paris's public transport system. During the twentieth century, it focused solely on the provision of the capital's various forms of transit, from theParis Métro,Île-de-France tram, and theRATP bus network, as well as part of theregional express rail (RER) network. However, since 2002, RATP Group's operations have no longer been geographically restricted; it has competitively pursued contracts to operate transit systems around the world. It also had a partnership with, and a minority shareholding in,Transdev, which has further involved RATP Group in various global transport operations. During 2002,RATP Dev was created as the Group's dedicated international operations and maintenance subsidiary; it is present in 16 countries acrossAfrica,Asia,Australia,Europe andNorth America.
RATP Group's Paris-related activities are still a major part of its business through to the present day; in 2019, it was recorded that, in theÎle-de-France region, it carried roughly 3.3 billion passengers per year.[2] In 2019, RATP Group's consolidated revenue was€5.704 billion; it employed 64,000 people at that time.[2] In recent decades, the company has operated on an increasingly competitive basis as a result of legislative changes.
The RATP was created on 1 January 1949 by combining the assets of theCompagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (CMP), which operated the Paris Métro, and theSociété des Transports en Commun de la Région Parisienne (STCRP), which operated the city's bus system.
Prior to this, the CMP had absorbed theNord-Sud Company in 1930 and theLigne de Sceaux in 1937, which operated commuter rail to the suburbs.[citation needed] The STCRP had been created on 1 January 1921 by the merger of about half a dozen independent bus andstreetcar operators in the Paris area. By the time the STCRP was merged into the RATP, all of its streetcars had been replaced by bus routes.[citation needed]
A major change in French law came on 3 November 2009, when article 5 of the ARAF (French rail regulatory body) law came into effect. This law opens public transport operation to competition. The law was part of a broader push by the European Union to open all passenger transport operation to competition. Under this law, the RATP Group lost the exclusive right to operate all new public transport lines immediately. The company's exclusive operation rights for existing lines would expire over time, with the bus network going out to bid 15 years later in 2024, the tram network (Lines T1, T2 & T3) going out to bid 20 years later in 2029, and the Metro and RER lines out to bid 30 years later in 2039.[3]
With the RATP anticipating this shift to a competitive environment, the company began to reorganize itself.
In the early years of the 21st century, a partnership withTransdev resulted in RATP acquiring a minority shareholding in that group, with its many worldwide transport operations. However, in 2009, theCaisse des dépôts et consignations, the majority owner of the Transdev, started negotiations withVeolia to merge Transdev withVeolia Transport. As part of the resulting agreement, made in May 2010, it was agreed that RATP would take over ownership of some of Transdev's operations in lieu of cash payment for its holdings in Transdev. This gave RATP a considerable number of international operations.[4][5][6]
In 2009, RATP entered the United States by purchasing transit contractor McDonald Transit Associates.[7] McDonald operated Fort Worth Transportation Authority (nowTrinity Metro) in Texas,Votran in Florida, andWaco Transit System in Texas, among others. On 1 August 2011, the RATP Group purchasedStagecoach Metrolink's contract to operate theMetrolink light rail system inGreater Manchester, England until July 2017.[8] Two years later, in 2013, RATP purchased the nearby long-established coach company,Selwyns Travel, aNational Express operator.
In 2023, RATP Dev definitively left Algeria following the transfer of all its interests in Algerian tramways to an Algerian state-owned group.[9] Since 2012, and growing with the progressive opening of networks, RATP Dev managed up to seven tramway networks inAlgiers,Oran,Constantine,Sidi Bel Abbès,Ouargla, andSétif, thus marking over a decade of strong development of this mode of transport in the country. From 2011 to 2020, RATP Dev was also responsible for the operation and maintenance of theAlgiers metro.
As of January 1, 2025, RATP Dev took over the operation and maintenance ofLyon’s heavy public transport modes for a period of at least 10 years, marking a major new step in its development, particularly its presence in France outside the Île-de-France region. The contract with SYTRAL Mobilités, won against one of its main competitors,Keolis, includes theLyon metro,tramway, theRhônexpress airport link, thefuniculars, and the Navigône river shuttle on theSaône.[10].
In December 2025, the sale of RATP Dev’s remaining UK activities –Tootbus London andTootbus Bath – toFirstGroup was announced.[11] Following this transaction, RATP Dev exited the UK market and discontinued its tourist bus operations outside of Paris and Brussels.[11]
In Paris, RATP operates, under its own name, on behalf of and under contract withÎle-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the Paris regiontransit authority. RATP's services constitute, in their own right, a multi-mode public transportation infrastructure, but also contribute to a larger multi-mode system extending out into the surrounding Île-de-France communities.
RATP's services in the Greater Paris area include:
TheParis Métro, a system of mostly undergroundrapid transit lines which run throughout the city, with some lines extending somewhat beyond the city boundaries. The Métro has 16 lines with 245.6 km (152.6 mi) of track and 321 stations.[14][15] Three metro lines arefully automated and driverless:Line 1 (since 2012),Line 4 (since 2023) andLine 14 (since its opening in 1998).
The busiest parts of theRER, the Paris regional express rail network that runs mostly underground in the centre of Paris and overground in the rest of the region. RATP owns and operates most of linesA andB, both together representing approximately 115 km (71 mi) and 66 stations. The rest of the RER network is operated bySNCF.
Paris bus route 341 was RATP's first line equipped with 100%electric full-size buses (starting June 2016).[20] By early 2021, there were over 150 full battery electric buses in the fleet with a target of 1,500 by 2025.[21]
With regard to the futureGrand Paris Express orbital metro network of which all lines will be fully automated and driverless, RATP will act as the infrastructure manager for lines 15, 16, 17 and 18, and operateParis Métro Line 15 through theORA consortium led by RATP Dev with minority partnersComfortDelGro andAlstom.[22]
RATP Dev (Dev being a contraction ofDéveloppement, French for development[23]), established in 2002 as a 100% subsidiary of the RATP Group, provides operations and maintenance of passenger transport services outside of the "historical" RATP network in the Greater Paris area.
Agglobus, the network ofBourges in theCher department (since 2011, renewed for the 2017–2022 period, and again renewed for the 2023–2030 period)[32][33]
ALPBUS, operating various school, shuttle and coach services as well as fixed routes services including, among others, the bus network servingCluses and cross-border services between France and Switzerland with routes connectingAnnecy,Thonon-les-Bains andSallanches withGeneva Airport[34]
The Bibus multimodal network in and aroundBrest including theBrest tramway and Brest cable car, in theFinistère department (for the 2019–2027 period)[36][37]
Transports de l'agglomération de Charleville-Mézières (TAC), the network ofCharleville-Mézières andSedan in theArdennes department (since 2012, renewed for the 2017–2024 period)[51]
TBK bus and coach network coveringQuimperlé and surroundings in theFinistère department (for the 2020-2028 period)[52]
Transports urbains laonnois (TUL), the network ofLaon in theAisne department (since 2016, renewed for the 2023–2029)[53][54]
Transports urbains lavallois (TUL), the network ofLaval in theMayenne department (for the 2023-2031 period)[55]
Transports en Commun Lyonnais (TCL), the operation and maintenance of rolling stock, infrastructure upkeep and safety on the TCL network (from January 2025 and for a period of 10 years).[56]
RATP Dev operates the coastal zone of theBasque Country networkTxik Txak, and Transdev will handle the retro-coastal zone in association with local transport company Hiruak Bat (since 2024)[57]
In December 2022, RATP Dev launches hydrogen training center inLa Roche-sur-Yon.[58]
In June 2024, RATP partnered with Wabtec to equip all its RER A trains with a new brake lining that eliminates 70-90% of the health-damaging fine particles found on platforms. Similar tests are being carried out on some metro lines.[59] The same year, RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités signed an accessibility charter to make it easier for blind and partially-sighted people to travel on Île-de-France's transport network.[60]
Tuscany regional bus network including 4,800 employees, 2,700 vehicles and 57 depots, via theAutolinee Toscane subsidiary (since 1 November 2021, for a duration of 11 years)[87][88][89]
RATP Dev's presence in the United Kingdom is mainly concentrated in London with its portfolio ofbus services on behalf ofTransport for London. Through its three subsidiariesLondon United,Quality Line (acquired asEpsom Coaches in April 2012) andLondon Sovereign (acquired in April 2014), RATP Dev manages 1129 vehicles on 96 routes out of 10 garages, and has 3387 employees, as of 2020.[91][92] Early 2021, RATP Dev announced that it is to close its Quality Line subsidiary and Epsom depot.[93] The closure was effective as of July 2021.[94]
On 16 June 2021, the firm announced it had placed an order for 195 electric buses for its London operations to be delivered jointly byAlexander Dennis andBYD Auto, the by then largest ever full battery electric bus order in the UK.[95]
On 22 September 2021, RATP Dev and SeaLink Travel Group (nowKelsian Group) announced that their respective West London bus operations (including London United, London Sovereign andTower Transit's Westbourne Park garage) would merge into a new joint venture calledRATP Dev Transit London, with RATP Dev holding 87.5% of shares and SeaLink 12.5%.[96] The incorporation of the joint venture was finalised on 11 December 2021.[97] Tower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, located in East London, was not part of the joint venture and remained unaffected[96][98] until sold off separately toStagecoach London.[99]
All ofRiyadh's urban bus network which will progressively grow to about 100 lines and 1,000 vehicles over three depots.[125][126][127] RATP Dev and its Saudi Arabian partner SAPTCO have established the network since 2014 and launched revenue service in March 2023[128]
Since 2013, RATP Dev, in a consortium withTPG andPomagalski, manages theSalève cable car, in theFrench Alps.[134] Ridership of the cable car has increased by 50% since 2013, notably after the introduction of shuttle buses fromAnnemasse andSaint-Julien-en-Genevois.[135] The contract of the RATP Dev-led consortium has been renewed in 2019 for 12 additional years, until 2031.[135]
In September 2020, RATP Dev announces a partnership withGetlink to jointly bid under the "Régionéo" brand name for regional rail services in France which will gradually opened to competitive tendering.[136] Ultimately, this partnership would not succeed, and RATP Dev wins its first contract in French regional rail, in Normandy, in 2025, acting alone without any partners.[30]
São Paulo Metro Line 4: technical assistance for start-up and the launch of commercial operations in 2010 and 1% share in the concessionnaire ViaQuatro until 2015[144][145]
^The figure of "321" (stations) does not include the fictionalMontmartre funicular station. The latter is indeed considered as a metro station by RATP and statistically attached toline 2, which explains why RATP announces 322 stations and not 321.
^Orlyval is part of the "historic" RATP network but operated by RATP Dev, on behalf of RATP.
^From 2009 to 2020, this operation was managed byRATP Dev Transdev Asia (RDTA), a 50/50 joint venture withTransdev; since 2020 RATP Dev assumes sole control of the Hong Kong tramway operation.
^ab"RDTA website". Archived from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved25 December 2017.
.jpg)
.jpg)
