[AMcWhirter]

Back in 2010 Db (Deutsche Bahn) was in expansionist mood.

It had acquired UK’s Arriva and then announced plans to operate between Germany and London St Pancras via the Tunnel.

But as readers will know, from the many reports we published, London never happened.

Now DB is selling Arriva to US private equity firm I Square.

What does it mean for customers ?

Well now that DB has retreated from the international scene to concentrate on its core business I cannot see the operator reviving plans for London.

And while Arriva operates both here and throughout mainland Europe one wonders if it will mean any changes to its mainline UK rail operations.

Here Arriva operates Grand Central, Cross Country and Chiltern.

The latter provide valuable connectivity for travellers on both short and long distance routes.

In particular Cross Country claims to operate the UK’s longest train journey from Aberdeen to Penzance.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/19/uk-bus-rail-operator-arriva-deutsche-bahn-i-squared

1 user thanked author for this post.

cwoodward

[TominScotland]

DB are wise to stick to the knitting. Having travelled extensively by train in Germany this summer, I have experienced what is basically a broken system in action, particularly with respect to the IC and ICE network. I am not alone in my assessment here:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/14/its-the-same-daily-misery-germanys-terrible-trains-are-no-joke-for-a-nation-built-on-efficiency

2 users thanked author for this post.

MikeReading, AMcWhirter

[x2000traveller]

Both the German Government and DB’s long-suffering domestic passengers have got increasingly frustrated about DB’s foreign acquisitions under its previous CEO Hartmut Mehdorn. The idea is that selling Arriva (for, incidentally, quite a decent margin above its acquisition cost), will help pay for the extra investment DB is having to do to make its service more reliable (power supplies, signalling, rolling stock maintenance). Service quality in Germany on the long-distrance routes has unfortunately slipped back considerably over the past five years, a political problem when the current government coalition (which includes the Greens) wants to double rail demand…

[WilliamRead]

I wonder if DB will be ending its involvement in retail distribution in the UK? Their logo appears (very small) on vehicles distributing beer etc from Burton upon Trent to the rest of the country.

[MikeReading]

Chiltern Railways is not bad but Arriva’s version of Cross Country is nowhere near as good as it was when Virgin ran it. I can only hope that we will an improvement now it has changed hands but I’m not at all confident!

[Author]

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