Arriva

Arriva was born in a second-hand motorbike shop founded by the Cowie family in the British city of Sunderland, 70 years ago. Today, it is one of the biggest European public transport operators.

In 1980, after buying Grey-Green Coaches of London, the company made its way into the bus transport sector.

From then on, in the nineties it started to expand which made it one of the biggest operators in the UK, after acquiring the British Bus Group in 1996.

Since then it has been unstoppable. The company’s first buy on the continent was determinant: the Unibus Holding of Denmark in 1997. That move gave way to the creation of the name Arriva for 140 firms of transport.

This is the history since then:

• 1998. Arriva enters the Dutch market with the incorporation of Vancom Nederland and Veonn & Hanze, making it the first supplier of inter-city transport in the country.
• 1999. This is the year Arriva is introduced in Spain, with the acquisition of two companies in Galicia. It also starts developing in the rail sector, operating in the Dutch regions of Friesland and Groningen. It also continues to grow in Denmark after buying Bus Danmark.
• 2000. Arriva enters the British rail transport market and the Portuguese bus market, buying Ami-Transportes and Abilio da Costa Moreira.
• 2001. Arriva acquires the biggest bus operator in Denmark: Combus.
• 2002. A second step in the Spanish market: Arriva buys Autocares Mallorca and Bus Nord in the Balearic Islands. The company also advances in Portugal after acquiring the majority of Transportes Sul do Tejo. Furthermore, it starts in Italy on a high note. It becomes the biggest operator in the country after buying SAB Autoservizi.
• 2003. Arriva makes its way into the rail market in Denmark and Wales (Arriva Trains Wales/ Trenau Arriva Cymru), in the UK.
• 2004. Arriva reaches Germany. It acquires Prignitzer Eisenbahn Gruppe, which includes a major participation in the rail operator in the state of Bavaria, Regentalbahn. It also grows in Italy through Societa Autoservizi; and in Denmark by joining Wulff Bus A/S.
• 2005. Arriva grows in Germany buying one of the biggest bus operators of the country, Sippel Group. And also grows in Italy with the SADEM buses, and obtains railway contracts in Germany and Holland.
• 2006. The Czech Republic is put on the Arriva map. It acqires Transcentrum Bus, a bus operator from the north of Prague. It also has a hand in the first passenger transport company of Portugal: Barraqueiro Group; it buys two new bus companies in Germany, another in the UK and obtains several railway concessions in Sweden, Holland and Germany.
• 2007. Arriva continues growing in Spain acquiring the operators Esfera and Fray Escoba from Madrid. It starts to manage the most extense railway system in the UK: CrossCountry; and reaches the northwest of Poland by associating with PCC Rail. Along with this, it gains market ground in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Denmark
• 2008. Arriva acquires 80% of Eurobus Invest, the most important private bus operator in Hungary, also present in Slovakia, which has 840 vehicles and a staff of 1500. It also buys the Spanish company De Blas y Cía, one of the first bus companies in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.