Events in the first half of 2020
Cessation of Arriva Rail North franchise
On January 29, 2020 the British Secretary of State for Transport announced the transfer of the Arriva Rail North (ARN) franchise to the state-owned Operator of Last Resort (OLR). There were many issues affecting ARN which were largely outside of the direct control of DB Arriva. These included the ongoing, late delivery of major infrastructure upgrades and prolonged strike action. This has had a significant adverse impact on ARN, both in terms of services and financial performance. To ensure the transition on March 1, 2020, DB Arriva has worked very closely together with the Department of Transport (DfT) and the OLR. The settlement negotiations between ARN and its main creditors (DfT, DB Group and other suppliers) regarding a final economic settlement of open claims are ongoing.
Other events
- In June, DB Arriva started a new ten-year bus contract in the Pilsen region, in the southwest of the Czech Republic. It means that DB Arriva is now the principal bus operator for the area, which will benefit from the introduction of 315 brand new buses.
- In February 2020 the Limburg Passenger Transport Authority awarded DB Arriva a € 49 million compensation package primarily for the delayed electrification of the Maaslijn, a railway operating between Roermond—Venlo—Nijmegen.
Order book
| Order book (€ billion) | Jun 30, 2020 | Dec 31, 2019 | Change | ||
absolute | % | ||||
| DB Arriva | 13.3 | 15.3 | –2.0 | –13.1 |
secured | 8.1 | 8.6 | –0.5 | –5.8 | |
unsecured | 5.2 | 6.7 | –1.5 | –22.4 | |
Revenues that are directly connected with transport contracts or concessions are either independent of (secured revenues, primarily concession fees) or dependent on (unsecured revenues, primarily revenues from fares) the number of passengers.
In the first half of 2020 the order book declined. The additions from awarded transport contracts won of about € 0.5 billion were offset by disposals – primarily as a result of service rendered – of about € 1.9 billion and changes in assumptions of about € –0.5 billion, including adverse exchange rate effects and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.