Croatia Bus In May 2013, Arriva entered the Croatian bus market with the purchase of Panturist Veolia Osijek (
Veolia Transport Central Europe) with 120 buses.
Czech Republic bodied
Dennis Dart in
Mladá Boleslav Arriva group bought three medium-sized bus transport companies (Transcentrum Bus s.r.o., Bosák Bus s.r.o. and Osnado s.r.o.) in 2006 and 2007 end established its own rail transport company Arriva vlaky s.r.o. in 2009. These four companies are owned through Arriva holding Česká republika s.r.o. which is owned by the Dutch company Arriva Coöperatie W.A. (majority of 99.9% since 2008). In July 2013, the current Veolia Transport Česká republika a.s. with its four subsidiary companies fell under Arriva group as Arriva Transport Česká republika a.s. The daughter companies were simultaneously renamed and rebranded as Arriva Praha s.r.o., Arriva Teplice s.r.o., Arriva Vychodni Cechy a.s. and Arriva Morava a.s. They operate primarily buses (it is the biggest bus transport operator in the Czech Republic) but also trolleybuses in Teplice (Arriva Teplice) and Desná Railway (Arriva Morava). The two Arriva holdings in the Czech Republic have not any direct interconnection yet. Moreover, the Arriva group operated in the Czech Republic also through the German rail transport company Vogtlandbahn GmbH. The former
Abellio companies Probo Bus and PT Real, purchased in December 2013, are owned by DB Czech Holding s.r.o. which is owned by German DB Mobility Logistics AG.
Bus and coach In December 2006, Arriva purchased Transcentrum Bus, operating services in
Mladá Boleslav District of the
Central Bohemian Region, north east of
Prague. In January 2007, Arriva acquired Bosák Bus, which operates to the south west of
Prague and the
Příbram District of the Central Bohemian Region. In November 2007, Arriva acquired Osnado, which operates bus and coach services in the north of
Hradec Králové Region in East Bohemia, in the foothills of the
Giant Mountains. The three bus companies retain their original names but with the Arriva corporate logo and livery. At the turn of 2014/2015, Bosák Bus s.r.o. was merged with Transcentrum Bus s.r.o. and Transcentrum Bus s.r.o. renamed to Arriva Střední Čechy s.r.o. In July 2013, [Veolia Transport] Česká republika a.s. was purchased with its four subsidiary companies which were renamed Arriva Morava, Arriva Praha, Arriva Teplice and Arriva Východní Čechy. These four companies are owned by holding company Arriva Transport Česká republika. It also operates trolleybuses in
Teplice (Arriva Teplice) and trains in Desná Railway (Arriva Morava). During December 2013,
Abellio's Probo Bus and PT Real operations were purchased with 110 buses. As at November 2016, Arriva operated 1,960 buses in the Czech Republic.
Train German rail transport company
Vogtlandbahn, owned by Arriva since 2004, operated several train routes in the Czech Republic as a subcontractor of
České dráhy (München – Regensburg – Hof – Plzeň – Praha, line VB2 Zwickau – Plauen – Bad Brambach – Františkovy Lázně – Cheb – Mariánské Lázně, line VB8 Marktredwitz – Schirnding – Cheb) and
GW Train Regio, formerly Viamont (line VB1 Zwickau – Klingenthal – Kraslice – Sokolov). Since December 2010, Vogtlandbahn operates under its own name the line Trilex (Liberec – Zittau – Varnsdorf – Rybniště/Seifhennersdorf). After Arriva was bought by Deutsche Bahn in 2010, Vogtlandbahn was resold to the Italian state railways
Ferrovie dello Stato together with Luxembourg infrastructure fund Cube. Between September 2013 and December 2013, Arriva vlaky tried operating a commercial service from
Praha Masarykovo nádraží to
Kralupy nad Vltavou in competition with subsidised lines of České dráhy. The company did not succeed with its effort to gain a subsidy for it to continue. Four trains on the local Desná Railway, operated by Connex Morava (lately Veolia Transport Morava) since 2002, were taken over by Arriva Morava in July 2013.
Hungary in
Budapest in June 2013
Bus In April 2008, Arriva purchased an 80% shareholding in Eurobus Invest, Hungary's largest private bus operator, which operates services in Hungary and Slovakia. In 2009, Arriva purchased the remaining 20%. Arriva is in a
joint venture with Videoton Holding operating as VT Transman. During May 2013, VT Transman began operating two bus contracts in
Budapest for eight years; this arrangement saw 150
Mercedes-Benz Citaros added to the company's 225-strong bus fleet. The joint venture now operates under the VT-Arriva brand.
Italy Bus and coach In July 2002, Arriva purchased
SAB Autoservizi and
SAF – Società Autoservizi Friuli-Venezia Giulia operating in
Lombardy,
Liguria and
Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions of northern Italy. During May 2004, Arriva expanded into the Udine area of the
Friuli-Venezia Giulia region via the purchase of 49% of 500 bus SAF; it exercised an option in December 2005 to increase its stake to 60%. In October 2005, Arriva began operating in the
Piemonte and
Valle d'Aosta regions of
northern Italy with an 80% shareholding in SADEM, increased to 100% in 2008. During 2006, Arriva purchased a 35% share in Trieste Trasporti, which increased to 40% in 2007. During 2008, it took control of
Brescia-based
SAIA Transporti. During June 1999, it formed a joint venture with
Nederlandse Spoorwegen to operate bus services in
Friesland; four years later, Arriva took full ownership, after which it was renamed
Arriva Openbaar Vervoer. During December 2016, it acquired most of
Limburg's bus and train systems.
Contracts Train During 1999, Arriva established
NoordNed as a joint venture company with the Dutch state-owned passenger rail company
Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Service was set to start in December 2015, but the project was cancelled in 2014 because the involved parties could not agree upon a final business case and because NS reactivated the original service to Brussels, which made the new Arriva service unnecessary. During December 2016, Arriva acquired the majority of
Limburg's bus and train systems. a train of Arriva has been extended from
Maastricht to
Liège-Guillemins in cooperation with the
National Railway Company of Belgium to replace the existing service there. The resulting
Three Countries Train runs from Liège-Guillemins to
Aachen Hbf.
Contracts Bus and train combination The
Province of Limburg awarded a contract in June 2015 to Arriva to provide for the entire public transport (buses and five regional rail lines) in Limburg from December 2016 up until 2031.
Abellio has originally been named the preferred bidder, but after it was discovered Abellio had gained some information that was not available to the other bidders, the contract was withdrawn. Another tenderer,
Veolia, announced they will object to the decision of the province.
Poland in July 2008
Bus During May 2013, Arriva entered the Polish bus market through its acquisition of
Veolia Transport Central Europe along with its 840 buses. In December 2007, Arriva commenced operating services on all non-electrified lines in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. During December 2010, Arriva RP was awarded a ten-year extension to its Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship activities. In December 2013, Arriva started operating trains on four electrified lines in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship using 12 existing trains to serve roughly 50 railway stations for an initial period of two years. In September 2017, it was announced that Arriva RP had secured several
open access paths in Poland. During October 2022, Arriva RP signed a new contract, valued at €157.5 million per year, covering the extension of its operations in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship region for a further eight years, up until 2030. Arriva RP also operates in the
Pomeranian Voivodeship during the summer months. During which, The company runs a seasonal line from
Bydgoszcz to
Hel, as well as a route from
Władysławowo to Hel.
Portugal Bus and coach In November 2000, Arriva purchased
João Carlos Soares e Filhos,
Viação Costa & Lino Lda,
Ami-Transportes and
Abílio da Costa Moreira & C Lda who were running inter-urban local bus services in the north west of Portugal. During June 2002, Arriva bought a 51% shareholding Transportes Sul do Tejo, a scheduled bus and coach operator in the growing commuter region south of
Lisbon. In September 2003, Arriva exercised an option to buy the remainder of the company.
Slovakia Bus In July 2008, Arriva entered the Slovak bus market with the purchase of an 80% share in Eurobus Invest, getting control over the SAD Nové Zámky and SAD Michalovce bus companies. In July 2015, it purchased SAD Liorbus and SAD Trnava. Coach services are operated under the Arriva Express brand. By November 2016, Arriva was employing 2,390 people and operated 1,335 buses. In the meantime, Arriva also bought the bus company Veolia transport Nitra. During 2021, Arriva was awarded a ten-year contract to operate IDS BK regional buses in
Bratislava Region via its subsidiary Arriva Mobility Services s.r.o.
Slovenia Bus In May 2013, Arriva entered the Slovenian bus market with the purchase of
Veolia Transport Central Europe (Veolia Transport
Štajerska, Veolia Transport
Dolenjska and
Primorska) with 270 buses. These operate on the northern and western parts of the island, linking the capital
Palma with towns such as
Soller,
Inca and
Alcúdia. During 2007, Arriva acquired
Autocares Fray Escoba and
Esfera in
Madrid. In July 2008, Arriva acquired
Empresa de Blas y Cia, which operates routes between Madrid and southwestern cities in its metropolitan area (
Alcorcón,
Móstoles,
Villaviciosa de Odón,
Navalcarnero...), and between those cities. Following its successful bid over the rival North West ambulance service for non–emergency transport, in Greater Manchester Arriva admitted it had submitted incorrect performance figures which had earned it a £1.5m bonus. Arriva had been the subject of many complaints about its service. Comparisons were drawn with misreporting in the
UK Serco scandal and MPs said the
Serious Fraud Office may need to be involved.
Train Class 220 Voyager at
Bristol Temple Meads in October 2010 Arriva has operated a number of
rail franchises in the UK since the
privatisation of
British Rail in 1996, through its subsidiary,
Arriva UK Trains. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. Arriva UK Trains currently runs a number of
train operating companies: •
Arriva Rail London: operates
London Overground, concession runs until May 2026 •
Chiltern Railways: operates services on the
Chiltern Main Line, franchise runs until December 2027 •
CrossCountry: operates long-distance cross-country routes, franchise runs until 15 October 2027 •
Grand Central:
open-access operator with services on the
East Coast Main Line purchased in November 2011 Following the purchase of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn in August 2010, Arriva UK Trains expanded to take over Deutsche Bahn's existing
DB Regio UK division which consisted of
Chiltern Railways,
Tyne & Wear Metro and
London Overground Rail Operations. Arriva UK Trains wishes to expand the number of UK Rail businesses it operates by developing open access operations and successfully bidding for further
Department for Transport rail franchises.
Alliance Rail Holdings continues to develop new open access proposals following the rejection of its initial plans by the Office of Rail Regulation in 2011. Between 2011 and 2012, Arriva's applications to bid for the
InterCity West Coast,
Greater Anglia,
Essex Thameside and
Thameslink franchises were all rejected by the
Department for Transport. Following this run of failure Arriva was publicly critical of the government's prequalification process and called for it to be abolished. ==Former operations==