News

Another month, another acquistion for SYSTRA

SYSTRA, French-owned global tranport planning and rail engineering specialist is continuing its acquistion spree with the announcement yuesterday ( April 19) that it has acquired SIAS the Edinburgh based transport planning consultancy. The 40-strong SIAS team has a breadth and depth of transport planning technical expertise with a specialty in strategic modelling, appraisal and microsimulation modelling using their Paramics software.

SYSTRA claims that the acquisition will broaden its transport planning team particularly in Scotland and will further strengthen the company's resource base and technical expertise in transport modelling and microsimulation which will benefit clients throughout the UK.

"We very much welcome SIAS staff to SYSTRA, it's a natural fit: SYSTRA's global footprint combined with SIAS' niche expertise can only strengthen the wealth of the services we provide our clients," said Tim O Neill, Systra's CEO

SYSTRA is jointly owned by two major French public transit operators (RATP and SNCF) and has worked in over 150 countries and 350 cities championing new approaches to mobility, making mass transport more sustainable and more accessible.

The company has set out ambitious plans to double its turnover, profitability and workforce by 2018 and is targetting the UK as a major growth market.

In March SYSTRA acquired Scott Lister, an Australian head-quartered company specialising in systems engineering and risk management, largely for the railway sector. This acquisition gives SYSTRA the wherewithal to build up its activity in Australia, a high-potential market for transport infrastructure.

Scott Lister was founded in 2009 by associates Mark Scott and Howard Lister and has a staff of 60. The company's chief activity consists of engineering assurance, safety and reliability assessment, comprehensive (design, integration, construction, testing & commissioning) engineering services, as well as project management and management systems development. With Australian offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, the company also has offices in Singapore and London.