Arriva grows its position in the Italian public transport market

Arriva plc, the transport services organisation which operatesover 6,000 buses and two rail franchises in the UK, has announcedthe acquisition of a 49 per cent interest in SocietàAutoservizi F.V.G S.p.A (SAF), the operator of bus services innorth-eastern Italy.

SAF's major activity is the operation of a bus contract in theUdine area that runs to December 2010. The company has some 600employees and a fleet of nearly 500 vehicles delivering interurbanand urban services. Arriva has the option to acquire a further 11per cent interest in SAF by 31 December 2006.

Arriva first entered the Italian market in July 2002 with theacquisition of SAB, the country's largest private sector buscompany, which also operates in the north of Italy, principally inthe Lombardy region.

Bob Davies, Arriva's chief executive, said:

This is an excellent opportunity to develop ourbusiness in Italy, which has one of the largest public transportmarkets in Europe.

We are well-positioned to benefit from the growingopportunities in both the bus and rail sectors and we look forwardto working with the management and employees of this successfulbusiness.

Following the announcement last month that it had entered theGerman rail market Arriva now has operations in eight member statesof the European Union with significant positions in the UnitedKingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and Italy.

Ends

Notes to editors

• Arriva is one of the UK's largest bus operators with over 6,000buses. It operates in the North East, North West, and South East ofEngland, Yorkshire, the Midlands, Wales and Scotland.
• Arriva also operates two rail franchises in the UK –Arriva Trains Wales and Arriva Trains Northern – and has railoperations in Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.