Press releases

Arriva Midlands is delighted to offer new links between Tamworth, Kingsbury, Coleshill and Birmingham International Airport – thanks to Kickstart funding worth some £450,000 from the Department for Transport. The new service will be called 767 and will start in April 2006.

Catherine Mason, managing director for Arriva Midlands, said:

We are delighted these new links are receiving investment, including brand new low floor easy access vehicles to the route and giving even better access to customers with disabilities and parents with pushchairs.

Kickstart funding is designed to allow new routes to be offered in the hope that passenger demand will follow – we are confident that more and more customers will take this opportunity to choose the bus when travelling to the airport – and beyond!

The service will also call at Hams Hall business park, potentially opening up new employment opportunities for residents of Tamworth, Dosthill and Kingsbury.

Full details of the NEW service will be available from Arriva's customer helpline on 08701 201088 early next year. Timetables will also be available on the website www.arrivabus.co.uk nearer the start date.

Notes to editors:

• Arriva is one of the largest private sector providers of passenger transport in mainland Europe. Employing more than 30,000 people and providing more than one billion passenger journeys every year.
• Arriva provides transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and water buses in eight European countries - Denmark , Italy , Germany , the Netherlands , Portugal , Spain , Sweden and the UK.
• Arriva is the largest private bus operator in Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands and is London's largest operator. Arriva was the first private company to be awarded rail contracts in Denmark.
• In the last five years, the turnover of Arriva's mainland European operations has increase by more than 250 per cent to £514.8 million (Euro €746 million).
• Arriva was the first UK transport company to become a signatory of the European Road Safety Charter – http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/roadsafety/charter.htm.