Keolis Nederland is a

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

company operating bus and passenger train services in the Netherlands. Originally created as Syntus and owned by

Connexxion Connexxion formerly Transdev#Netherlands, Transdev Netherlands, Veolia Transport Nederland, Veolia Transport Nederlands and Connex Netherlands is a large Public transport in the Netherlands, public transport company in the Netherlands, operatin ...

Keolis Keolis is a French transportation company that operates public transport systems all over the world. It manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus, and funicular services. B ...

and

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...

, since 2012 Keolis Nederland has been a 100% subsidiary of Keolis. Syntus is an acronym for Synergy between Train and Bus.

History

In 1991 Geldersche Streekvervoer Maatschappij (GSM) and the Dutch Railways started a transport integration project called Integratie Gelderland Oost. Integration between train and bus was the main goal. GSM later merged with Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf Arnhem to form Gelderse Vervoersmaatschappij. In 1999 Syntus commenced rail operations,

and

each owning one-third. In 2007 Connexxion's share was purchased by Keolis and Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In 2012 Keolis purchased Nederlandse Spoorwegen's 50% share. In October 2017, Syntus was rebranded Keolis Nederland with a new visual identity.

Visgraatmodel

Syntus propagates synergy, which is based on a so-called 'visgraatmodel' (fish bone model). In this model train service represent the backbones. Bus services represent the spokes that feed train services. After a while other public transport companies like

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

and

Veolia Transport Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev, later renamed Transdev. Veolia Tr ...

copied the model.

Operations

In 2005, Syntus briefly operated a cross border service into Germany from

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

to Emmerich. From December 2006 until December 2013, Syntus operated the

Almelo Almelo () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle o ...

Mariënberg Mariënberg (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Mainbarg'' or ''Mainbarrug'') is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Hardenberg, and lies on the westside of the Vecht river, between Hardenberg and Ommen. Histor ...

rail concession under sub-contract to

. In August 2010, Syntus commenced an eight-year contract to operate services in

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

. In December 2010, it commenced a 10-year contract to operate services in

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. In December 2016, it commenced a seven-year contract to operate services in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

.Syntus Keolis Group wins third contract in a row
Keolis 27 September 2016 In December 2017, Keolis Nederland has commenced a ten-year contract to operate bus services in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer fro ...

. In the same month, it has commenced a 15-year contract to operate rail services in the province of

from

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

and Zwolle to Kampen. These will be operated by 16

Stadler Flirt Stadler FLIRT (, ) is a passenger multiple unit trainset made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. The baseline design of FLIRT is an electric multiple unit Articulated car, articulated trainset that can come in units of two to twelve cars with two t ...

Branding

Syntus' corporate identity consisted of the colors yellow, white and blue. Every region has its own identity incorporated in the corporate identity. The Syntus brand was retired in 2017 and replaced by the Keolis brand.Stadler EMUs enter service with Dutch operators
''International Railway Journal'' 14 December 2016

References

External links

{{Transdev Deventer Keolis Nederlandse Spoorwegen Companies based in Overijssel Railway companies of the Netherlands Transdev Transport companies established in 1999 Transport in the Netherlands 1999 establishments in the Netherlands