Arriva operates 19,500 buses across 14 European countries. We cover everything from taking passengers to school and work, to the airport and even on sightseeing tours. Our low-floor, environmentally-friendly vehicles are making bus travel more accessible to more people every day.
A trusted provider
Arriva bus services span local and commercial routes, sightseeing tours, airports, schools and chartered journeys. Having started out in the UK back in 1980, we began our journey in the mainland Europe bus market with our first acquisition in Denmark in 1997. Our largest bus market remains the UK, with a fleet of 5,900 vehicles providing services for customers in London, the rest of England and in Wales.
More than 95 per cent of our UK buses are low-floor for easier passenger access. As part of our commitment to green energy we have also introduced 153 hybrid double-deck vehicles. In London, we run nearly 20 per cent of the bus services and cover over 60 million miles, providing 400 million passenger journeys in the capital every year.
Market liberalisation and growth
The bus market in Europe is characterised by many different regulatory environments, ranging from complete liberalisation to state-run services in countries such as Hungary and Croatia.
In areas yet to liberalise, we look to work with existing operators as part of a joint venture or via a stake in an existing business. We have successfully established Arriva as a local market contender in many of these countries and expanded our bus services across Europe as a result. For example, we were recently awarded two eight-year contracts to work with partner Videoton in Budapest, where we now have an 18 per cent market share.
Innovative services
We are already trialling hydrogen buses in the Czech Republic in cooperation with the local Nuclear Research Institute in Neratovice. In Portugal we launched a new Greenbox eco driving initiative on 250 buses in 2013 with our bus partner Transportes Sul do Tejo. This uses the latest on-board eco technology to help save fuel, energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions. In Spain we have also introduced an Ecolite fuel economy system on 217 of our DeBlas buses to reduce fuel consumption and improve overall environmental performance.
Arriva buses in service:
- UK – 5,900
- Croatia – 120
- Czech Republic – 1,960
- Denmark – 1,230
- Hungary – 410
- Italy – 2,360
- Netherlands – 860
- Poland – 755
- Portugal – 3,290
- Serbia – 245
- Slovakia – 815
- Slovenia – 300
- Spain – 440
- Sweden – 815
