The world is a very different place in recent years since the Rio and Kyoto talks on the environment. People have increasingly high expectations regarding initiatives to establish fair economic development, to fight climate change and to improve living standards for all.

SYSTRA, a world leader in urban and rail transport, saw these changes coming, and decided to focus on developing its expertise in providing more comprehensive sustainable mobility solutions.

The creation of SYSTRA Conseil, a new branch in the Group, is in line with this strategy. The Transport Planning Department, which is where many of the specialists of SYSTRA Conseil come from, was disbanded on 1st March.

This new branch is evidence of a broadening in the scope of SYSTRA’s expertise and the services it provides. SYSTRA Conseil will be tasked with better meeting the requirements of local authorities and contractors who are faced with increasingly complex choices when it comes to implementing new transport systems.

SYSTRA Conseil has expertise in all aspects of transport, ranging from bicycles and walking, to high-speed trains, bus rapid transit and trams. As such, it is in a position to offer an integrated vision of transport, drawing on the expertise of its multi-skilled team - a team made up of engineers, urban planners, architects, economists, GIS specialists, integration experts, environmental engineers, etc.

The team has invested a great deal in developing its expertise regarding financial plans and project evaluations. It has been authorised by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency to carry out carbon emissions inspections, and is developing other ways of assessing both the economic impact and the ecological footprint of the various transport solutions that it puts forward.

In line with the growing role that members of the community have had over the last few years in the design of new transport projects, the SYSTRA Conseil team has acquired a great deal of expertise in consultations and dialogue with the public - both in France and abroad. It is able to adapt the way it communicates depending on the people it is dealing with, and holds technical discussions in a way that informs the public, ensuring that everybody ends up with a better understanding of the project in question and is in a position to assess its impact.

And just as importantly, as part of a drive to share its expertise and technical know-how with its clients, SYSTRA Conseil is developing its resources so as to offer customised training programmes to the various people involved in these projects.

SYSTRA Conseil will therefore incorporate the dynamism that the Transport Planning Department has boasted over the last few years, together with all the operational resources that it needs to strengthen its development.

This branch will be led by Gérard CHALDOREILLE, and will be divided into 5 main sections :

• Consultancy, strategy, under the direction of Hubert METGÉ, who will also serve as technical director for the "operation-maintenance", "transport economy" and "mobility and regions" sections
• Operation-maintenance, under the direction of Christelle LÉRIN
• Transport economy, under the direction of Yannick OLIVIER
• Mobility and regions, under the direction of Nadège BOURGIS
• GSM-R, under the direction of Robert SARFATI