NETHERLANDS Arriva Nederland has been awarded a Euro 450m contract to operate buses in north and south west Friesland and will continue to run bus services on the island of Schiermonnikoog.
The Friesland contract, awarded by the Province of Fryslan, starts December 9, and will run for eight years, with a two-year optional extension. Under the contract, Arriva will run a fleet of 190 buses providing urban, inter-urban and rural services in the Province. The Province is currently drawing up specifications for the fleet, including electric, EEV and biogas. Arriva also intends to introduce timetables which better integrate bus and rail services, invest in Wi-Fi on its Q-liner express bus services and introduce new ticketing for frequent users.
Arriva also aims to work with local businesses to encourage the development of services and transport marketing campaigns to support local firms. New kiosks are planned in Heerenveen and Sneek, in addition to the Leeuwarden kiosk, to provide tickets and service information to customers and improve support for passengers using the Province’s ’Opstapper’ (hop-on, hop-off) bus service.
Anne Hettinga, MD at Arriva Nederland, said: “As sole provider of regional rail services in Friesland and Groningen, this new bus contract will complement our existing operations.”
