There is a trend towards transport operators buying in technical expertise from consultancies. DE-Consult was set up in 1966 in Germany to provide specialist support to railway operators. It merged with EVDR Bahn-Consult GmbH and Transportconsult International Berlin GmbH in 1994. DE-Consult works in the light rail and bus fields as well as the railway industry. Transurb of Belgium has opened offices in Gabon, Argentina and Malaysia to advise on urban transport issues. Some city-based transport authorities have set up consultancies. Semaly is a consultancy set up in 1968 by Lyon's local authorities in France. The consultancy carried out the conceptual design and construction management of the Lyon metro. The company now specialises in the design, procurement and construction management of mass transit systems. Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH of Karlsruhe set up TransportTechnologie-Consult Karlsruhe GmbH to trade on the experience gained by the introduction of tram-trains in the city.
Samenvatting