Arriva selected to operate the new Wales and borders franchise

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has announced today (1 August2003) that Arriva, one of the leading transport servicesorganisations in Europe, is the preferred bidder for the new Walesand Borders franchise.

Bob Davies, chief executive of Arriva plc, commented:

We are very pleased with the announcement and lookforward to working with the National Assembly for Wales, the SRAand other stakeholders to deliver high quality rail services forWales and the border counties.

Euan Cameron, managing director of Arriva Trains, the group's UKtrains division, added:

Arriva's growing expertise in UK rail, together withour experience in running trains in mainland Europe, means that weare able to respond to the needs of different countries andcommunities.

We have achieved substantial improvements at ArrivaTrains Northern, the rail franchise we operate in the north ofEngland. When we took over the franchise it was failing andeffectively bankrupt. With a strong focus on customer service andperformance we have worked in partnership with our employees andother stakeholders to turn it around.

The latest SRA figures show that out of the four traincompanies operating in the north east of England, Arriva TrainsNorthern is now the highest performer in terms of punctuality andreliability – and we have pledged to bring further improvements. Itis this focus, determination and robust management that we willbring to the Wales and Borders franchise.

Notes to editors

• Arriva is one of the largest passenger transport servicesorganisations in Europe. The Group has operations in Wales,England, Scotland, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spainand Sweden providing more than one billion passenger journeys everyyear. With around 30,000 employees, Arriva operates an extensiverange of services including buses, trains, commuter coaches andwater buses. In addition, in the UK, Arriva operates a nationalvehicle rental business and is engaged in bus and coachdistribution.
• Until July 2003 Arriva operated the Arriva Trains Merseysidefranchise. Arriva handed over the franchise to the new operators asthe best performing UK mainland train operator from June 2002 toJuly 2003 in terms of punctuality and reliability (based on SRAfigures).
• Arriva operates rail services in Denmark and TheNetherlands.