It was founded as a subsidiary of British transport company Arriva plc in 2003; Arriva Deutschland quickly expanded its presence via acquisitions, such as the German train operators Prignitzer Eisenbahn and Regentalbahn in 2004, the German bus operator Sippel in 2005, and the rail company Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen on April 2007. As such, within only a few years, Arriva Deutschland was providing both bus and train services across numerous German cities, including Münster, Frankfurt, and Berlin, as well as regional services across Saxony, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. The company relocated its headquarters numerous times during these early years to better suit the location and scale of its operations.
During 2010, the German state railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) agreed terms to purchase Arriva plc; while the acquisition was approved by the European Commission, DB was required to sell on Arriva Deutschland to avoid adversely affecting competition in Germany. While multiple companies expressed interest, including Keolis, Veolia and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, it was ultimately sold to a consortium of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and the French-Luxembourg investment fund Cube and renamed Netinera during early 2011.
Through the 2010s, Netinera has continued to develop its presence in Germany, such as the establishment of a new subsidiary called Vlexx to operate regional passenger train services in Rheinland-Pfalz, and the winding-down of operations under the Sippel brand. It operates various subsidiaries, including Alex, Enno, Erixx, Die Länderbahn, Metronom, OberpfalzBahn, ODEG, VogtlandBahn, and WaldBahn.[1]
Bus
In 2005, Arriva Deutschland purchased Sippel, a German operator of buses in Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden[2] and Erlangen.[3] After losing several public contracts, Sippel ultimately ceased operations at the end of 2021.[4]
Arriva went on to buy Verkehrsbetriebe Bils in 2006, which operates buses in Münster, Warendorf and Hamm, and later that same year, it acquired Neißeverkehr which operates buses in the Neiße region. After purchasing a majority stake in Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen (OHE) in April 2007, OHE's bus subsidiaries Cebus in Celle and KVG Bus in Stade also became part of Arriva.[citation needed]
During October 2004, it purchased a 77 percent shareholding in Regentalbahn with its subsidiary Vogtlandbahn, which operates regional rail services in southern and eastern Saxony, northern and southern Bavaria, eastern Thuringia as well as parts of the Czech Republic.[8] In 2006, Arriva Deutschland's shareholding was increased to 97 percent.[9]
During September 2012, Netinera ordered 63 Alstom Coradia Lintdiesel multiple-units; these were ordered to be used on regional passenger train services in Rheinland-Pfalz under the umbrella of a new subsidiary called Vlexx.[12] Operations started in December 2014 and were extended in December 2020.[13][14] For 2016, it was reported that DB's share of domestic regional passenger services had declined, largely due to the impact made by competing private companies such as Netinera.[15]
In 2021, Netinera announced that it would launch two tenders for the supply of up to 90 train sets, comprising a mix of battery electric multiple units (BEMUs) and electric multiple units (EMUs), to be operated by its various subsidiary operations across Germany.[1] During July 2023, the company was selected as one of the future operators of the Leipzig S-Bahn system.[16][17]
Corporate affairs
Upon its founding in 2003, Arriva Deutschland was initially headquartered in Hamburg. Following the acquisition of Regentalbahn in 2004, the company's seat was located to Regentalbahn's head office at Viechtach in Bavaria. In the following years, many administrative and management positions were located in Berlin, where the company headquarters were officially moved to in early 2023.[18]
During April 2010, German state railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) submitted a takeover offer for Arriva Plc valued at £7.75 per share (£1.585billion).[19][20] Following a review of the proposed acquisition, the European Commission ruled that, in order to comply with competition rules, DB would have to discard Arriva's German operations.[21][22]Keolis, Veolia and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane openly expressed their interest in buying the business.[23] In January 2011, it was sold to a consortium comprising Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, holding a 51 percent of the shares, and the French-Luxembourg investment fund Cube, holding the remaining 49 percent.[24][25] Shortly thereafter, it was renamed Netinera.[26]
In February 2019, it was reported that Cube intended to sell its stake in Netinera and would soon be approaching other potential infrastructure investors.[27] During December 2020, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane purchased Cube's shareholding in the business, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary.[28][29]
Related Research Articles
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
The Deutsche Bahn AG is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company (AG) and the largest railway company in the world.
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate services and other services in Italy and other European countries.
DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionnetz Verkehrs GmbH and other independent subsidiaries.
The Stadler GTW is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen.
Die Länderbahn GmbH (DLB), formerly Vogtlandbahn GmbH, is a German rail transport company based in Viechtach, operating transport services originally only in the Vogtland, but now also on a regional basis. Die Länderbahn is a subsidiary of Regentalbahn AG, which is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato subsidiary Netinera. The term vogtlandbahn remains in use as a trademark of Die Länderbahn in Vogtland.
Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, Arriva UK Trains also took over the running of those formerly overseen by DB Regio UK Limited.
LeNORD S.r.l. was a subsidiary of the FNM Group responsible for operating passenger train services in northern Italy.
The Regentalbahn is railway company based in Bavaria, and is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato and the Luxembourg infrastructure fund Cube, through the German holding company of Netinera. It runs railway infrastructure, as well as regional and long-distance passenger services in Bavaria and Saxony with links into the Czech Republic, and Germany-wide goods trains.
The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km.
The Bomlitz–Walsrode railway is a railway line in the German state of Lower Saxony that is operated by the Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen (OHE).
Qbuzz is a public transport company in the Netherlands that operates services in South Holland, Utrecht, Drenthe and Groningen. Founded in 2008, it was a subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen from 2013 until 2017. It is currently owned by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
Arriva Poland Sp. z o. o. is a Polish private rail carrier providing services in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Masovian, Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships. It is a subsidiary of the British transport specialist Arriva.
Abellio is a Dutch public transport company that operates bus and rail services in Germany, and formerly also in Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It is wholly owned by the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
The Schwandorf–Furth im Wald railway is a 67 km long mainline railway in the German state of Bavaria. It runs from Schwandorf via Cham to Furth im Wald. It is part of a long-distance connection between Germany and the Czech Republic.
Hessische Landesbahn is a regional transport company owned by the German state of Hesse, based in Frankfurt am Main. It provides bus and rail passenger transport services and, to a lesser extent, rail freight services in Hesse and across the state’s borders through its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Vlexx GmbH is a rail transport company based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and a subsidiary of the Regentalbahn, which in turn has been part of the Italian state railway Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) since 2011 via its parent company Netinera. Vlexx operates local rail passenger transport exclusively with diesel railcars in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse as well as a connection to France on the Winden-Wissembourg railway line into the Alsace to the railway station of Wissembourg.
Go-Ahead Verkehrsgesellschaft Deutschland GmbH is a railway operator in Germany. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ÖBB.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
