Transdev, historic operator of the Fouras-Aix ferry, thanked for the benefit of Keolis

This Friday, November 22 in a standing committee, the Department (1) will announce the name of the next delegatee of the Fouras-Aix maritime link. But it's an open secret. In its weekly letter of November 15, the municipality of the island of Aix wrote: “The Department informed us that Keolis would become the new manager. » Not to mention the customers who were told at the Fouras boarding office that their ten-trip subscription card would not be valid for long because “that was going to change”.

For more than thirty years, it was Transdev which had operated the market and clearly, the business was going well. Having expired almost two years ago, the public service delegation had even been renewed by default with Transdev, while the Department launched a new call for tenders. Which was done in July 2023. Initially, the contract was to start on 1^is July 2024, but things have dragged on until today.

What criticisms?

Faced with Transdev who applied, it was Kéolis who won over. Why such a change? What is the criticism against Transdev, 66% owned by Caisse des Dépôts? The Department will not comment until Friday. In any case, the choice is surprising in the community and the mayor of Aix, who undoubtedly fears cost-saving measures (like the employees) hopes that the service will be maintained, or even improved. For the moment, Keolis operates maritime connections in Finistère, Bordeaux, Bayonne and Australia.

In the world of transport, this concession is not one of the biggest markets. It would even generate very little profit, if we compare ticket revenues for 187,000 passengers per year with operating expenses (fuel, crew of four people, employees, maintenance of boats owned by the Department). Especially since the “Pierre-Loti” ferry (2), in service since 1992, is aging.

(1) With the Nôtre law, the Region inherited transport competence, but delegated it to the Department in 2022. (2) “Île-d'Aix II” only operates in the summer.