Transdev - History

History

Transdev, a subsidiary of Caisse des dépôts et consignations since its creation in 1990, operates primarily in urban and interurban transport, but has recently diversified into specialist markets such as tourism, airport ground transportation and transportation in ski resorts. Due to the nature of franchising in France, the actual number of companies and joint ventures in the group is constantly changing.

Transdev became the first continental European company to acquire an urban bus network in the UK with the purchase of London United, giving the company a 9% share of the London bus market. Further expansion in the UK did not come until 2001 when it was selected to be part of the Nottingham Express Transit tram network with Nottingham City Transport, a company which it subsequently purchased an 18% stake. A further London acquisition in 2002 was the London operations of Sovereign Buses, later renamed London Sovereign, from the Blazefield Group. In late 2005 Transdev purchased Yellow Buses of Bournemouth from Bournemouth Council ownership for £15 million. Not long after, on 5 January 2006, Transdev purchased the Blazefield Group for an undisclosed sum. In January 2007 it acquired Blackburn Transport which was subsequently incorporated into Lancashire United.

In August 1999 Transdev Australia was established following the award of a 12 year franchise to operate half of the tram network in Melbourne together with Transfield Services Ltd as Yarra Trams. In August 2001, Transdev acquired Sydney's Shorelink Bus Company. Shorelink operates 22 routes around the city's North Shore, as well as a number of peak-hour services to and from the CBD. The company has a fleet of 85 vehicles, employs around 120 staff and carries around 2 million passengers every year, including some 13,000 school pupils each day. A further joint venture with Transfield was awarded a 7-year contract to operate Brisbane ferry services CityCat and CityFerry, in November 2003. In February 2004, following the withdrawal of National Express, Yarra Trams was awarded a 5 year franchise to operate Melbourne's entire tram network. On June 25, 2009, it was announced that Transdev's contract for running Melbourne's tram network would not be renewed, they ceased operating Melbourne's trams on November 29, 2009.

In 2002 Transdev started operating the Porto Metro system.

In 2007, Transdev bought a 66% stake in the Dutch public transport company connexxion, with an option to purchase the whole within 5 years. This step made Transdev the 4th biggest operator in Europe.