Arriva warns of slowing rail growth

Jun 30 2009 By nebusiness

Transport group Arriva today warned that slackening growth at its CrossCountry rail franchise would dent first-half results.

The franchise - which includes services from Aberdeen to Penzance and Bournemouth to Manchester - saw revenue growth slow to 2.4% in the first five months of 2009.

This compares with the 4.5% reported in the firm’s last update two months ago as the recession puts pressure on the business.

Arriva - which won the CrossCountry franchise in 2007 - needs passenger revenue growth of around 10% a year to maintain 2008 profits. Revenue support measures from the Department for Transport do not kick in until 2011.

The firm said: "The results for the six months will reflect the lower revenue growth rates in CrossCountry, and are otherwise expected to be broadly in line with management’s overall expectations."