RATP Dev, a major player in the public transport sector, has acquired “The Original London Sightseeing Tour”, a pioneer  operator in the sightseeing sector in London, as part of its global expansion strategy.

Established in 1951, "The Original London Sightseeing Tour" has a fleet of 90 buses and operates three sightseeing circuits in the centre of London along with three feeder lines for passengers from major rail terminals.

The Original Tour carries over one million passengers each year.

Commenting on the move, RATP Dev executive board chairman François-Xavier Perin, said: "We are delighted to be acquiring this company which is an ideal component of our development strategy in a sector boasting of high growth potential and in the United Kingdom."

"RATP Dev is very proud to be able to offer sightseeing circuits now in the world’s three most frequently visited cities: London, New York and Paris. This will further allow us to create synergies not only between The Original Tour and our other London operations, but also with our other sightseeing activities," he noted.
 
The company, Arriva’s subsidiary, has a workforce of 200 in low season and up to 370 in the peak season.

“We look forward to working with the existing management and staff of The Original Tour, whose expertise and experience are vital aspects of this company’s appeal to its customers and to our extensive international plans”, François-Xavier Perin added.  
 
RATP Dev is one of the few public transport operators in the world to have expertise and experience in the sightseeing sector thanks to its subsidiary in Paris, in New York and in Bath, in the United Kingdom.


RATP Dev is present in the UK through the following subsidiaries:

*London United, one of the leading bus operators in the Greater London area, which operates a fleet of over 850 vehicles. *Metrolink - operates and maintains the Manchester tramway network
*Epsom Coaches - operates bus lines on behalf of Transport for London and the Surrey County Council, as well as coach services
*Bournemouth Transport - operates the Yellow Buses brand, bus lines in Bournemouth (Southern England) and inter-urban coaches
*The Bath Bus Company - offers sightseeing circuits in Bath, Eastbourne, Windsor and Cardiff
*Selwyns Travel - a bus and coach company, which has inter-urban transport and transport-on-demand services for the cities of Manchester, Runcorn and St Helens.
 
The United Kingdom is a strategic region for RATP Dev with revenues in the region of €300 million ($388 million) in 2013 and a workforce of over 4,500, he added.-TradeArabia News Service