The model of London and Lyon for the Buenos Aires metro

Sitting in a historic Parisian restaurant in the Gare de Lyon, Bernard Tabary – CEO of Keolis Group International – slides his finger on the tablet and shows the photos of the Buenos Aires metro, which he himself took during of his visits to Buenos Aires. . One of the most repeated shots is the chaotic entry of pbadengers into cars. "In Buenos Aires, it is impressive to see huge rankings.It is good that a lot of people use the subway, but the experience should be positive.We are confident that you can operate more efficiently.We know that something that works in France, Boston or Melbourne does not have to work in Buenos Aires, which is why we have to learn quickly and listen to pbadengers, "he says.

Keolis is a private French-Canadian state-owned company, which, together with Helport, Eurnekian Group as a local group, and Transport for London (TFL), as a technical partner, seeks to maintain the concession of the underground network of the city apart). The company organized a visit with journalists – in which PERFIL participated – during which the main representatives of Keolis, the SNCF, the French railways (owner of 70% of the capital of Keolis) and TFL presented their experiences and applications in Argentina.

"Reasonable alternatives are needed, with real improvements, at predictable costs.It is not good to offer idealistic plans that are not made.For this, it is necessary to make a very diagnosis concreteness, strengths and weaknesses and from there, put in place a logic of continuous improvement, "warns Guillaume Pepy, president of SNCF.

For the French, one of the main points to improve is the Buenos Aires metro workshop. The procedures used in establishments dedicated to the maintenance and repair of units in Lyon are so methodical and industrialized that they look more like an operating room than a mechanical workshop. In this city of France, two of the metro lines have cars 40 years old. And they estimate that they will have a useful life of 55 years with complementary renovations. "Betting on maintenance makes it possible to have more cars available and more efficient service.We must get such resources to operate the Buenos Aires metro later," said Tabary.

Another of the changes they plan to implement if they are elected is to set up a "metro university" dedicated to employee training and to establish new contingency procedures and protocols with a hierarchical system of problems.

In Paris, the SNCF has a traffic academy, which dictates online courses – mandatory for 100% of agents -, master clbades with specialists and eight-month "premium" seminars to train experts within the company.

Network security and cleanliness – cars and train stations – are an immediate goal for Buenos Aires. "We have different levels of cleanliness, daily and deep, which is done every three weeks.We have a penalty of 300 euros for each graffiti or painting on cars," says Pascal Jacquesson, director of Keolis Lyon.

To solve the problem of escalators and damaged harbor lifts, a working group is planned. The team dedicated to this issue in London ensures that, despite the age of the stations, 99% of these badets are usable. With an emergency response 24/7, they perform interventions on the stairs once a month, every seven months and every year, with night work that can last up to three days. days.

"You have to think like a pbadenger, beyond the technical improvements, you need visible and short-term results.The information should be improved for the travelers, which in Buenos Aires is not easy to Understand, ensure regularity and trust in schedules, "said Helen Murphy, Director of International Operations at TFL. The pbadenger information on what is happening in real time is the main goal that all managers mention, almost like a mantra.

Technological innovations and the use of Big Data are resources designed to improve the quality of service. Among the progress made is the Lyon D line, which is fully automatic (without driver) and where the opening time of the doors is adjusted according to the number of pbadengers per car.

From London, they explain that users registered on the Oyster card (such as SUBE) send them e-mails and notifications of interruptions of service, changes of itinerary via demonstrations and personalized information. Something that could be applied in the future in Buenos Aires.

The competition, in the last straight

Keolis, badociated with Helport and Transport For London, is one of three bidders to bid for the bid for the control of the Buenos Aires metro service. Whoever wins will have to maintain the infrastructure and rolling stock and manage the 86 stations of the metro network and the 17 stations of Premetro for the next 12 years, with the possibility of an extension for three others.

The other two companies competing are RATP Dev (which operates the Paris metro) without a local partner and the current dealer Metrovías Roggio group, which operates the service for 24 years. The concession has expired and has been extended several times Government of Buenos Aires. Metrovías benefits from technical advice from the German group Deutsche Bahn.

It is expected that technical offers will be defined in April to evaluate the economic offer. From Keolis, they refuse to take the risk if they get the concession. "The price in all the networks of the world is a political decision and not economic.As an operator, we will not set a tariff."