Arriva orders 419 new buses for UK bus fleet

Arriva plc, one of the UK’s leading bus operators, todayconfirmed it has placed £70 million of orders for its UK busbusiness which will see more than 400 new buses come into serviceduring 2011. The orders build on the significant fleet renewal andgrowth by the group in recent years bringing the total in UK busfleet investment to £250m since 2008.

The investment will mean passengers across the UK will see newor newer buses on the roads in all of Arriva’s operatingareas, including London. The new buses will further increase theproportion of accessible low-floor vehicles in the company’sUK bus fleet, which reached 86 per cent in 2010, making bus travelmore accessible to more people.

Arriva has improved the environmental performance of itsservices through the use of EcoManager, a dashboard-mountedfuel-saving system, now installed across all UK bus operations.Passengers have also noted improvements in the cleanliness andcondition of Arriva’s buses in an independent survey of UKbus customers.

Mike Cooper, managing director – Arriva UK Bus, said:“This order demonstrates our commitment to further improvingthe reliability and standards of our bus services for ourcustomers. Together with our operational performance record, thecommitment to maintaining investment will give our local authoritypartners added confidence to do business with us.

“New investment and the bus refurbishment campaign beingrolled out across the business help us meet the quality servicestandards our customers have told us they expect and value. Bustravel offers great value for people, especially with recent VATincreases and fuel price hikes. We hope this investment willencourage more people to give the bus a try.”

Arriva’s sightseeing business in the capital, The OriginalTour, will take delivery of 16 new open-top buses. The investmentwill play an important role in building upon the popularity of thesightseeing tours. The order also features 20 hybrid double deckersfor London which will operate on route 73 from September 2011.

All new buses will feature Euro V engines, CCTV and EcoManageras standard and easy-access low floor entry. 

Notes:

• Vehicle manufacturers include: Optare, VDL, Volvo andWrightbus