Arriva in merger talks with France's Keolis

Arriva has held “preliminary discussions” with SNCF about a potential merger with French state railway’s Keolis passenger transport subsidiary.

A tie-up would create a new European super-group. It’s annual revenue of £6bn would match that of Aberdeen-based FirstGroup – the UK’s largest bus and train operator.

Keolis, which is 44.5% owned by SNCF, has the largest bus and coach fleet in France. The group employs 40,000 staff with operations in Europe,...