Arriva

Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus and/or rail operations in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

It is the third largest of the 'big five' bus operators in the UK, after First Group and Stagecoach, and ahead of Go-Ahead and National Express.

History
The company was founded by T.S. Cowie in Sunderland in 1938 as a second hand motorcycle dealer trading as T.Cowie Limited. In 1948 the business was re-launched by Tom Cowie, the founder's son, still selling motorcycles. It moved into motor retailing in the 1960s. In 1972 it formed Cowie Contract Hire which became the largest contract hire business in the United Kingdom. In 1980 it acquired the Grey Green Coach and Bus Company in London. In 1984 it acquired the Hanger Group and, with it, Interleasing, a large vehicle leasing business. Then in 1996 it bought British Bus Group, which had acquired a number of privatised bus companies.

In 1997 it changed its name to Arriva plc. In that year it also bought Unibus in Denmark, its first venture outside the UK. Around the year 2000 it also started to participate in the opportunities created by rail privatisation. In 2003 it sold its motor retailing business and in 2006 it sold its vehicle rental business to Northgate for £129m.

In 2010 it was reported that the German Deutsche Bahn and French SNCF companies were considering submitting bids for the business; Keolis (SNCF subsidiary) and Arriva entered discussions regarding a merger.,  on 19 April 2010 it was announced that Deutsche Bahn was to make an offer for Arriva at 775pence per share (£1.5 billion);  the merger was approved by the European Commission in August 2010, subject to DB divesting some Arriva services in Germany. The merger became effective on 27 August 2010.

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 Buses Wales (Arriva Cymru Ltd) - separated from Arriva North West and Wales in January 2009
 * 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 - trading as Arriva Teesside Ltd, Arriva Tees & District Ltd, Arriva Durham County Ltd.
 * Arriva Northumbria
 * Arriva North West - consisting of Arriva Liverpool, Arriva Manchester, Arriva Merseyside and 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 - including Classic Coaches, Excel Passenger Logistics, Flight Delay Services, Link Line Coaches, Network Colchester and OFJ Connections.
 * 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 concession was previously operated by 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.

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 semicircle 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:
 * Arriva London - red livery
 * Arriva Trains Wales - premier express service between North and South Wales, this service which offers First Class travel and catering has a deep blue livery
 * CrossCountry trains.
 * Interurban branded buses: blue skirt and "cow's horns"
 * Green Line Coaches
 * New Enterprise Coaches: White with red logos
 * The Original Tour
 * Tellings-Golden Miller and all of its subsidiaries
 * Driver training vehicles - white with deep grey skirt.

In late 2009, a decision was finally made in the United Kingdom to make the previously "interurban" livery the standard livery for buses there, after a long period of confusion, with both repaints and new deliveries going into both liveries. A repaint programme has now started for all buses in the fleet. Continental European buses continue to carry the previous colour scheme.

Bus operations
Arriva moved into the Dutch market in 1998 when 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, Rivierenland, Meierij, Oost-Brabant, and Vijfheerenlanden (DAV) area. In 2009, Arriva lost the contracts in Drenthe and Groningen but won the 2010 contract of the Achterhoek and rewon the contract of Rivierenland.

Rail operations
Arriva established a joint venture with NS 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 (Merwede-Lingelijn). From 2012, Arriva operates the trains in the Achterhoek.

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

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
As part of the takeover of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, Arrivas's German railway operations are due to be sold in 2011 to avoid antitrust suits.

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 Saxony, northern and southern Bavaria and eastern Thuringia, and a long distance service to Berlin.

In April 2007 Arriva acquired an 86% stake in the Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) : a majority shareholder in the Metronom Eisenbahngesellschaft which operates regional train services on the Hamburg to Bremen, Hamburg to Hanover, Hamburg to Cuxhaven  and Hanover to Göttingen lines.

Bus operations
Arriva has operated bus lines in southern Sweden/The Skåne Region since 1997 when it acquired Unibus of Denmark.

Arriva also operates in the city of Jönköping and surrounding areas

Arriva operates bus lines in some municipalities of Stockholms län: Sigtuna kommun, Upplands Väsby kommun and Ekerö kommun.

Arriva will be operating in the Halland Region from 2010, partly taking over services from Swebus.

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

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 Scandinavia.

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 only)
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 only)
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 - A 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 their operations in A 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., which operates routes between Madrid and its southwestern suburbs (Alcorcón, Mostoles, Villaviciosa de Odon...), and between these very suburbs. Buses in these towns are called "Blasas" after the name of the company.

Portugal (Bus operations only)
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 sqmi. They also operate schools and works contracts here.

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

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.

Rail operations
Although Arriva operates on its own no Czech trains, some of the Vogtlandbahn's services, both regional near the borders and long-distance Alex 1, operate on the Czech territory. Although the trains use mostly Arriva's rolling stock and locomotives, on the Czech area they are staffed by the train crews of a Czech railway company.

Besides that, Arriva tries to become more present on the Czech railway market, by taking place in every competition for rail service operation, so far unsuccessfully.

Poland (Rail operations only)
Arriva formed a joint venture with PCC Rail, called Arriva PCC Sp. z o.o. (means Ltd. in Polish), 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.

Hungary (Bus operations only)
Arriva acquires 80 per cent of Interbus Invest, the holding company of Eurobus Invest, Hungary's largest private bus operator which operates bus services in Hungary and Slovakia.

Malta (Bus Operations only)
Although the service is not currently in place, the Arriva Consortium (Arriva plc, Tumas Group, Malta Land Transport) was chosen to be the new operator for Malta's public transport network. The service by Arriva is expected to commence in July 2011.

Senior management
David Martin has been the chief executive officer of Arriva since 19 April 2006.