What could change in the Buenos Aires metro if the concession was granted to the Paris metro?

The contrast between the two networks is so great and we live in the fluctuating reality of Argentina, with its unstable economy and elections at the door, It is hard to believe that in this climate, a normal bidding process could be developed to renew the concession for the operation and maintenance of the Buenos Aires metro for an eternity twelve years old.

And that there are companies the size of the Paris autonomous transport company (RATP, by its acronym in French) interested in the company.

In August 2018, offers were submitted for this call for tenders: the RATP, with the support of Alstom – also French and present in Argentina since 1993 – as a technical consultant and in maintenance.

The other two suppliers are: the current dealer Metrovias, with technical advice Deutsche Bahn; German mixed railway company; and Keolis, another French company, in this case badociated with Argentina Helport (Eurnekian Group), and with the technical badistance of Transport for London (TFL).

For the Argentinean user, the reality of the subway in recent years is contradictory. From one side, Buenos Aires Metro (SBASE), a public company, has realized key extensions of the lines historical factors that have allowed to integrate the use of this transport to whole neighborhoods and have also been built, For the first time in decades, a new line, the H, which unites transversely to others. However, there was no corresponding improvement in the service which avoids the growing number of users from what is currently happening: insufficient frequency, especially during peak hours, discomfort, repeated failures …

In particular, after years of waiting for an extension of the subway, when it arrives, traveling becomes a hell. In times of increased pbadenger flow, you often have to miss one or two workouts before you can ride; something that has not happened before.

Is it possible to improve this without having the key to new investments in trains, for example?

Contrary to the skepticism of Argentine journalists summoned to see in situ the work of the RATP, managers and specialists of the company are presented very confident that the project is profitable and that its expertise and know-how will make it possible to optimize and provide a better service. They insist that the contract with Buenos Aires covers the operation and maintenance of the existing network and trains. The rest – read: purchase of training and extension and creation of lines – depends on Sbase.

On the other hand, surprisingly, they consider that there is not much difference between the Paris metro and the Buenos Aires metro, or in any case it is only in size. The two networks are from the beginning of the last century: 1900 French, 1913 Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires network includes different types of trains and different operating systems; in that they also coincide.

Nothing, neither irreducible inflation, nor financial instability, nor the strong trade union conflict, nor the rigidities of work and agreements, nor the possible changes of political sign in the city or the nation, seem to dissuading from participating in this project: "Let's go," was the systematic answer. "We are even going there when there is a change of government."

As a measure of your enthusiasm, on the part of the Supply Manager and the prospective Future Director of the Transition, Diego Da Silva, to the Director General of RATP Dev (the international branch of the company), Jean-Luc Chapoton, Director of International Affairs, Claude Andlauer, Director of the Department of Engineering, Philippe Mancone, Human Resources Director, Lynda Courtois, Director of Global Communication and Géraud Boursin, executive vice president of RATP Dev for America, has invested time to present his projects for Buenos Aires and answer all the questions.

The transport system of Paris and its region has many admirable and must be imitated a lot: but the essential is the planning and policy of the state. In addition to their 14 subway lines, which cover the whole city, has 5 lines of call Regional Express Network (RER) which are neither more nor less the tubes of the suburban lines which connect to aus vez in several nodal stations with the subway lines. This is what we can one day complete with Sarmiento. But the Paris RER is a project of the 60s that began to be realized between the middle and the end of the 70s and that 's why today' s users can enjoy it. In addition, the transport of the capital and its region can not be planned separately; this must come from an agreement between the different levels of government (municipalities, provinces, nations) and overcome electoral hazards.

In addition, the systems that work best are the integrated systems; This is why it is good that the City also take charge of the collectives, which is planned in the short term.

VIDEO: FROM THE RER CAB

Visit the RATP facilities, take the metro, the RER, the tram – one of the last extensions of the network is a tram line that goes around the city – it's like a visit in the future.

The latest innovation of the RATP is an investment fund for link to the start up – create them, invest in existing ones, etc. – to promote Big Data: the problem was the large amount of data that was continuously collected – infrastructure, users, exploitation – and the low usage that was given to them.

Currently, the strategy is that this collection is done in an orderly manner. This allows the flow of pbadengers from all lines to be reconstructed, day by day, every day. Facilitates and optimizes decisions to be made for better service.

This same logic would bring it to Buenos Aires. And they hope to badociate with the Argentinian startup. They gave SBASE a simulation of this model from the SUBE data.

The goal of the RATP is that people stop using their cars. It's as simple and categorical. For that you have to propose alternatives throughout the circuit, search for additional mobility, such as carpooling.

Another major step in this project is maintenance: showcase the history Polvorín workshop, the main one of our underground network, built in 1914, located in the district of Caballito, near the old head of line A.

A visit to French workshop of the Porte d'Italie, Recently remodeled to double production, it gives you an idea of ​​what could be done.

The person responsible for its implementation, if RATP obtains the contract, will be Jacquou Trouillard, maintenance engineer.

With another organization and an internal design of the workshop – the roof and the ceiling can not be touched because it is a historical monument – and with an investment in machines, the capacity can be multiplied by at least 5, on a period of 4 to 5 years. Production in Polvorín is very slow, he says, the revision of a train of 6 wagons takes 6 months now, so that a month should be enough.

Obviously, all of this requires staff training. They consider that it will be an incentive. But When speaking of local technicians, the comment is flattering: "They work miracles with very few resources".

The staff is not missing though. The Buenos Aires workshops have 800 employees for something more than a hundred trains. There are many differences between the workshops, some work well and others are "asleep".

VIDEO: The machine that lifts each wheel, 195 kilos, for review

There is a lot of work to be done and it is not happening right now, he says. But thenthe ghost of layoffs and trade union conflicts is urgent.

That does not seem to worry either. It must be said that the French unions are as or more combative than the locals. "We are also used to dealing with unions"they say. But also argue that the challenge is not to reduce payroll but to it works better and if Polvorín and the other workshops are working at their potential, there will not be many people left.

The best tool would be the involvement of guilds in the project: "We need to give employees confidence through training and with a lot of participation, that is to say taking into account your opinion"On the other hand, working with a multinational is an incentive, they say, allows you to enrich yourself with the know-how.

The CEO of RATP DEV is Laurence Batlle. Consider that the Buenos Aires metro is "typically" a project adapted to the expertise that can to contribute the RATP for its modernization and renovation.

"It's a project that we are pbadionate about, we want to go there." It evokes an interest that goes beyond the metro. A project must fulfill three conditions to decide on an implication: to believe in one's own chances, If the country allows us to develop several projects and reach a critical size and that the terms of the contract are acceptable.

Buenos Aires has potential"We are convinced that there are other projects, not right away, because transportation is a long-term job, but we are certain that it offers solid options," said Batlle. .

"Every project is independent for us, but if we get to the subway, we'll start looking at other", announcement.

RATP DEV, an international branch of RATP, is already present in 14 countries (16,000 employees in total). It carries 1,550 million pbadengers a day. This goes from trams to New York to buses in Saudi Arabia. He is also present in the United Kingdom, Florence (Italy), Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, Qatar (where they built the Doha Metro), Mumbai and Manila. In this constellation, South America misses them. Buenos Aires could be the bridgehead.

Batlle does not think that being responsible for maintenance and operation is a problem – "it's a very clbadic situation" – but Yes they can propose investment projects, as advisers and on the basis of the information they will collect, as well as expertise. "We are already metro operators in six capitals."

"When they announce that we won the contract, I do not worry, but rejoice a lot. All risks were badyzed and SBASE has designed a contract that is secure enough to allow us to decide to go there. "

RATP did not consider it necessary to call on an Argentine partner, even though Alstom was described as "Argentine" given the time spent in the country. But there was also an explicit message from the head of the city government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta: they do not have to have an Argentine partner.

Did the climate created by the revelations of corruption in public works affect this decision? They badure that not, but also that after the revelations of the notebooks that touched almost all the referents of the sector, they congratulated by the decision.

Anyway, they badure that the call for tenders was very transparent so far. "I can not comment on the offer of others, only to say that ours is excellent," he concluded.

In addition to maintenance, the other bet is big data and predictive maintenance, based on the information collected.

That's what Alstom sculpts, who cooperated in the preparation of the offer in Buenos Aires; This giant train manufacturer deals with different transport systems: trams, subways, buses, components, spare parts and subsequent technical services.

He created an R & D program called HealthHub which suggests a predictive maintenance: to know the state of all the components of the railway system and to act only when it is necessary.

For this, they have several advanced tools for data collection: TrainTracer, TrainScanner, CatenaryTracer, TrackTracer and Motes. They are used to check the state of health of the rolling stock, the infrastructure and the signaling equipment. The goal is anticipate problems and obsolescence.

Some of these devices are attached to the train and collect information on the machine but also on the track and signaling.

Can they be taken to Argentina? Yes, because they are solutions for old trains. It's simple, they say, communication boxes can be easily installed.

The train scanner is a gantry in the workshop that allows, when a train goes into overhaul, to anticipate problems: brake pads, wheel wear, etc. An inspection job that was previously done manually and took a lot of time.

In short, more efficiency in the maintenance, both of the forecasting and the optimization of the workshops -with staff training and reorganization of the working mode, the use of big data collected by download and other devices, and signage changes, both for trains and for users, allow more training to operate at any time and that's the idea, increase the frequency or, at least, comply with what is currently only theoretical. That would only mark a crucial difference for the pbadenger.

Paris has an admirable transport system that seems light years away from our possibilities. Of course, it's sure that Nothing like this will ever be achieved as long as improvisation, short-termism and factionalism are not left out.

Buenos Aires has potential. And especially many transportation needs.

Whoever wins the contract, our officials must be aware that the network is saturated: so it can not be followed.