European transport group Arriva today began operating the second phase of Sweden’s largest integrated multi-modal public transport tender.

The 12-year E20 contract serving the Swedish capital of Stockholm was awarded to Arriva by regional transport authority Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. It doubles Arriva’s size in Sweden, seeing it provide an additional 94 million passenger journeys a year.

Following the successful launch of phase one of the contract in August 2012, Arriva is now operating 101 light trains on the city’s 65 kilometre Roslagsbanan tram system along with 229 buses in Stockholm’s northern district. Phase two also sees a further 920 employees transferring to Arriva.

As part of the phase two launch, Arriva has revamped timetables and schedules on over 1,500 bus and rail services – a significant move which aims to encourage more Stockholm car users to use public transport more often.

This morning Arriva staff have handed out more than 10,000 cups of coffee and cakes to customers and is encouraging people to post comments and service suggestions on Arriva Sverige’s official Facebook page.

David Martin, chief executive of Arriva plc, said: “Our aim for this phase of the E20 contract is the same as the first:  to increase train and bus use in Stockholm by improving each element of our customers’ journeys and travel experience.

“We have made a number of service, network and infrastructure commitments in our bid. We said we would deliver high quality transport services which meet or exceed passenger expectations and the requirements of client body, SL, and we are delivering on these commitments. We look forward to continuing this success and to demonstrating how, working with our partners, we can deliver value, quality and growth.”

Today’s launch raises the resources employed on the E20 contract by Arriva to 2,020 employees, 484 buses and 183 light trains.