As SYSTRA Consulting celebrates its milestone 20th year anniversary, it’s fascinating to reflect on the company’s accomplishments in the industry and how the progress in public transportation over the past 20 years has paralleled SYSTRA’s growth. In 1984 the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) Act was passed; it established a new order for transportation capital finance in New Jersey, SYSTRA’s first location.

In February 1985, LS Transit Systems (LSTS), the US domestic affiliate of SOFRETU, was created. Rail Transportation Systems, Inc. (RTS), the US domestic affiliate of SOFRERAIL, was formed in 1989. SOFRETU and SOFRERAIL merged, and in 1994, LSTS and RTS joined forces under the holding structure of SYSTRA USA Inc.

In 1986, SYSTRA began its first project - the Penn Station New York (PSNY) Access Project for NJ TRANSIT. SYSTRA investigated alternative rail services to increase capacity into Penn Station New York via the underused Hudson River rail tunnels. Nearly 20 years later, the tunnels and associated infrastructure are virtually at capacity. SYSTRA, in joint venture, is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) that examines investment strategies to provide new trans-Hudson River rail passenger capacity and improve accessibility to midtown Manhattan - the Access to the Region’s Core Project.

SYSTRA established a west coast office in the late 1980s, having a key design and construction management role in the implementation of rail transit in Los Angeles on the Blue and Green LRT lines. More than a decade later, the firm is providing the highly specialized train control engineering for the Green Line, a 20-mile light rail system operating from west of Los Angeles to the east. The office’s successes led to the opening of the San Francisco office in 1996. With Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) as a major client, SYSTRA has provided services for the Line Extensions - Automatic Train Control; Capital Corridor Implementation Plan, Daly City Yard Reconfiguration, and Integrated Computerized Control System.

In 1991, SYSTRA opened a Philadelphia office in Center City, and has since been working with the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) on various station rehabilitation, facility design, and systems improvement projects. The newest office, in Atlanta, Georgia, opened in early 2000, where SYSTRA is a partner with two other engineering firms in implementing a major regional and intercity passenger railroad network.