That last method is exactly what they have done over the last year or so. Portugal, Sweden, Serbia all sold, and Poland divested except trains.
Fair point on country by country, but that's been generally a slimming down to get to this point here. They might divest countries but is it really going to get to depot level as some suggest?
I believe the Reuters' report has come from a line in the DB Annual Report, issued at the end of last week (only in German so far, English version to follow later), which said something like "We expect to prepare Arriva for sale". But then they said much the same thing circa 2016, and at intervals since.
I've criticised DB before for the paralysis and decline of Arriva through not having a clear strategy for Arriva (or Schenker for that matter); there's been a lack of direction (and capital). They've toyed around with outright sales or an independent public offering (floating it separately) and the indecision has been a contributory factor in Arriva's decline.
If local rumours are true, then closure of more parts of the UK business is a real possibility. That they have told the staff at Northfleet that they have not bid for the new Fastrack contract sort of emphasises that investment is still a bit sporadic at best (see also dropping out of ZEBRA schemes in Milton Keynes and Stevenage....).
Now that I don't doubt. I'd suggested that, post the announcement of the closure of Oswestry, Winsford, and Macc that I could point at a number of depots that are extremely vulnerable. I don't like to speculate on individual depots etc (you never know who's on this board reading that people think they could lose their job) but would suspect at least a couple in Midlands and in Southern Counties would be under review.
That's not helped by First turning the screw in places like Colchester!
Well this is Rail
UKforums after all
Don't get your point... I mean it is
RailUKforums after all
See also Grand Central's fleet issues and general stagnation - even First managed to bring in an HST or two pdq when their 180s gave up. No-one seems to be willing to put in the time/money whilst the business is up in the air.
It's been well documented about the struggle that Arriva has had in getting investment funds from DB and the need to develop the business.
Arriva was far from perfect in its original existence though it was forged out of British Bus and that had its own issues, and then bought some more with MTL! However, it was a reasonably competent business and that continued until the DB purchase and for a while afterwards even if the focus on margins at the expense of everything else was seeing some pronounced local declines/exits. However, since c2014/5, the rot really set in with sporadic investment (as
@Man of Kent said) and when you see how far it's slipped in even their powerhouse firms.