Fjord1 Partner AS is a joint venture between Fjord1 Nordvestlandske

Fjord1 Nordvestlandske

Fjord1 Nordvestlandske is a Norwegian transport conglomerate, formed in 2001 by the merger of Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar and Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane. The company itself is a holding company for its numerous subsidiaries. Company headquarters are located in Florø; however, the headquarters...

 (49%) and Keolis

Keolis

Keolis is the largest private sector French transport group. It runs passenger railways, tramways, bus networks, funiculars, trolley buses, and airport services. The company, based in Paris, is majority owned by SNCF, the French state rail operator. AXA Private Equity and Caisse de dépôt et...

 (51%) that that holds the contract to operate the Bergen Light Rail

Bergen Light Rail

Bergen Light Rail is a light rail system in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project is a fifteen-station, stretch between the city center and Nesttun, which opened on 22 June 2010...

 from 2010 to 2017 in a public service obligation

Public Service Obligation

In transport, public service obligation or PSO is an arrangement in which a governing body or other authority offers an auction for subsidies, permit the winning company a monopoly to operate a specified service of public transport for a specified period of time for the given subsidy...

 contract with Skyss

Skyss

Skyss is a county owned public transport administration company that will take over the management, but not operation, of public transport in Hordaland, Norway. The company will administrate public service obligation contracts as well as promote public transport in the county. The administration...

. The contract has an option for additional two years of service, and is worth .

The contract was announced on 2 April 2009, after Fjord1 Partner had beat Norges Statsbaner, Tide

Tide (transportation company)

Tide ASA is a public transport company in Hordaland, Norway which resulted from the merger of Gaia Trafikk and Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap . The company provides the public transit network in the city of Bergen, and most of the bus service in Hordaland...

 and Veolia

Veolia Transport Norway

Veolia Transport Norway is the Norwegian subsidiary of Veolia Transport, part of Veolia Corporation and operates through its subsidiaries buses, ferries and trams in the counties of Akershus, Finnmark, Nordland, Rogaland and Sør-Trøndelag, primarily through the purchase of former monopolists. The...

 for the contract. The infrastructure and the twelve Variotram

Variotram

Variotram is a German-designed articulated low-floor tram model. Since its introduction in 1993, the Variotram has been manufactured variously by ABB, Adtranz, Bombardier Transportation, and since 2001 by Stadler Rail. As of 2009, 254 trams have been ordered, with an additional 110 on option...

 vehicles are owned by Hordaland County Municipality

Hordaland county municipality

Hordaland County Municipality is the regional governing administration of Hordaland, Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of 46 upper secondary schools, with 17,000 pupils...

, while the operation subsidies are managed by Skyss, a county agency responsible for all public transport subsidies in Hordaland

Hordaland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...

.