Keolis Sweden leads the way in public transport with KeOps

Context: Sweden’s transition to electric public transport

Sweden is one of the fastest growing electric fleet markets in Europe and Keolis has helped accelerate the shift by introducing hundreds of electric buses across its Swedish operations. As electrification increased, the company recognized that traditional operating methods were no longer sufficient to manage the complexity of energy use, charging availability and changing passenger needs. Diesel operations were predictable, but electric systems required constant monitoring and new decision rules that cannot be handled manually on a larger scale.

With almost half of its fleet expected to be electric within the near future, Keolis Sweden saw both opportunity and urgency. Drivers, mechanics and traffic controllers across the country needed to adapt to new tools and new ways of thinking about vehicle performance. Cold weather, traffic patterns and local energy markets directly affected how buses operated and how schedules were planned. Operating teams also needed a deeper understanding of high voltage safety and onboard digital systems to keep passengers and employees safe.

The geographic spread of Keolis Sweden added another layer of complexity. Electric buses deployed in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Dalarna and other regions faced different infrastructure conditions, grid capacity and energy pricing. The company required a solution that could manage variation and translate large volumes of real-time data into clear operational decisions. KeOps was developed in Sweden to meet this specific challenge.

Innovation: KeOps enables smarter, data-driven public transport operations 

KeOps is  a data-driven platform that allows Keolis Sweden to operate its electric fleet with greater precision. The system combines machine learning and live IoT data from every electric vehicle to monitor range, speed, energy consumption and route demands. Instead of waiting for issues to arise on the road, KeOps predicts where problems may occur and supports teams in adjusting vehicle assignments before service is affected.

The system evaluates the entire network every minute, which gives Keolis detailed visibility into fleet health and charging status. This supports electric bus fleet optimization by matching the right vehicle to the right trip based on battery life, weather and route profile. It means a bus with strong reserve capacity can take a longer trip, while a vehicle with a lower charge is redirected to shorter service or guided back to the depot. This represents a shift from static scheduling to dynamic decision-making supported by KeOps.

Smart charging solutions for buses are integrated into the platform so that recharging is scheduled when prices are lowest and chargers are most available. Sweden’s energy mix relies heavily on renewable power and prices fluctuate throughout the day, making charging decisions critical. Keolis Sweden avoids both expensive peak charging and unnecessary downtime. The result is more efficient fleet management grounded in real-time context rather than fixed assumptions.

Benefits: lower costs, higher reliability and safer operations

The introduction of KeOps has delivered measurable benefits. The first is the reduction of operating costs through better energy planning and more efficient vehicle deployment. By selecting the optimal bus for each route and charging at the right time, Keolis Sweden minimizes electricity spending while extending the useful life of key assets. Electric buses have higher purchase costs than diesel but lower operating costs, and KeOps helps fully realize those savings.

Predictive maintenance fleet management capability is another critical advantage. Because electric buses rely on battery systems and high-voltage components, technical failures can be more complex than traditional mechanical breakdowns. KeOps flags early performance anomalies across charging systems, power electronics and battery health so that maintenance teams can address issues before service disruption occurs. Preventing failure in winter conditions can mean the difference between a smoothly running network and significant service delays.

The platform also strengthens daily collaboration between drivers, traffic controllers, schedulers and maintenance teams. All stakeholders work from the shared operational view, which reduces uncertainty and removes the need for last-minute decisions based on incomplete information. The improvements are visible not only behind the scenes but on the street: passengers benefit from reliable timetables, quieter buses and journeys free from the fumes and noise of combustion engines. Operational confidence supports Keolis’ mission of providing accessible public transport that works for all riders.

Next steps: scaling KeOps across Sweden and beyond

The experience in Sweden shows that data in public transport can deliver environmental gains and operational performance at the same time. KeOps has already been deployed across hundreds of vehicles and continues to expand as more buses enter service. The system is positioned to grow as fleet size increases and as more layers of operational complexity are digitized. The platform design allows new data sources and new operational sites to be integrated without rebuilding the system from the ground up.