Arriva begins high profile Polish rail contract

European transport group Arriva has this week begun a new rail contract operating on four electrified lines in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship in northern Poland.

The new, two-year contract started on 15 December and sees Arriva running 12 existing units on four lines – from the medieval city of Toruń Główny to JablonowoPomorskie and Kutno, and from the largest city in the region, Bydgoszcz, to Laskowice Pomorskie and Piła. The contract serves around 50 railway stations.

Worth €22 million over the next two years, the contract sees Arriva integrating new services with its existing diesel line rail operations and fleet of 18 units within the same region. As part of the new contract Arriva has welcomed some 80 new employees and has increased its annual train kilometres in the country by 50 per cent, to 3.8 million train kilometres.

Radim Novak, managing director – central and eastern Europe at Arriva, said: “As a major private rail operator in Poland we are now providing a network of regional rail services in northern Poland. The new contract will see us playing a key role in the region’s economy as we are providing services which link larger towns and cities quickly and efficiently.

“We will be introducing value for money ticketing options for customers and new technology. Our objective is simple – to deliver quality services which encourage more people to travel with us and sustains the growth in passenger numbers in northern Poland. At the same time we will be giving financial savings for the region.”

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