LONDON (Reuters) - French state railway group SNCF is planning to gatecrash its German counterpart Deutsche Bahn's takeover bid for British bus and train operator Arriva , the Sunday Times reported, without citing sources.

The newspaper said senior SNCF executives had held talks with French government officials about making a potential bid for the firm, which has operations in 12 European countries.

SNCF had no immediate comment.

Earlier this month, Arriva ended talks with SNCF on an equity tie-up with SNCF affiliate Keolis.

Deutsche Bahn confirmed on Thursday that it had made an approach to Arriva, believed to be worth 700 pence per share.

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien and Tamora Vidaillet in Paris; Editing by Hans Peters)

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