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Arriva

Arriva plc is a British-based international public transport operator, headquartered in Sunderland. It has bus and/or rail operations in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

It is the third largest bus operator in the UK after First and Stagecoach and has become one of the big five operators that have come to dominate the UK bus market since deregulation, the others being First Group (the largest), Stagecoach, Go-Ahead and National Express.

History

The company was founded by Tom Cowie in Sunderland in 1938 as a second hand motorcycle dealer trading as T.Cowie Limited. It moved into motor retailing in the 1960s. In 1980 it acquired Grey-Green Buses in London and in 1996 it bought British Bus Group. At that time it also participated in the opportunities created by rail privatisation. In 1997 it changed its name to Arriva plc. In that year it also bought Unibus in Denmark, its first venture into Europe. In 2003 it sold its motor retailing business and in 2006 it sold its vehicle rental business to Northgate for £129m.

Operations

United Kingdom

Bus operations

Arriva's bus network in the UK originates from its acquisition of Grey-Green Buses in 1980 and the British Bus Group in 1996. It has the following operating units:

Arriva London - trading as Arriva London North, Arriva London South and Leaside Travel.
Arriva Midlands - trading as Arriva Derby, Arriva Fox County, Arriva Midlands North and Stevensons of Uttoxeter Ltd. City Linx (Tamworth)
Arriva North East
Arriva Northumbria
Arriva North West and Wales - trading as Arriva Cymru, Arriva Liverpool, Arriva Manchester, Arriva Merseyside and Arriva North West. From January 2009 North West & Wales operations will divorce and form two new operating units; Arriva Bus Cymru (for Wales) & Arriva North West.
Arriva Scotland West
Arriva Shires & Essex - trading as Arriva East Herts & Essex, Arriva The Shires and MK Metro.
Arriva Southern Counties - trading as Arriva Guildford & West Surrey, Arriva Kent & Sussex, Arriva Kent Thameside, Arriva Maidstone, Arriva Medway Towns, Arriva Southend and New Enterprise Coaches.
Arriva Yorkshire
Centrebus Holdings - 40% shareholding, trading as K-Line and The Huddersfield Bus Company.
Green Line - operates express coach services between London and the Home Counties.
Tellings-Golden Miller
The Original Tour - also trading as Arriva Wandsworth.
The Heritage Fleet

Rail operations

Arriva Trains Wales/Trenau Arriva Cymru operates the majority of passenger rail service in Wales and the Welsh Marches. It gained the franchise in 2003 and it is due to run for 15 years, subject to Welsh Assembly Government reviews every five years. Arriva also operates CrossCountry which provides rail services on long distance cross country routes in England and Scotland from 11 November 2007 to April 2016. The franchise taken over from Virgin CrossCountry.

Arriva Trains Merseyside ran urban rail services on Merseyside from 2000 to 2003 and Arriva Trains Northern ran local rail services in Northern England from 2000 to 2004.

Netherlands

Bus operations

Arriva moved into the Dutch market in 1998 when the it bought Vancom Nederland and Veonn & Hanze. In 2002 it won tenders in Gelderland and in 2003 won further work in the City of Groningen, Province of Groningen and Drenthe. It won further contracts in 2005 in Drenthe and Waterland and later in the Drechtsteden, Alblasserwaard and Vijfheerenlanden (DAV) area.

Rail operations

Arriva established a joint venture with NS Rail in 1999. It took complete control of this business in 2003. In 2005 it secured a contract to operate trains from Groningen to Leeuwarden, Delfzijl, Roodeschool and Nieuweschans. It also secured a contract to operate trains from Leeuwarden to Harlingen Haven and to Stavoren. Later that year it secured a contract to operate trains from Dordrecht to Gorinchem and on to Geldermalsen.

Passes and tickets issued under the National Tariff System are valid on Arriva trains.

Germany

Bus operations

In 2005 Arriva bought Sippel which operates buses in Frankfurt, Mainz and Wiesbaden. It went to buy Verkehrsbetriebe Bils in 2006, which operates buses in Münster, Warendorf and Hamm and later in the year it acquired Neißeverkehr which operates buses in the Neiße region.

Rail operations

In 2004 Arriva acquired Prignitzer Eisenbahn GmbH (PEG), which operates several lines in east Germany around Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, North-Rhine Westphalia and Pomerania.

In 2004 it also bought Regentalbahn AG, sometimes known as the Länderbahn, with its subsidiary Vogtlandbahn, which operates regional rail services in southern Sachsen, northern and southern Bavaria and eastern Thuringia, and a long distance service to Berlin.

Since April 2007 Arriva has held an 86% stake in the Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE), which operates the Metronom Eisenbahngesellschaft operating regional train services on the Hamburg to Bremen, Hamburg to Hanover and Hanover to Göttingen lines. The remaining 14% is held by Verkehrsbetriebe Bachstein GmbH, a regional transport company in Celle.

Sweden

Bus operations

Arriva has operated bus lines in southern Sweden since 1997 when it acquired Unibus of Denmark.

Rail operations

In June 2007 Arriva won a nine-year franchise for the Pagatag regional rail services in Skåne County, south Sweden.

Denmark

Bus operations

In 1997 Arriva entered the Danish bus transport market, acquiring Unibus. In 2004 it went on to buy Wulff which operates buses in Jutland and Copenhagen and in 2007 it acquired Veolia Scandanavia.

Rail operations

In 2003 Arriva was the first private company to win passenger rail franchises, running services in Mid and North Jutland on eight-year concessions. They continue to bid for new franchises in the phased privatisation of the national rail network.

Italy

Bus operations

In 2002 Arriva acquired SAB Autoservizi and entered the Italian market, operating in the Lombardy, Liguria and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions of northern Italy.

In 2004 Arriva expanded into the Udine area of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region with the acquisition of 60 per cent of SAF.

In 2005 Arriva began operating SADEM in the Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta regions of northern Italy, near Turin. They run public transport bus services as well as commercial, contract and private hire services.

In 2007 Arriva entered a joint venture with Ferrovie Nord Milano Group (FNM SpA) and completed the acquisition of 49 per cent of Italian bus operator SPT Linea.

In 2008 they took control of SAIA Transporti.

Spain

Bus operations

In 1999 Arriva entered the Spanish bus market in Galicia acquiring Mercancia Ideal Gallego and Transportes Finisterre. Their services cover three of the four provinces in the region - La Coruña, Lugo and Ourense - including part of the famous Santiago pilgrimage route. They are now focusing on working with the metropolitan transport authorities to develop our operations in La Coruña and Ferrol.

In 2002 Arriva began bus service operations in Majorca. Their Autocares Mallorca and Bus Nord operations cover the northern and western parts of the island, linking the capital Palma with towns such as Soller, Inca and Alcúdia.

In 2007 Arriva acquired Esfera, an operator in Madrid, providing school contracts and private hire bus services, and Autocares Fray Escoba, another local operator.

In 2008 Arriva bought Empresa de Blas y Cia, another bus operator.

Portugal

Bus operations

In 2000 Arriva entered the Portuguese bus market, acquiring Ami-Transportes and Abilo da Costa Moreira who were running inter-urban services in the north-west of Portugal.

In 2002 Arriva acquired Transportes Sul do Tejo, a scheduled bus and coach operator in the growing commuter region south of Lisbon, an area of some 600 square miles. They also operate schools and works contracts here.

In 2006, Arriva acquired a 21.5 per cent share of leading transport company Barraqueiro, with bus and rail operations in and around Lisbon, increasing the stake by 10% in 2008.

Czech Republic

Bus operations

In December 2006, Arriva entered the Czech Republic bus market with the acquisition of Transcentrum Bus s.r.o, a leading company operating bus services to the north-east of Prague. Based in Mladá Boleslav, they operate in the Central Bohemian Region with additional services in the regions of Liberec and Hradec Králové.

Arriva provide commercial services, contracted services to local authorities, contracted private services and a travel agency. They also have offices in central Prague.

In January 2007, Arriva acquired Bosák Bus s.r.o, which operates to the south west of Prague (Příbram), strengthening their position in the Czech Republic bus market.

In November 2007, Arriva acquierd OSNADO s.r.o., which operates around Trutnov district, near the Krkonoše mountains.

Poland

Rail operations

Arriva formed a joint venture with PCC Rail in December 2006. In December 2007 Poland became the 10th country in which Arriva operates transport services. The company won a tender to serve passenger rail traffic on some non-electrified lines in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, thus effectively breaking the monopoly of the Polskie Koleje Państwowe.

Livery

In the main, for bus and rail operations, Arriva uses a uniform corporate livery. The livery features an aquamarine base colour with a Cotswold Stone coloured semi-circle on the upper front section, outlined by a white stripe. A thin yellow stripe runs around the base of the vehicle, and the same yellow is used for any lettering on the vehicle, although some vehicles have lettering in the same light green as their logo.

Various route branding schemes see the liberal application of basic colours and wording to some routes, usually through the application of vinyl stickers.

Initially to comply with Transport for London's contract requirements, Arriva London adapted its livery by using red as the base colour, with extra red at the front to form "horns" instead of a full circle. Latterly, London vehicles have been painted all-over red, with almost no trace of the Arriva corporate livery.

Exceptions to standard livery include: