Rail tender win for Arriva in Poland

European transport group Arriva has won a tender to operate trains on four electrified lines in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship in northern Poland.

Arriva will begin operating the two-year contract from 15 December this year and will run 12 existing units on four lines – from the medieval city of Toruń Główny to Iława and Kutno, and from the largest city in the region, Bydgoszcz, to Tczew and Piła. It will serve around 50 railway stations.

The contract, worth €22 million Euros over two years, will see Arriva integrate the new services with existing Arriva rail operations in Poland, as it already runs 21 units within the same region. The contract will see Arriva employ some 80 people and increase its annual train kilometres in Poland by 67 per cent, to 4.1 million train kilometres.

Dominic Palleschi, director – central and eastern Europe at Arriva, said: “We will provide a number of non-stop services which are beneficial to the economy in northern Poland as they link larger towns and cities quickly and efficiently. We will offer value for money ticketing options for customers, and aim to encourage more people to travel with us more often, and to sustain this growth in passenger numbers.”

Arriva will be consulting with its customers and stakeholders regularly to improve the current service level and to ensure services are performing to the highest standards.