Arriva Italia wins €11 million 2015 Milan Expo contract

European transport group Arriva has been awarded a contract to be the transport provider for the 2015 Milan Expo – a multi-national trade exhibition.

The €11 million contract, which will see Arriva Italia operating daily shuttle buses, car parking, an online ticketing portal and a customer call centre, will run from May 2015 for the duration of the six month trade show – an event which is set to attract more than 20 million visitors. The Expo will see an average of 130,000 visitors each day.

A major win for Arriva’s Italian business, the contract will be jointly operated between Arriva-owned operators SIA, SAIA Trasporti, SAL and SAB Autoservizi using almost 80 low-floor vehicles. The fleet will include six new bio-methane fuelled Iveco coaches for services inside the exhibition area.

Arriva will also be providing 52 drivers and almost 200 support staff to ensure the transport for the event, which will have an environmental and energy theme, operates efficiently.

Leopoldo Montanari, managing director of Arriva Italia, said: “To be awarded such a prestigious contract is a great honour for everyone within Arriva Italia.

“We worked extremely hard not only to submit a strong, innovative bid, but one that also showed how through our links with Arriva businesses across Europe, and via our owners Deutsche Bahn, we could widely pre-promote the Milan Expo to an audience of millions.

“The contract begins next spring but the hard work is already underway to ensure we deliver over and above what we have promised.

“We want to play our role in welcoming the expected millions of visitors to Milan and to showcase what Arriva is capable of in a multi-function environment. We cannot wait to get going and to use our pan-European experience to make sure every detail of transport is perfect.”

Mr Montanari added that Arriva Italia will also be working to develop a transport app for visitors.

The 2015 Milan Expo will include exhibits from corporate organisations, not-for-profit firms and political bodies from across the world. It will see an involvement from 144 countries.

55 per cent of visitors to the event are expected to arrive by public transport.