Arriva wins Cymru National Transport Award

A groundbreaking partnership between three of Arriva’s businesses has secured a prestigious Welsh award.

Arriva has won a Partnership Award at the CILT Cymru National Transport Awards for its approach to providing transport services during the 2010 Ryder Cup.

Arriva UK Trains Road Transport Section, Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) and Arriva’s TGM Group coach business worked seamlessly to deliver the prestigious contract.

Providing transport for VIPs, the media and spectators, Arriva’s combined team saw three months of detailed operational planning come to fruition with more than 150 private coaches providing airport and hotel transfers together with luxury transport for the European and USA teams and an internal shuttle bus services with a bus link connecting with train services at the newly completed £22m Newport Station.

With more than two inches of rain falling at the Celtic Manor extending the tournament into an unprecedented four days, Arriva was praised for its logistical planning which ensured visitors gotto the venue.

TGM delivered on-the-ground coach services which carried more than 70,000 golf fans and VIPs from their hotels across the region to the tournament. Arriva UK Trains Road Transport Section, created to provide rail replacement and train crew transport for Arriva’s rail franchises, used its contacts, local route knowledge and management expertise to commission the additional high quality, third party coach operators to complement TGM’s coaches and fulfil the contract. TGM and Arriva UK Trains Road Transport Section also worked alongside ATW’s special events planning team who help co-ordinate rail services for major eventsincluding concerts and sporting internationals.

The awards, held in Cardiff City Hall on 27 May, celebrate best practice and recognise organisations that have made a lasting difference to services in Wales. On receiving the award, Matthew Moody, planning and communications manager for Arriva UK Trains said: “This award demonstrates the spirit of partnership between Arriva’s businesses and our sub-contracted operators with whom we have built up relations through our core business ofrail replacement coach and bus operations.”

Transport expert professor Stuart Cole, director of the Wales Transport Research Centre at the University of Glamorgan, said: “It was a really good job well done. I’m not very easy to impress but they have impressed me. I have spoken to a number of coach operators and have heard nothing from them other than they knew exactly what they had to do and that it was a success. The railway operation was completed by a hair’s breadth, but was ready as promised and the connections from Newport worked well. Icould not see any downside. It was well planned.”

Simon Turton, Arriva Trains Wales’ special events manager, added: “Our team was proud to be involved in delivering such a joined up operation for this prestigious event and the partnership between bus and rail combined with joined up and robust communications allowed us to provide a seamless service for spectators.”