1.
Deutsche Bahn
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Deutsche Bahn AG is a German railway company. Headquartered in Berlin, it is a private company, with the Federal Republic of Germany being its single shareholder. It carries about two billion passengers each year, Deutsche Bahn came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany. It also gained ownership of railway assets in West Berlin held by the Verwaltung des ehemaligen Reichsbahnvermögens. There are three periods of development in this unified German railway, its formation, its early years. At its creation, Deutsche Bahn took over the abbreviation and logo DB from the West German state railway Deutsche Bundesbahn, erik Spiekermann designed the new corporate font DB Type. However, these plans have been put on hold, and the Bahntower leased for at least three more years, the second step of the Bahnreform was carried out in 1999. This new organisational scheme was introduced not least to implement European Community directive 91/440/EEC that demands access to railway systems free of discrimination. In December 2007, DB reorganised again, bringing all passenger services into its DB Bahn arm, logistics under DB Schenker and infrastructure, the DB is owned by the Federal Republic. By the Constitution, the Federal Republic is required to retain a majority of the infrastructure stocks, in 2008, it was agreed to partially private DB, with 25% of the business to be sold to the private sector. However the onset of the Financial crisis of 2007–08 saw this cancelled, in World war II the Deutsche Reichsbahn helped the Nazis to deport the Jews from Greece. As of 2016, the company currently lacks a management director, other members of the board include, Dr. The DB group is divided into five main groups, Arriva, DB Bahn, DB Dienstleistungen, DB Netze. These subsidiaries are companies in their own right, although most of them are 100% owned by DBAG, Deutsche Bahn placed a bid in May 2010 for the UK-based transport company Arriva. Arriva runs bus and rail companies in 12 European countries, the merger was approved by the European Commission in August 2010, subject to DB divesting Arriva services in Germany. The merger became effective on 27 August 2010, services in the UK formerly run as DB Regio are now operated by a new subdivision of the company, Arriva UK Trains. It operates the Arriva Trains Wales, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Grand Central, on 1 April 2016 Arriva became the operator of the Northern rail franchise. It also holds a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations and has lodged an application to operate services under the Great North Western Railway brand, in November 2016, Arriva Rail London will commence operating the London Overground concession in its own right
2.
Sunderland
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Sunderland is a city at the centre of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough, in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is a city at the mouth of the River Wear with adjoining beaches of Roker. The etymology of Sunderland is derived from Sundered-land with the river travelling through the city as opposed to sitting upon the river, historically in County Durham, there were three original settlements on the site of modern-day Sunderland. On the north side of the river, Monkwearmouth was settled in 674 when Benedict Biscop founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, opposite the monastery on the south bank, Bishopwearmouth was founded in 930. A small fishing village called Sunderland, located toward the mouth of the river was granted a charter in 1179, over the centuries, Sunderland grew as a port, trading coal and salt. Ships began to be built on the river in the 14th century, by the 19th century, the port of Sunderland had grown to absorb Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth. More recently, Sunderland has seen growth as a centre for the automotive industry, science & technology. A person who is born or lives around the Sunderland area is colloquially known as a Mackem. Sunderland was created a borough of County Durham in 1835. Under the Local Government Act 1888, it was given the status of a County Borough, independence from county council control. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county borough was abolished and its combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland in Tyne. The metropolitan borough was granted city status after winning a competition in 1992 to celebrate the Queens 40th year on the throne, the population of this city taken at the 2011 Census was 275,506. Sunderland has the motto of Nil Desperandum Auspice Deo or Under Gods guidance we may neve despair Much of the city is located on a low range of running parallel to the coast. On average, it is around 80 metres above sea level, Sunderland is divided by the River Wear which passes through the middle of the city in a deeply incised valley, part of which is known as the Hylton gorge. The two road bridges connecting the north and south portions of the city are the Queen Alexandra Bridge at Pallion, to the west of the city, the Hylton Viaduct carries the A19 dual-carriageway over the Wear. Most of the suburbs of Sunderland are situated towards the west of the city centre with 70% of its living on the south side of the river. The city extends to the seafront at Hendon and Ryhope in the south, in Millfield, the streets are all associated with plants, e. g. Chester, Fern, Rose, Hyacinth etc. At 3,874 hectares, Sunderland is the 45th largest urban area in England by measure of area, according to statistics based on the 2001 census, 60% of homes in the Sunderland metropolitan area are owner occupied, with an average household size of 2.4 people
3.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
4.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
5.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
6.
Arriva UK Bus
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Arriva UK Bus is a major bus operator in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Arriva which runs transport services across Europe, based in Sunderland, Arriva UK Bus operates 5,900 buses in London, the North East, North West and South East of England, Yorkshire, The Midlands and Wales. Arrivas bus network in the UK originates from its acquisition of Grey-Green in 1980 and it has the following operating units, Arriva Buses Wales – separated from Arriva North West & Wales in January 2009 Arriva London – consisting of Arriva London North and Arriva London South. Arriva London buses operating services for Transport for London are painted red, Yorkshire Tiger buses are painted in an orange livery and Tiger Blue blue. New Enterprise Coaches retains its white and red livery. in some regions
7.
Arriva UK Trains
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Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arrivas train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000 and these were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, after taking control of the Northern franchise, Arriva UK Trains now operates almost a quarter of all British train operating companies, more than rivals FirstGroup and Stagecoach. The Wales & Borders franchise runs from 7 December 2003 until 13 October 2018, the New Cross Country franchise runs from 11 November 2007 until 9 November 2019. Arriva TrainCare operates train maintenance depots at Bristol, Cambridge, Crewe, Eastleigh, both franchises were lost to Serco-Abellio. London Overground Rail Operations, a 50/50 joint venture with MTR Corporation operated the London Overground concession from November 2007 until November 2016, Arriva now operate the concession in its own right as Arriva Rail London. In April 2016, Arriva commenced operating the Northern franchise, as a result of the Deutsche Bahn purchase, Laing Rail Limited was renamed DB Regio UK Limited in April 2008. DB Regio UK continued to expand when in February 2009 it was shortlisted and on 3 December 2009 awarded a contract to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro, taking over operations on 1 April 2010. Arriva UK Trains wishes to expand the number of UK Rail businesses it operates by developing open access operations, as part of this strategy in November 2011 Arriva bought open-access operator Grand Cental for an undisclosed price. Disappointingly in the last full year before the purchase, Grand Centrals seven return trains a day lost £8. 5m leaving an overall deficit of £35m. Alliance Rail Holdings continues to develop new open access proposals following the rejection of their plans by the Office of Rail Regulation in 2011. During 2012 Arrivas applications to bid for the InterCity West Coast, Greater Anglia, Essex Thameside, following this run of failure Arriva was publicly critical of the governments prequalification process and called for it to be abolished. However Arriva was shortlisted to bid for the aborted Greater Western franchise in March 2012, in June 2014 Alliance successfully concluded negotiations with Network Rail for access paths to run between Euston and Blackpool/Huddersfield and Leeds from 2017 using Pendolino trains. This followed a proposed in December 2013 to run services between Kings Cross and Skipton via Garforth and Keighley, but was rejected in 2014, by the Office Rail of Regulation
8.
Arriva North West
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Arriva North West is a bus operator running services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva, the name was taken from the former North Western operations, which ran between 1923 and 1976. In 1988 the North Western operations were sold to Drawlane who was sold to British Bus, who also took over the operations of the Bee Line Buzz Company. In 1996, British Bus was bought by the Cowie Group, in November 1997 Cowie was rebranded as Arriva with North Western becoming Arriva North West in 1998. In February 2000, Arriva North West purchased MTL Trust Holdings, in 2002, Arriva North West merged with Arriva Cymru to form Arriva North West & Wales. Three former Arriva Midlands depots in Crewe, Macclesfield and Winsford were transferred into the North West & Wales operation, in July 2005 Arriva purchased Blue Bus of Bolton, which almost doubled their presence in Greater Manchester. In January 2009, the Wales operation was split from Arriva North West as Arriva Buses Wales with the Arriva North West name resurrected for the North West England operations, although the company is officially known as Arriva North West, some operations were originally registered under alternative Arriva names. Former Bee Line operations were registered as Arriva Manchester, some Liverpool operations and, slightly confusingly, as of Autumn 2011 a large proportion of services in Merseyside remain registered under the separate Arriva Merseyside licence, all other services are registered under the Arriva North West licence. A wide variety of makes and types are represented, although DAF and VDL chassis predominate, accounting for around 58% of the fleet, the fleet is about 54% single-deck and entirely low-floor. Arriva stated its intention to make its main routes serving Liverpool completely low-floor by 2008 and similarly for the whole of Merseyside by 2011. On the double-deck side of the fleet,51 Volvo B5LH hybrids with Wright Gemini 3 bodywork entered service at Green Lane and Speke depots in early 2017, after initial use on rail replacement services. Other recent deliveries include 128 Alexander Dennis Enviro400s which entered service at Bootle, Green Lane, Speke, St Helens, with 152 examples overall, the Enviro400 is the most common double deck type in the fleet. Prior to this,35 Alexander Dennis Enviro400s entered service in 2009,23 of the Enviro400s were for routes through the Mersey Tunnels, these being the first vehicles in the fleet to carry the interurban variant of Arriva livery, apart from a solitary demonstrator. The other twelve were for services between Bootle and Aigburth Vale, previously,30 Volvo B7TLs with Alexander ALX400 bodywork had entered service on routes between Liverpool and Garston in 2006, marking the end of a 7½ year hiatus of new double-deckers. In recent times the double deck fleet has been boosted by 25 DAF DB250s with Plaxton President bodywork and 17 Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied Volvo B7TLs from Arriva London. The standard single deck vehicle in the fleet is the VDL SB200 with Commander, Pulsar and Pulsar 2 bodywork, the second most prominent single deck type in the fleet is the DAF/VDL SB120 with Wright Cadet bodywork. The Dennis Dart - which once made up a significant part of the fleet - is now less common with just one vehicle of this type in service as of October 2016. Other types in the fleet are the Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLE, unusual vehicles in the fleet include four MAN14. 220s with East Lancs Myllennium bodywork which are based at Bolton depot
9.
Wright Eclipse Gemini
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The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body built by Wrightbus since 2001, based in the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013, additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer. Since 2008, the body has also been available on Volvo B5LH hybrid chassis, Wright Eclipse Gemini-bodied buses have been mass-introduced into London since 2001, where they replaced types such as the AEC Routemaster and Leyland Titan. It is also popular with FirstGroup, with over 1,000 buses being put into service with the group, dublin Bus and Bus Éireann have also acquired a large number of Volvo B9TLs with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork. The Eclipse Gemini was launched in 2001, initially on Volvo B7TL chassis, as a double decker version of the existing Wright Eclipse body. In London, as with most buses, Eclipse Geminis often have two doors for loading, one at the front and one in the centre, elsewhere. Also on London examples, the staircase is situated across from the entrance, while on single door variants. The staircase itself differs from other modern buses as rather than simply having a banister, all Eclipse Geminis are fitted with LED rear lights. Although London and Lothian models retain power blinds, most Eclipse Geminis are fitted with LED destination screens, the interior of the Eclipse Gemini features curves similar to its exterior, and continues the modern feel. In 2006, the Volvo B7TL chassis was replaced by the new Volvo B9TL, at the same time, other external modifications include the relocation of the rear number plate from its integrated position with the upper rear window to a more conventional siting at the bottom of the bus. The Eclipse Gemini was also available on the hybrid Volvo B5LH chassis in 2008. The first six hybrid Eclipse Geminis were delivered to Arriva London in 2008, the bodywork was modified to fit the Super Olympian chassis, with the most noticeable difference being the tri-axle layout. The last Volvo Super Olympian to roll off the line received Wright Explorer bodywork. Subsequently, the Super Olympian was replaced by a variant of the Volvo B9TL. Wrightbus offered similar tri-axle bodywork, which was unnamed and had slightly different rear styling, after the introduction of Euro IV-engined Volvo B9TL, this bodywork became known as the Eclipse Gemini tri-axle, but no bodywork carrying this name were known to have been built. The second generation Wright Eclipse Gemini, known as the Eclipse Gemini 2, was launched in 2008 on Volvo B9TL, the Eclipse Gemini 2 features front and rear ends facelifted to match the Eclipse 2 single-decker, as part of Wrightbus new design philosophy. A low-height version was introduced in 2012, like the Explorer, the Eclipse Gemini 2 has been sold in Hong Kong, including a tri-axle variant that replaced the Explorer. Kowloon Motor Bus and Citybus of Hong Kong and SBS Transit of Singapore have taken delivery of a number of Eclipse Gemini 2s
10.
Volvo B7TL
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Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of Volvo Olympian. It was built as the British bus operators seemed hesitant to purchase the B7L double decker with a rear overhang. The B7TL chassis was designed by the Leyland Product Developments consultancy based at the Leyland Technical Centre and it was initially built in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2000, production was transferred to Sweden. In mid-2004, production of MkII version of B7TL was started, like the Olympian, the B7TL features a transversely-mounted rear engine and a shorter rear overhang, but the radiator was mounted on the right side of the engine compartment. It was equipped with Volvo D7C engine and ZF or Voith gearbox, the B7TL was initially available with Alexander ALX400 and Plaxton President bodywork, later followed by East Lancs Vyking and Myllennium Vyking bodies, and also the Wright Eclipse Gemini. The Volvo B7TL was very popular in the United Kingdom, with a number being purchased by most of the major bus groups such as FirstGroup. Also Travel West Midlands purchased over 320 B7TLs with Plaxton President, Alexander ALX400, translink of Northern Ireland also purchased over 150 B7TLs. London Central AVL1 cited to be the first example of a production B7TL and it was also popular in the Republic of Ireland, Dublin Bus acquired 648 B7TLs between 2000 and 2007, all with Alexander/TransBus/Alexander Dennis ALX400 bodywork. Bus Éireann also purchased more than twenty B7TLs, on the other hand, a batch of 150 B7TLs had been delivered to Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002 and were fitted with Marcopolo Viale DD bodywork. The Volvo B7TL was superseded by 2-axle version of the Volvo B9TL in late 2006, competitors Dennis Trident 2 Scania OmniDekka VDL DB250 List of buses
11.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
12.
Arriva North West and Wales
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Arriva North West and Wales was a division of Arriva that operated bus services around North West England and Wales. It was made up several previous bus operators including North Western, most of MTL North, the Bee Line Buzz Company. In January 2009, the Welsh depots were separated into a new division named Arriva Buses Wales, from Autumn 1997, Cowie Group plc was renamed Arriva plc and like Stagecoach and FirstGroup a consistent corporate image was introduced for its many and different bus operations. Outside of London this was a livery of aquamarine with a Cotswold stone swoop, Arriva branding. For the former North Western operation this strap-line was serving the North West, in Spring 1998 Arriva decided to give an Arriva identity to the many companies which comprised Arriva Passenger Services and as a consequence North Western Road Car Co. Ltd became Arriva North West Ltd with the associated Bee Line and Liverline operations becoming Arriva Manchester Ltd, apart from the adoption of the Arriva corporate identity, not too much was different between Arriva North West and North Western as the 1990s drew to a close. In late Summer 1998, Arriva North West became responsible for the management of the bus station at the new Trafford Centre shopping mall, on 18 February 2000 Arriva plc acquired Merseysides largest bus operator MTL Trust Holdings Ltd. As a consequence of Arrivas acquisition of MTL, the management of the Arriva North West depot at Winsford was transferred to Arriva Midlands North Ltd. Arrivas acquisition of MTL significantly increased its presence within Merseysides bus market with the effect that Aintree based CMT Buses remained its only meaningful competitor. This concerned the Competition Commission who ordered Arriva North West to sell one of its depots in order to avoid a public inquiry over its purchase of MTL, Gillmoss depot in north Liverpool was the depot chosen to be sold, although its sale became a rather protracted affair. In early 2001 the Go-Ahead Group plc seemed ready to purchase Gillmoss, however, at the 11th hour, this deal broke down and instead Go Ahead acquired Arriva Croydon & North Surrey Ltd merging it into its established Metrobus operation. Arriva North West put a proposal to the Competition Commission for substantial investment in Gillmoss if the Commission withdrew its stipulation that Arriva had to sell the depot, however the Competition Commission did not accept this proposal and a buyer for Gillmoss had to be found. Gillmoss was eventually purchased on 15 July 2001 by two former MTL managers - Dominic Brady and Ian Campbell who formed Glenvale Transport Limited, furthermore, the Competition Commission stipulated Arriva North West couldnt compete with GTLs core service network in North Liverpool and Kirkby for three years. GTL began expanding its service network against Arriva North West and in June 2003 acquired CMT Buses, further strengthening its position in Liverpool, by 2004 the Competition Commission ban against Arriva North West competing with GTL was over and gradually copycat services were introduced on most of GTLs routes. GTL, £7m in debt and with a bus fleet, was taken over on 11 July 2005 by the Stagecoach Group who renamed it Stagecoach Merseyside. Arriva North West became responsible for the management of Arriva Cymru Ltd from 25 February 2002, and to reflect this, some of the operations of KMP of Llanberis were acquired by Arriva in August 2008 and merged with Arriva Cymru. This removed competition along the route between Llandudno and Bangor, the rest of KMP was acquired by independent Padarn Bus in April 2009. From 1 January 2009, the Wales operations were split from Arriva North West, from 23 July 2011, Skelmersdale Depot was closed down, losing 19 jobs
13.
Wright Cadet
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The Wright Cadet was a low floor midibus body built by British coachbuilder Wrightbus between 2000 and 2006, solely on the DAF/VDL SB120 chassis. It was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach and it sold in large numbers in London and with major operators in the UK and in mainland Europe, with some going to Arriva in The Netherlands. Volvo also sold the Cadet on DAF/VDL SB120 chassis themselves for a time, marketing the chassis and body combination as the Volvo Merit
14.
VDL SB120
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The VDL SB120 is a low floor light-weight midibus produced from 1999 by VDL Bus International of the Netherlands primarily for the UK market. The SB120 is similar to its major competitor Dennis Dart SLF, powered by a Cummins B Series 6-cylinder Euro II engine, the SB120 is available in lengths from 8. 5m to 10. 8m, similar to the Dart SLF. It was initially available with the Wright Cadet body, built by Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, but since the end of 2005. Unlike the larger VDL SB200, the SB120 has found a sizeable market, other sizeable customers include Go North East, Birmingham Coach Company and East Thames Buses. The SB120 sells very well in VDLs home market, the Netherlands mainly using VDL Berkhof type Ambassador bodywork, the SB120 was also sold in the United Kingdom by Volvo on the Wright Cadet body. This version, however, was sold as the Merit and does not carry either Wrightbus and this version has been sold to several operators including Yellow Buses, Bournemouth. However, with the change to Euro IV emissions from October 2006, Volvo, the SB120 was also sold for use in the Netherlands. In 2002, eight SB120 with Wright Cadet dual door bodywork were delivered to Arriva in the Netherlands for citybus service in Leeuwarden, the SB120 chassis was also adopted by Wrightbus for the development of its hybrid-powered midibus, Wright Electrocity. The successor to the SB120 is the VDL SB180, other VDL buses sold in the UK DB300 SB200 SB4000 Competitors Dennis Dart SLF Iveco Citelis 10 MAN14.220 Optare Solo Scania OmniTown Product description in VDL Bus website
15.
Grey-Green
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Grey-Green was a bus and coach operator in England. It was based in Stamford Hill, Grey-Green can trace its origins back over a century to the foundation of George Ewer’s horse carriage business in 1885. The business prospered, and summer-only services were operating to many South Coast resorts. Before the end of the 1920s, East Anglia was well covered too, the first service to operate throughout the year was a London to Ipswich service that commenced in June 1928. The 1930s started with the introduction of a London to Harwich service, routes run by the Prince Omnibus Company of Edmonton were added in the 1930s. Orange Luxury Coaches, Brixton was acquired in 1953, and this company remained as a subsidiary of the main company until wound up in December 1975. Orange Luxury Coaches vehicles carried the Queens arms, being suppliers of coaches to the royal household, the large-but-ageing United Service Transport fleet was taken over in 1965. By 1972 it operated out of garages in Stamford Hill, Edmonton, Lea Bridge, Mile End and Brixton in London, subsequent acquisitions included the London coaching business of Birch Brothers in 1971, Mitcham Belle Coaches in 1974, and Dix Coaches in 1976. In 1980 Grey-Green was a member of the British Coachways consortium which competed with National Express. In 1980 Grey-Green was sold to the Cowie Group, in 1987, Grey-Green successfully bid for routes 125,173,179 and 379. In 1988, it began operating routes 24,298 and 313, in 1991, a further five routes were taken over and a new Barking garage opened. By 1994, the portfolio had expanded to include routes 20,103,141,167,168,188,210,235,275,473, the high-profile routes 24 and 188 brought non-red London buses directly into the city. Grey-Green also operated bus services in Kent, in Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Medway, commuter services from Essex and north Kent to London, the company’s basic livery was green and white. The coaching fleets were painted in separate liveries, with the growth of the Cowie Group through acquisition of other bus operators, Grey Green co-existed for a time with other companies such as Kentish Bus. In 1998, the Cowie Group was rebranded as Arriva, and Grey-Greens Stamford Hill and Barking garages were absorbed into Arriva London, and the other operations by other Arriva companies
16.
Privatisation of London bus services
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The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies. For half a century, operation of London bus services for transport was under the direct control of a number of entities known as London Transport. Since then, direct provision of bus services in London has been run by companies, although Transport for London did operate its own company. Unlike those in the rest of the United Kingdom, the bus services in London, in London, details of routes, fares and services levels were still specified by public bodies, with the right to run the services contracted to private companies on a tendered basis. The privatised period produced for the first time buses in London painted in different schemes from the traditional red and this ceased following a 1997 edict that London buses be 80% red. This Act required arms-length subsidiaries to be established to oversee operation of bus services, under the 1984 Act, London bus services were to be tendered. The first round of tendering took place in the summer of 1985, bringing the first private operator into the market, by 1988 Boroline Maidstone, Grey-Green and Metrobus were also operating numerous London routes. The only requirement was to display the London Transport roundel on the bus, the private competition was not without controversy, with objections to non-red buses leading to an edict in 1997 specifying 80% red liveries. The tendering also caused problems with several operators needing to hire buses due to delivery of new buses for newly won routes. One such controversial route was the arrangements for tendering route 60 which was awarded to Capital Logistics. Difficulties in setting up the route eventually saw operation by eight different operators and 10 different bus types in a space of time. The collapse of Harris Bus in December 1999, led to London Transport forming East Thames Buses as a company to provide temporary operation of the routes. It was retained by the new Transport for London authority, to tender for routes itself until sold in October 2009 to the Go-Ahead Group, on 1 April 1989 London Buses was divided into 12 business units, in preparation for sell-off. The companies were created along geographic lines, with all but Westlink having routes running into Central London, the division names and a small graphic device were added to the buses, in white. An exception to this was the Westlink unit, which received a new livery altogether, some of the names chosen were drawn from the pre London Transport era, namely London General Omnibus Company and London United Tramways. The group brands were, Challenger, Ealing Buses, Gold Arrow, Uxbridge Buses, Hillingdon local service, during this time of separate business unit operation by London Buses, many new bus types were also being introduced, notably the Dennis Dart midibus as well as numerous minibuses. The most notable were Harrow Buses and Bexleybus, tendering for routes in the Harrow and these units were not overly successful, due to unreliable service, and industrial disputes due to lower pay rates than for the main London units. Their routes were quickly surrendered to units or private operators
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Arriva London
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Arriva London is a bus company operating services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Arriva and operates services under contract to Transport for London and it was formed in 1998 from a fusion of previously separate Arriva subsidiaries Grey-Green, Leaside Buses, Kentish Bus, London & Country and South London Transport. Operations are split between two registered companies, Arriva London North Limited and Arriva London South Limited, the origins of Arriva London can be traced back to 1980 when the Cowie Group purchased the Grey-Green coach business in London. In February 1987, Grey-Green commenced operating bus routes in north, meanwhile, on 1 April 1989 London Buses was divided into 11 separate business units, two of which were Leaside Buses and South London Transport. As part of the privatisation of London bus services, the Cowie Group purchased these business units in September 1994 and January 1995. Leaside Buses operated six depots in Clapton, Enfield, Palmers Green, Stamford Hill, Tottenham and Wood Green and South London Transport four in Brixton, Norwood, South Croydon and Thornton Heath. On 1 August 1996, the Cowie Group purchased British Bus, in November 1997, the Cowie Group was rebranded as Arriva. Shortly after, Grey-Green, Kentish Bus, Leaside Buses, London & Country, Arriva London North Limited operates eleven bus garages. As at March 2017, Palmers Green garage operated routes 102,141,329 and 629, Opened in July 1912 by the London General Omnibus Company to house their Central London bus fleet operating in competition with the MET trams. The garage was modernised in 1974 by which time 60 buses were allocated. AEC Routemasters arrived in 1969 replacing the RTs, but the RTs lasted there until 1978, one man operated buses in the form of AEC Regal VIs began arriving and were followed in time by AEC Swifts, Daimler Fleetlines, and MCW Metrobuses. The Routemasters lasted on route 29 until the late 1980s, and in 1994 the allocation was 51, in latter years the allocation has increased slightly and other than Metrobuses, Volvo B10Ms and Alexander ALX400 bodied DAF DB250LFs have been allocated. As at February 2017, Ash Grove bus garage operated routes 48,78,106, one of three new garages opened in 1981 by London Buses at a cost of £3.5 million, it had space for 140 buses undercover and a further 30 in the yard. The roof was unusual in being carried by 10 35-ton triangular trusses, said to be the largest in the UK, although technically in Hackney, buses showed CAMBRIDGE HEATH Ash Grove Garage on their blinds. Unfortunately Ash Grove found itself in the London Forest operation, and also had a reputation for staff militancy, the garage was reopened in 1994 by Kentish Bus to operate their Leyton area route gains, although they referred to it as Cambridge Heath. In 2000 it was reopened by the London Buses subsidiary East Thames Buses which took over the former Harris Bus routes after that ran into financial difficulties. On 27 April 2013, Arriva London commenced operating route 106, in addition, from May 2014, route 38 was operated with New Routemasters. On 26 September 2015, route 168 was passed to Metroline, as at March 2017, Tottenham garage operated routes 41,67,123,149,230,243,259,341 and N41
18.
United Automobile Services
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United Automobile Services was a bus operator operating in North Yorkshire and North East England. It provided bus services across Englands widest geographical area, stretching from Berwick-upon-Tweed on the Scottish border, United was founded in Lowestoft in 1912, with two routes, one in Suffolk and one over 200 miles away between Bishop Auckland and Durham. During the 1920s, the company expanded into Norfolk and south Lincolnshire, United also started East Midland Motor Services. This came about through the desire to expand, one of their managers, W. T. Underwood, was sent to Clowne to set up a bus company in his own name. The Underwoods company later became East Midland, United was nationalised in 1948, and controlled first by the British Transport Commission, from 1 January 1963 by the Transport Holding Company, and from 1 January 1969 by the National Bus Company. The company ran vehicles from its office in Darlington and garages across their area, including Durham, Hartlepool, Whitby. Most of those vehicles were Bristols with Gardner engines and Eastern Coach Works bodies, another vehicle commonly used was the Leyland National. United were one of three operators to buy the Bristol REMH 12-metre coach chassis. These 35 vehicles, which had Plaxton Panorama Elite III 49-seat coach bodywork, were delivered between 1971 and 1975, most were branded with names such as Roadranger, Clipper, Hoppa and Panther amongst others. On 2 December 1987, as part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, in 1990, the Cleveland and Middlesbrough operations were separated and renamed Tees & District, with the Stockton-on-Tees depot operating as TMS. In 1992, United was sold to the Westcourt Group and it was sold in 1995 to National Express, and again in 1996 to the Cowie Group. Today it is part of Arriva North East, in the 1985 official fleet book, Uniteds operations were shown as split into three operating areas, Northumberland, Durham, and Cleveland
19.
General Motors
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With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
20.
MTL (transport company)
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MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool. MTL was originally the company of the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, this was divested into a new independent company, Merseytravel retained a shareholding, but this was purchased by MTL in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva, MTL was awarded two railway franchises in 1997, during the Privatisation of British Rail. Both franchises were taken over by Arriva in 2000, Northern Spirit was a large franchise operating services across the whole of Yorkshire, including the Settle & Carlisle line and much of the North East. The franchise also included TransPennine Express trains from Liverpool and Blackpool to Scarborough, Hull, the franchise was rebranded as Arriva Trains Northern in April 2001. Merseyrail Electrics was responsible for running the Merseyrail network in Merseyside, all services were subsidised by Merseytravel. The franchise was rebranded as Arriva Trains Merseyside in April 2001, the original bus division, Merseybus, introduced several new brand names, many outside of Merseyside, expanding into Manchester, North London, Lancaster, Warrington and South Lancashire. The company also owned Sightseers, a holiday business and had a full ABTA travel agency, The TravelShop, in Williamson Square, Liverpool and in Eastbank Street. MTL Services employed many cleaning, maintenance and security staff in London and on Merseyside whilst MTL Engineering refurbished many hundreds of vehicles at the Edge Lane plant in Liverpool. The company subsequently expanded by acquiring local Merseyside bus operators Fareway Passenger Services of Kirkby, subsequently it purchased Blue Triangle of Bootle. Prior to this Merseyside PTE used these depots to store non-standard vehicles Merseybus did not take on and these included a batch of five relatively modern Wiilowbrook bodied Dennis Dominators that had been based at the Speke depot. Four were purchased by Maidstone & District, the other by Citybus of Hong Kong, at the end of 1992, the Merseybus parent company Merseyside Transport Ltd was being prepared for sale by Merseyside PTA. Prior to this MerseyRider had been formed to operate Mersytravel contracts and compete with other operators at a lower cost structure - payscales in particular, than those within Merseybus. Prior to the formation of MTL, the Merseybus fleet had aged significantly with the oldest Atlanteans - the mainstays of Merseybus fleet, now approaching 20 years of age or more. It was established by four former Merseyside Transport bus drivers who re-mortgaged their homes, Fareway tapped into this by having fares significantly lower than Merseybus and plugging a gap with the F1 route along the popular Black Bull/County Road/Scotland Road corridor. The F1 quickly gained 30-minute evening and Sunday operation and over the next 18 months Fareway expanded rapidly, Merseybus was generally complacent to the competitive threat posed by Fareway and it took a while for it to respond. North Western also competed with Fareway on its F1 service using high frequency minibuses with Faresaver branding on a Monday to Saturday daytime from the summer of 1988, however North Western was unsuccessful and withdrew their F1 service by the autumn of 1989
21.
Arriva Trains Merseyside
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Arriva Trains Merseyside was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Merseyrail Electrics franchise from January 1997 until July 2003. The Merseyrail Electrics franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to MTL with operations commencing on 19 January 1997, MTL retained the Merseyrail Electrics brand. On 18 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva, and on 27 April 2001, on 23 April 2003, Serco-Abellio were awarded the Merseyrail Electrics franchise with the services operated by Arriva Trains Merseyside transferring to Merseyrail on 20 July 2003. It also inherited a fleet of Class 73 locomotives and Classs 936 units for use on infrastructure trains, Arriva Trains Merseysides fleet was maintained at Birkenhead North Depot
22.
Arriva Trains Northern
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Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. Arriva resumed operating Northern train services again on 1 April 2016 under the Northern brand, the franchise commenced on 2 March 1997. On 21 May 1997, the franchise was rebranded as Northern Spirit with a livery of turquoise with a lime green stylised italic N across the midsection introduced. These services would become a franchise in their own right from 2004, namely the Transpennine franchise. On 18 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva, the Arriva corporate turquoise and stone livery was introduced on refurbished 153352 in July 2001. Arriva Trains Northern operated a mix of long distance regional, local urban and rural services in the North of England and Yorkshire. Arriva Trains Northerns non TransPennine Express routes were similar to Northern Rails current routes 1-5,7 and 8. A daily Leeds to Glasgow Central via the Settle & Carlisle and West Coast Main Lines service was introduced in September 1999, throughout its life, the franchise suffered a shortage of drivers and rolling stock which led to many cancellations on a daily basis. An emergency timetable was brought in which cancelled many services on a permanent basis rather than random as before. A long running dispute with the RMT union lead to a period of industrial action. As a result, the Strategic Rail Authority imposed a £2 million fine, Arriva Trains Northern inherited a fleet of Class 142, Class 144, Class 150, Class 155, Class 156, Class 158, Class 308 and Class 321s from Regional Railways. In September 1998, Northern Spirit traded seven of its Class 142s to Valley Lines in exchange for seven Class 150s, in January 2001, the first of 16 Class 333s ordered to replace the Class 308s, entered service. It also operated a peak hour Knaresborough to Leeds service, some of the rolling stock was owned by the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and these were repainted red and silver with the Metro logos of the passenger transport executive. Arriva Trains Northerns fleet was maintained at Heaton depot in Newcastle upon Tyne, media related to Arriva Trains Northern at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Arriva TrainCare
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Arriva TrainCare, formerly LNWR is a railway rolling stock maintenance company. Formed in 1993 by Pete Waterman, it is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains a Deutsche Bahn company, in 1993, Pete Waterman formed LNWR to provide maintenance for locomotives and rolling stock for specialist and charter operators from premises in Crewe. In 1999, it began maintaining rolling stock for train operating companies, in 2004 a facility in Leeds was opened to service Freightliner Class 66s, this was later sold to Freightliner. In November 2008, LNWR was sold to Arriva UK Trains, following a restructure, DB Schenkers facilities in Bristol, Cambridge, Eastleigh and Newcastle also became part of LNWR. Today as well as servicing trains for Arriva UK Trains subsidiaries, it services rolling stock for Bombardier Transportation, Freightliner and it also conducts heavy overhauls on rolling stock
24.
SNCF
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SNCF is Frances national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France and the Principality of Monaco. SNCF operates the national rail services, including the TGV. Its functions include operation of services for passengers and freight. SNCF employs more than 180,000 people in 120 countries around the globe, the railway network consists of about 32,000 km of route, of which 1,800 km are high-speed lines and 14,500 km electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily, since July 2013, SNCF headquarters are located in a Parisian suburb at 2, place aux Étoiles,93200 Saint Denis. In 2010 SNCF was ranked 22nd in France and 214th globally on the Fortune Global 500 list and it is the main business of the SNCF group, which in 2014 employed 245,763 people and had €27.2 billion of sales in 120 countries. The chairman of the SNCF group is Guillaume Pépy, SNCF operates almost all of Frances railway system, including the TGV, In the 1970s, SNCF began the TGV high-speed train programme with the intention of creating the worlds fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981, when the first TGV service, today, SNCF operates 1,850 km of designated high-speed track that accommodate more than 800 high-speed services per day. SNCF’s TGV trains carry more than 100 million passengers a year, TGV lines and TGV technology are now spread across several European countries in addition to South Korea.8 km/h. SNCF has a safety record. After nearly 30 years in operation, SNCF’s TGV system has experienced one fatal accident. SNCF also owns the tracks and the stations, since the 1990s, SNCF has been selling railway carriages to regional governments, with the creation of the Train Express Régional brand. SNCF also maintains a broad scope of business that includes work on freight lines, inter-city lines. SNCF experts provide logistics, design, construction, operations and maintenance services, SNCF operates the international ticketing agency, Voyages SNCF. SNCF has employees in 120 countries offering extensive overseas and cross border consulting and those projects include, Israel, Assistance and Training. SNCF International provides assistance to Israel Railways in every area of operations including projects to upgrade the networks general safety regulations. Other assistance and training programmes involve Infrastructure and the Traction Division, SNCF supervised the prime contractor responsible for construction of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s main high-speed rail line. It also trained rail traffic controllers, drivers, and crew members, on behalf of the Government of Taiwan, SNCF managed the high-speed railway Command Control Centre
25.
Keolis
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Keolis is the largest private sector French transport group. It runs passenger railways, tramways, bus networks, funiculars, trolley buses, based in Paris, Keolis is 70%-owned by the SNCF and 30%-owned by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. In 2013 Keolis turned over €5.1 billion and it is the largest provider of public-transportation services in France. Keolis holds a 51% shareholding in Keolis Downer, which has operated the Melbourne tram network since November 2009, Keolis Downer has operated the G, link light rail line on the Gold Coast since July 2014. In March 2015, Keolis Downer purchased bus operator Australian Transit Enterprises which operates the Hornibrook Bus Lines, Link SA, Path Transit, Keolis is involved in the operation of Quebec intercity bus company Orléans Express. From 2004 to 2012 it also operated Acadian Lines intercity buses in The Maritimes, the latter services have since been taken over by independent operator Maritime Bus. It is a partner in the GrandLinq consortium which will operate the Ion rapid transit system in Waterloo Region, in China, Keolis joins with Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the owner of Shanghai Metro, in creating Shanghai Keolis Public Transport. An agreement had been signed between Keolis and Hubei Province Government, and Keolis will be responsible for Greater Wuhan areas suburban railway operation, Keolis has extensive operations in France. It provides transit services in cities including Bordeaux, Brest, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Orléans. In January 2016, the 260 vehicle Transports Daniel Myers business was purchased, based in the Essonne/Val-de-Marne basin, its main operations are in Montlhéry, Etampes and Avrainville. Under the brand name eurobahn Keolis is operating multiple regional train services in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and they also operated, and will do so again in a few years, in Lower Saxony. Eurobahn uses Stadler FLIRT electric multiple units and Bombardier Talent diesel cars to serve these lines, the trains will be running in an neutral VRR design. In the United Kingdom, Keolis owns 35% of Govia that currently operates the Govia Thameslink Railway, Southern, Southeastern, Keolis also had a 45% shareholding in First TransPennine Express from February 2004 until March 2016. Upon being re-tendered, FirstGroup took full control, in 2012, Keolis lodged a joint bid with SNCF for the aborted InterCity West Coast franchise and in 2014, in partnership with Eurostar, lodged a bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise. Keolis is part of a consortium that commenced operating the Nottingham Express Transit tram operation in December 2011, Keolis also commenced operating the Docklands Light Rail concession in December 2014. Keolis in partnership with Amey will commence operating the Manchester Metrolink concession in July 2017, on October 16,2009, the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board approved an $85 million contract with Keolis Rail Services America to operate and maintain VRE trains for five years. Keolis began operating VRE on July 12,2010 after a two-week delay, both Amtrak and Keolis had staffed the VRE lines with about 80 employees. The operator of the line, Amtrak, also challenged the propriety of hiring a foreign company
26.
European Commission
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Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate. The Commission operates as a government, with 28 members of the Commission. There is one member per state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 28 is the Commission President proposed by the European Council, the current Commission is the Juncker Commission, which took office in late 2014. The procedural languages of the Commission are English, French and German, the Members of the Commission and their cabinets are based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The first Commission originated in 1951 as the nine-member High Authority under President Jean Monnet, the High Authority was the supranational administrative executive of the new European Coal and Steel Community. It took office first on 10 August 1952 in Luxembourg, in 1958 the Treaties of Rome had established two new communities alongside the ECSC, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. However their executives were called Commissions rather than High Authorities, the reason for the change in name was the new relationship between the executives and the Council. Some states such as France expressed reservations over the power of the High Authority, louis Armand led the first Commission of Euratom. Walter Hallstein led the first Commission of the EEC, holding the first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse, Hallstein notably began the consolidation of European law and started to have a notable impact on national legislation. The three bodies, collectively named the European Executives, co-existed until 1 July 1967 when, under the Merger Treaty, the Rey Commission completed the Communitys customs union in 1968 and campaigned for a more powerful, elected, European Parliament. Despite Rey being the first President of the communities, Hallstein is seen as the first President of the modern Commission. The Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions followed with work on monetary co-operation, with that enlargement the Commissions membership increased to thirteen under the Ortoli Commission, which dealt with the enlarged community during economic and international instability at that time. Following the Jenkins Commission, Gaston Thorns Commission oversaw the Communitys enlargement to the south, the Commission headed by Jacques Delors was seen as giving the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. Delors and his team are considered as the founding fathers of the euro. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his term in 1992. He arrived when Europessimism was at its worst, although he was a little-known former French finance minister, he breathed life and hope into the EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. The successor to Delors was Jacques Santer, the entire Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 by the Parliament as result of a fraud and corruption scandal, with a central role played by Édith Cresson
27.
Netinera
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Netinera, is a railway company operating in Germany. The new owners, Italian state railways FS and Cube, a French-Luxembourg investment fund, in 2005 Arriva bought Sippel which operates buses in Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden and Erlangen. It went to buy Verkehrsbetriebe Bils in 2006, which operates buses in Münster, Warendorf and Hamm, in 2004 Arriva acquired Prignitzer Eisenbahn GmbH, which operates several lines in east Germany around Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, North-Rhine Westphalia and Pomerania. In September 2012, Netinera ordered 63 Coradia Lint trains from Alstom, Netineras main competitors, Deutsche Bahn, Veolia Transport, Keolis Netineras official website
28.
London Stock Exchange
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The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London in the United Kingdom. As of December 2014, the Exchange had a capitalisation of US$6.06 trillion. The Exchange was founded in 1801 and its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pauls Cathedral in the City of London, the Exchange is part of the London Stock Exchange Group. London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, London Stock Exchange Group was created in October 2007 when London Stock Exchange merged with Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana. The Royal Exchange had been founded by English financier Thomas Gresham on the model of the Antwerp Bourse and it was opened by Elizabeth I of England in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange due to their rude manners and they had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, notably Jonathans Coffee-House. At that coffee house, a broker named John Casting started listing the prices of a few commodities, exchange rates and certain key provisions such as salt, coal, originally, this was not a daily list and was only published a few days of the week. This list and activity was moved to Garraway’s coffee house. Public auctions during this period were conducted for the duration that a length of tallow candle could burn, as stocks grew, with new companies joining to raise capital, the royal court also raised some monies. These are the earliest evidence of organised trading in securities in London. After Greshams Royal Exchange building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, it was rebuilt and this was a move away from coffee houses and a step towards the modern model of stock exchange. The Royal Exchange not only housed brokers but also merchants and merchandise and this was the birth of a regulated stock market, which had teething problems in the shape of unlicensed brokers. In order to regulate these, Parliament brought out an act in 1697 that levied heavy penalties and it also set a fixed number of brokers, which was later increased as the size of the trade grew. The street in which they were now dealing was known as Exchange Alley, Parliament tried to regulate this and ban the unofficial traders from the Change streets. Traders became weary of bubbles when companies rose quickly and fell, after the Seven Years War, trade at Jonathans coffee house boomed again. In 1773, Jonathan, together with 150 other brokers, formed a club and opened a new and this now had a set entrance fee, through which traders could enter the stock room and trade securities. It was, however, not a location for trading. Fraud was also rife during these times and in order to such dealings
29.
Arriva Scotland West
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Arriva Scotland West was a bus company based in Inchinnan, near Paisley, Scotland. It was formed in 1997 as a rebranding of the former Clydeside 2000 company when purchased by Arriva, on 26 March 2012, the business was sold to McGills Bus Services. Clydeside was formed as Clydeside Scottish in June 1985 from the operations of Western SMT to prepare the state-owned parent company. At the time, Clydesides operating area was larger, covering Inverclyde. Clydeside was re-merged with Western Scottish in 1989 in an attempt to make it financially viable. However, on the privatisation of Western Scottish the Clydeside operations were sold in a management buyout as Clydeside 2000 plc with Luton & District taking a 23% stake. Clydeside began rationalising some of its operations, and depots at Largs, Paisley and Thornliebank were closed, in November 1994, Clydesdale 2000 was sold to British Bus, who had just completed the take over of shareholder Luton & District. The new parent company began investing heavily in the ageing fleet, a more vibrant red, white and yellow livery was introduced, and new Flagship routes were created to raise quality levels. Clydesdale Buses was included in the 1 August 1996 sale of British Bus to the Cowie Group, the main competitor in Greenock, Ashton Coaches, was purchased along with 62 buses in July 1997. The Greenock operations were re-branded GMS Greenock Motor Services, using Ashtons white, green and gold livery, long established independent operator McGills Bus Services of Barrhead was also purchased in the same month, and initially continued to operate under its own identity. A stake was taken in Dart Buses of Paisley, another competitor. The company flirted with operations outside its area, successfully securing tenders to operate services in Cumbernauld and south east Glasgow. Further rationalisation took place in 2002, with the Inverclyde operations being sold to local management, at the same time, the Barrhead depot, originally belonging to the initial McGills Bus Service, was closed and operations concentrated on the two remaining depots. In 2007, BAA awarded the new Glasgow Flyer 500 service to Arriva, as a result, the 905 Airlink service, jointly operated with Fairline Coaches under contract to Scottish Citylink, ended, however Fairline have since started an independent service numbered 905. One other operator was also banned, in December 2011, Arriva announced it had agreed to sell the business to McGills Bus Services. The transaction was referred to the Competition Commission, before being approved in 2012, below is a list of each depot fleet before the sale to McGills. Most buses were transferred over to McGills as part of the deal when the assets of Arriva Scotland West were sold to McGills
30.
Veolia Transport
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Veolia Transport was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia Environnement until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev. The name was changed to Connex in 2000, and in November 2002 Compagnie générale française des transports et entreprises was incorporated, in 2005, the name became Veolia Transport. In 2007, the group posted revenues of €5.6 billion in 2007, and sold Veolia Cargo, a merger between Veolia Transport and Transdev was announced on 23 July 2009. Transdev was then a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts, the merger was completed in March 2011. Veolia Transdev became the worlds leader in sustainable mobility with more than 110,000 employees in 28 countries. In July 2011, amid disappointing financial results, Veolia Environnement announced the launch of new restructuring plans and redeployment of assets, in December 2011, Veolia announced a €5bn divestment program over 2012-2013. As part of programme, Veolia would divest its participation in Veolia Transdev. Autocars De Polder has been part of the Veolia Group since 1995, Veolia operates some de Lijn routes under contract. Veolia Transport Belgium was passed on to Veolia Transdev until it was sold to a consortium consisting of Cube Infrastructure, Veolia ran half of the transport operations of the privatised Combus especially around Copenhagen. These operations were sold to Arriva in October 2007, Helsinki, Veolia owns Helsinki Metropolitan Areas bus company Veolia Finland, which was previously Linjebuss and operates essentially in Vantaa, a northern suburb of Helsinki. Veolia Transport Finland Oy has since passed on to Veolia Transdev and is now known as Transdev Finland Oy from 5 February 2015. Veolia Verkehr, former Connex Verkehr, offers services, several of a regional character such as the Bayerische Oberlandbahn from Munich. Veolia owns a number of bus companies, mostly in suburban areas, network included in Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund GmbH and linked to it by Tram-Train line, Schwäbisch Hall, Urban network, Stuttgart, Suburban buses. and also into rural areas. Veolia Verkehr has since passed on to Veolia Transdev and is now known as Transdev GmbH since March 2015. Dublin, Veolia operates the Luas tramway which started operations in June 2004, operation of the Luas tramway has since been passed on to Veolia Transdev and renamed Transdev Ireland. Galway, Veolia owned the Nestor Airlink bus company operates between Galway and Dublin Airport. However Jim Burke & Sons own and run it as of March 2009, Connex Transport Jersey operated bus services in Jersey between 29 September 2002 and 31 December 2012 under the Mybus brand. Veolia Transport Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen, in the part of Zeeland province
31.
Alexander ALX200
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The Alexander ALX200 was a single-decker bus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was created for low-floor bus chassis produced from the late 1990s and it was launched in summer 1996 as a low floor replacement of the Alexander Dash. It was supposed to fill in the gap between the ALX100 minibus and the ALX300 full-size single-decker, as compared to the Dash, the ALX200 has a more rounded appearance. The body was built on Dennis Dart SLF and Volvo B6LE. It was given a front end refresh during 2001. It sold quite well, and buyers included Stagecoach, FirstGroup, Arriva and Newport, citybus of Hong Kong purchased ten ALX200-bodied Volvo B6LE buses in 1997. Also, a number of ALX200-bodied Dennis Dart SLF had been exported to the Netherlands, a number were built by Thomas Built Buses, under license for use in the United States. List of buses Media related to Alexander ALX200 at Wikimedia Commons
32.
Dennis Dart
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The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker bus chassis that was manufactured by Dennis in Guildford, England. More than 11,000 were produced during 18 years of production, most were purchased by United Kingdom operators, although examples were sold to the North America, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Dennis Dart was conceived when Hestair Group decided to produce a bus between a minibus and a full-sized single-decker and it was launched in 1988 and was originally offered with the Duple Dartline bodywork. It was 2. 3m wide and was available in the length of 9m. It was powered by a Cummins 6BT engine and coupled to the Allison AT545 gearbox and this model was sold to London Buses and to some operators outside London. Soon after it was launched, Duple was sold to Plaxton, Plaxton decided not to acquire the design rights of the Duple Dartline and it was sold to Carlyle Works, who continued producing the bodywork from 1991. Production passed to Marshall of Cambridge in 1992 who bodied five Darts to this design, in 1993, Marshall updated the design to the C36 and later, the C37. In 1990, Wadham Stringer became the builder to body the Dart with a body called the Portsdown. In the same year, Wright bodied the Dart with the Handybus, in early 1991, Plaxton launched the Pointer. Later in 1991, East Lancs bodied the Dart with its EL2000, in the latter half of 1991, Alexander launched the Dash. Another contender entering the market at the time was the Northern Counties Paladin. Initially, it was built with a design of a barrel shaped windscreen with quarterlights and it was phased out when Plaxton bought Northern Counties in 1995. In 1995, Dennis launched a version of the Dart, the Dennis Dart SLF. It was 2. 4m wide and initially offered in lengths of 9. 2m, 10m and 10. 6m, the driveline of the step-entrance Dart was retained, although some early examples were fitted with Eaton manual transmission. It was initially offered with the low floor version of the Pointer and it was also offered with a wide variety of bodies, namely the East Lancs Spryte, UVG Urbanstar, the Wright Crusader, Alexander ALX200, Marshall Capital, Caetano Nimbus and MCV Evolution. Some Dart SLFs with Alexander ALX200 bodies were delivered to the North America, in 1997, the Dart SPD was launched with the length of 11. 3m. It has a powerful engine and a more heavy duty Allison World Series B300R gearbox. Originally offered only with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork this larger bus was later offered with other such as East Lancs, the Alexander ALX200
33.
Abellio (transport company)
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Abellio operates public transport services in Europe, with both bus and rail networks. It was founded as NedRailways in 2001, before being renamed Abellio in October 2009, Abellio is the international arm of the Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Abellio is the owner of bus company Qbuzz which operates buses in the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, Qbuzz also has a minority share in HTM Personenvervoer. In February 2015 Abellio won the contract of the Province of Limburg to provide for the public transport from 2016 up to 2031. Due to unfair behavior of Abellio during the tender for the contract, Abellio had obtained secret information of competitor Veolia through a former employee of Veolia which was hired by the daughter company of Abellio, Qbuzz. From 2016 Abellio will operate the line between Gouda and Alphen aan den Rijn. Abellio operates several railway lines in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as owning several bus companies throughout Germany. In November 2013, Transport Scotland announced that Abellio, Arriva, FirstGroup, MTR Corporation, in October 2014, the franchise was awarded to Abellio. In April 2015, Abellio ScotRail commenced operating the ScotRail franchise, on 6 September 2015, Abellio ScotRail commenced operating services on the Borders Railway. Abellio entered the UK bus market in May 2009 purchasing the Travel London and Travel Surrey businesses from National Express and rebranding them Abellio London, both operate in the South East of the United Kingdom. Serco-Abellio also lodged unsuccessful bids for the Wales & Borders, West Midlands, in February 2012, Abellio Greater Anglia commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise. In 2016, Abellio successfully bid to retain the renamed East Anglia franchise until 2025, in January 2017, Abellio announced that subject to gaining Department for Transport approval, it had agreed to sell a 40% stake in the business to Mitsui. The successful operator will begin services in October 2017 with East Japan Railway, Abellio bought Probo Bus and run its network in the Czech Republic in 2009. It consisted of bus transport in the Beroun District and surroundings. Abellio CZ founded in July 2011 is a Czech daughter of Abellio Transport CZ Holding B. V, since 1 April 2011, their member of board is Petr Moravec, formerly general manager of Veolia Transport Česká republika and manager of personal transport of Czech Railways. In spring 2012, Abellio CZ lodged a complaint about wrong assignment of the tender to running of fast train line Ostrava – Krnov – Olomouc. In November 2013, Abellio sold Abellio CZ and Probo Bus to Deutsche Bahn with 110 buses, media related to Abellio at Wikimedia Commons Official website
34.
Central Bohemian Region
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Central Bohemia is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative center is placed in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the center of the region, the city is not, however, a part of it and creates a region of its own. The Central Bohemian Region is situated in the center of Bohemia, in terms of area it is the largest region in the Czech Republic. It occupies 11,014 km² which is almost 14% of the area of the country. It surrounds the country’s capital Prague and it borders with Liberec Region, Hradec Králové Region, Pardubice Region, Vysočina Region, South Bohemian Region, Plzeň Region and Ústí nad Labem Region. In 2011, the region counted in total 1,145 municipalities where of 26 were municipalities with a municipal office. 1,044 municipalities had less than 2,000 inhabitants,82 municipalities had a status of town. With an area of 11,014 km², the Central Bohemian Region is the largest region of the Czech Republic, the region has relatively various natural conditions. The highest point of the region is located on Tok hill in Brdy Highlands in the part of the region. The lowest point of the region is situated on the surface of the Elbe River near Dolní Beřkovice. The region is divided into two landscape types, the north-eastern part is formed by Polabí lowlands with a high share of land being used for agricultural purposes and deciduous forests. The south-western part of the region is hilly with coniferous and mixed forests, important rivers in the region are Elbe, Vltava, Berounka, Jizera and Sázava. On Vltava river, a series of nine dams were constructed throughout the 20th century, the agricultural land accounts for 83. 5% of all land in the region, which 11p. p. The highest share of the land can be found in Polabí, especially in Kolín. There are a number of parks located in the region. Křivoklátsko is the largest and most important landscape park in the region, another remarkable area is the Bohemian Karst, the largest karst area in the Czech republic where the Koněprusy Caves are located. Finally, Kokořínsko Landscape park is for a part situated in the Central Bohemian Region. As of December 31,2012 the Central Bohemian Region had 1,291,816 inhabitants and was the most populous region in the country, about 53% of the inhabitants lived in towns or cities
35.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
36.
Teplice
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Teplice, Teplice-Šanov until 1948 is a statutory city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic, the capital of Teplice District. It is the second largest spa town, after Karlovy Vary. Teplice is located in the North Bohemia region, near the border with the German state of Saxony. It is situated in the valley of the Bílina river between the slopes of the Ore Mountains in the northwest and the Central Bohemian Uplands in the southeast, about 15 km west of Ústí nad Labem. The municipal area comprises the communities of Teplice proper, Prosetice, Nová Ves, Řetenice, Hudcov, Trnovany. A fortified town arose around the monastery, which was destroyed in the course of the Hussite Wars after the 1426 Battle of Aussig, in the late 15th century, queen consort Joanna of Rožmitál, wife of King George of Poděbrady, had a castle erected on the ruins. Consequently, and until 1945, Teplitz Castle was the seat of the princely House of Clary-Aldringen. After the Thirty Years War, the town was the destination of many German settlers. After a blaze in 1793, large parts of the town were rebuilt in a Neoclassical style, in 1895 Teplice merged with neighbouring Lázně Šanov. Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I and the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, with the Sudetenland, Teplice was annexed by Nazi Germany according to the 1938 Munich Agreement and incorporated into a Reichsgau. After World War II the Czechoslovak government enacted the Beneš decrees, in 1945, the Princes of Clary-Aldringen, lords of Teplice since 1634, were expropriated. In 1994 Jaroslav Kubera of the Civic Democratic Party became mayor of Teplice, Teplice is home to the professional football club FK Teplice playing in the Gambrinus liga. Notable players of the club include Josef Masopust and Pavel Verbíř, the stadium, Na Stínadlech, is one of the largest in the country and has hosted international matches. 3. Biography, Maxi Bőhm, Bei uns in Reichenau by Georg Markus, copyright 1983
37.
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
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Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S. p. A. is a government-owned holding company that manages infrastructure and services on the Italian rail network. One of the subsidiaries of the company, Trenitalia, is the rail operator in Italy. Ferrovie dello Stato was instituted by an act on 22 April 1905, taking control over the majority of the national railways, the president was nominated by the government. With the rise of fascism, a policy was carried out. The board of directors and chief administrator office were abolished at the end of 1922, the institution was administered by a commissioner, appointed by the King until April 1924. Since then, Ferrovie dello Stato was managed by the newly born Ministry of Communications, after the armistice on 8 September 1943, Italy was divided and train operations were separately directed too, with headquarters in Salerno for the south and Verona for the north. The period after World War II was particularly tough for Ferrovie dello Stato, since most of the Italian rail network was severely damaged, the network was rebuilt almost entirely by 1952. Since then, a period of renewal started, new trains were introduced, among them the ETR300, and many sections of the national network were electrified and sometimes doubled. In 1957, the new ALn 442/448 multiple unit was introduced, during these years, the rolling stock was generally renewed and expanded with the mass construction of electrical and diesel multiple units, like the Ale 883, ALe 840 and ALn 772. However, the revolution was the introduction in 1956 of the new FS ALn 668 diesel multiple unit. In the following years,3 MU out of 4 were 668, many electrical multiple units were also introduced during this period, like the ALe 601, progenitor of the Ale 801/940 and ALe 803 EMU, still in use today on regional service. During the 1970s, electronic cars were first introduced on the Italian network, trains for regional and metropolitan service. The new E.444 was the first attempt on high-speed rail, the ETR401 was the first prototype of the new Pendolino class. Following other network improvements, works for the first Italian high-speed rail line started in these years, the Direttissima line from Florence to Rome was partially opened in 1986 and concluded in 1992. In 1986, trains were travelling the line at 200 km/h, in 1988, the ETR450 Pendolino was travelling regularly at 250 km/h, todays top speed on the line. The line was the fastest in Europe after the French TGV lines, the old logo was renewed in 1982 and again in 1994, with the introduction of the XMPR livery. The FS was left unchanged in its structure until the end of 1985. From the following year, after 80 years, the Azienda Autonoma delle Ferrovie dello Stato was replaced by a new company, the newly born Ferrovie dello Stato underwent major structural transformations between 1986 and 1992
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Media related to Arriva at Wikimedia Commons
