ATM makes bid for Paris metro tender (with Egis). Two driverless lines up for grabs

ATM Milano (in consortium with Egis) is taking part to Paris‘ tender to win the contract to manage the two new automatic metro lines of the Grand Paris Express. Azienda Trasporti Milanesi, in fact, presented in the last few weeks its bid for the management of the two automatic lines 16 and 17, the most extensive project for the construction of a new metro network underway in Europe to date.

In Milan, the municipal public transport company has launched in 2017 a plan of full electrification of the city bus fleet. ATM plans to convert the whole fleet (1,200 buses) to zero emission electric drives by 2030. Today 170 e-buses are already in service on 10 lines, and another 75 are scheduled to arrive in 2022 (from the tender awarded to Solaris). The carrier is pursuing two new environmental projects as part of its wider plan to invest in the electric fleet: 350 square metres of green wall on the entire façade of the historic bus depot in Via Giambellino, and a forest of 330 trees at the San Donato site, the first to be completely converted to manage electric buses.

ATM – Egis, a consortium for the automatic metro lines in Paris

Participation in the tender is happening through the establishment of a Temporary Business Association with Egis, an internationally recognised French group with a presence in 120 countries, which operates in the infrastructure engineering, planning and railway maintenance sectors, and is part of the French Depositary Fund.

The Italo-French ATM-Egis consortium, which has chosen the name ATEMIS, aims to use the know-how and experience of the two companies to become a benchmark in metro management in France. The contract is set to run for seven years, extendable for a further three.

The Grand Paris Express project is designed to create a new form of mobility on the outskirts of Paris by building four innovative metro lines.

ATM has already gained consolidated experience abroad over the years: since 2008 it has been managing Copenhagen’s driverless metro lines (lines 1 and 2, and Cityring lines 3 and 4).

ATM with Egis for lines 16 and 17 in Paris

The contract for which ATM is bidding in Paris includes the management of the two lines, which will allow better connections and a reduction in journey times to reach the northern and eastern suburbs of the capital: line 16 will connect the northern suburbs to the eastern suburbs, from Saint-Denis Pleyel to Noisy-Champs, will have 10 stations and will run for 29 kilometres; while line 17 will connect the northern suburbs to the north-eastern suburbs, from Saint-Denis Pleyel to Charles de Gaulle airport, will have 9 stations and will run for 26 kilometres, 5 of which will be above ground.

The project also includes the construction of a train depot and a high-tech management and control room in the municipality of Aulnay, just outside Paris. The lines are scheduled to be gradually opened from 2024 from the Saint-Denis Pleyel terminus to Noisy-Champs for the 16, and to Parc des Expositions for the 17, for a total of 13 stations.