I'm surprised Arriva owners DB just has let its get into a bad state in the first place? If it has no interest there should either pull out or sell up.
Isn't that the point? That Arriva and DB management becomes ever more remote? The DB management are probably only really concerned that the operations are hitting their numbers in terms of financials.
I have long said that people are awfully caught up with hand-wringing over First and for some good reasons. However, First's issues are well known as are the reasons for it. Arriva UK Bus has long been guilty of a lack of strategy and, to be fair, they've flown under the radar because First have taken the eye.
Also, this torpor has extended long before DB bought them. Masses of depot closures, vacating territory, poor service delivery. They have continued to invest in new buses and that's why the gricers haven't been kicking them. However, it's not been good for a long time. The former MRN operations are in a shocking state, and from what I saw of the former London and Country/Kentish Bus operations yesterday, they are bereft of any form of direction. With L&C, they were the dominant operator from the M23 to the M4 - now it's not much more than a few routes round Guildford.
I don't travel Arriva so often (in comparison to First or Stagecoach) - in the couple of years, it's been restricted to Merseyside and West Yorkshire (which are actually fairly decent), North East (which really should be much better), Cheshire (which is flatlining), and the old MRN/L&C ops as mentioned. However, when you look at the number of depots that have closed or the territory that they've ceded, it is quite stunning.