North East transport giant Arriva saw total revenues reach €2.46bn in the year it was snapped up by new American owners, accounts show.
The Sunderland-based company – one of the region’s largest businesses – was last year sold to I Squared Capital, a Miami-based group that invests in global infrastructure and has assets around the world, for a reported £1.4bn.
German national rail firm Deutsche Bahn AG announced in 2023 year that it had agreed a deal to sell the bus and train operator to the US group, but the deal didn’t complete until June 2024, following approval from the Deutsche Bahn supervisory board and the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport.
Now accounts for the 2024 financial year have been released, showing how operating profit was €127m, while pre-tax profit was €156m. The year also saw the firm make capital investments worth €285m. The accounts showed contract revenues, which mainly relate to amounts due from government bodies, was €1.76bn, while passenger revenue, from ticket sales, was €665m.
Arriva has its headquarters in Sunderland and now has a workforce of more than 36,200 people in 11 countries around Europe. It operates 12,152 buses and 634 trains through an extensive footprint across the Ƶ and Europe. It operates some local bus services in the North East and owns the Grand Central rail firm but lost the Northern rail franchise in 2020.
Within the Ƶ bus division, which employs 13,100 people, the firm saw turnover of €639m, and also has a €2.6bn order book. The Ƶ trains business, meanwhile, has revenue of €758m, and a €2.5bn order book. Directors highlight the firm’s commitment to a sustainable future in the accounts, driving a shift towards greater public transport use through increased efforts to switch to zero emissions vehicles.
The reports says: “At Arriva, we are deeply committed to building a sustainable future, focusing on encouraging modal shift by transitioning people from private cars to public transport, and decarbonising public transport to become greener, more sustainable and fit for a zero-emission future.
“Passenger transport plays an essential role in helping to address the challenges of climate change by supporting the shift from private car use to more sustainable transport options. We have successfully secured ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) funding to support 72 new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) coming into our fleets in the North East and the Midlands. Working in partnership with local transport authorities was key to this success.
“We are focused on working with our clients to accelerate the transition to a zero-emission (ZEV) fleet and promoting modal shift towards public transportation further to reduce carbon emissions and improve local air quality.
“This movement towards a ZEV fleet poses challenges as our understanding and experience of operating a ZEV fleet evolves. These challenges include, but are not limited to grid capacity constraints and lengthy lead times to deliver infrastructure projects, as well as regulatory and policy challenges, higher upfront costs, and in many markets higher life-cycle costs, resulting in a risk that the transition is slowed or prevented.”
