Wales Business Stephen Farrell

Pre-tax profit has grown to almost £30m at Arriva Trains Wales following further growth in passenger numbers. The rail operator plans to invest £2.8m during 2017, taking the total spent on the franchise to almost £35m.

The Cardiff-headquartered company, which employs more than 2,000 members of staff, has operated the Wales and Borders franchise since 2003, with its agreement running until 2018.

It is part of the Arriva group which is owned by German company Deutsche Bahn.

According to recently-filed accounts for Arriva Trains Wales/Trenau Arriva Cymru Ltd, pre-tax profit grew to £28.2m in the year ending 31 December 2016, up from £23.7m in 2015. Profits were boosted by a one-off pension past service gain of £8.6m.

Turnover also increased to £278.5m from £271.8m the year before.

The group said £2.8m would be available for capital projects during 2017, adding to the £32m invested since it began running the franchise.

An Arriva Trains Wales spokesperson said: "Arriva Trains Wales is one of the largest businesses in Wales and we are proud of the fact that we have grown customer journeys from around 18 million per year at the start of the franchise to around 32 million per year.

"This growth, as a result of improvements we have delivered, has enabled us to reinvest over £32m back into improving the experience for our customers. Our investment is reflected in 82 per cent of our customers being satisfied according to independent industry watchdog, Transport Focus."

"As a part of our 2017 Arriva investment plan, we intend to invest a further £2.8m this year, demonstrating our continued commitment to Wales and Borders. We will continue to work with our partners in Network Rail and Welsh Government to improve the experience for our customers."

In their report accompanying the results, the directors said "positive passenger journeys growth" had been achieved during the 2016, boosted by "successful marketing campaigns; yield management activity and continued investment in revenue protection initiatives".

The measurement of average train punctuality and reliability for the operator ended the year at 91.3 per cent, up from 92.8 per cent at the end of 2015.

The directors put the reduction down to "the challenges of extensive Network Rail engineering and re-signalling works", together with "a more impactful leaf fall season".

Arriva Trains Wales is one of four bidders for the Wales and Borders franchise and Metro from October 2018, alongside Abellio Rail Cymru, KeolisAmey and MTR Corporation (Cymru).