2020 was a hard year for open-top tour bus providers, but RATP Dev used the time to take stock of its sightseeing collection and launch a new brand and ethos for 2021, reports Richard Sharman
When you think of companies that provide open-top bus tours in the UK, Bath Bus Company (BBC) and Original London Sightseeing Tour (OLST) would certainly rank amongst the top five. BBC operates multiple tours, formerly under the Navigtours brand, and holds the City Sightseeing franchise for two locations. OLST does not just operate in the Capital, but also serves Windsor.
The French Connection
Both BBC and OLST are owned by RATP Dev, the RATP Group subsidiary established in 2002 to export the group’s operations and maintenance know-how outside the historical network operated by RATP in the Paris region, and until now sat under the Extrapolitan umbrella along with Open Tour Paris. RATP Dev operates and maintains urban transportation systems in 13 countries on four continents (Egypt, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, the Philippines, and the United States of America), operated by 106 subsidiaries. More than 1.5 billion passengers travel on its networks every year and it offers a wide range of mobility services, ranging from local rail, regional express rail and tramway to bus, cable car and sightseeing activities. In the UK, RATP Dev owns London United and London Sovereign, which operate Transport for London (TfL) contracts. A recent change has seen the companies’ individual fleet names lost in favour of bold RATP Group vinyls.
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