(18 Sep 2022, 11:59 am)L469 YVK wrote [ -> ]Maybe they had plans before covid? But got put on hold for obvious reasons.
Arriva's Northumbria network looks to have recovered mostly well bar a few rotten eggs that should hopefully be sorted in time.
Hopefully Blyth's turn next year......I'd say if anything for the 308 (and 306 if interworking), send 12x of whatever is due to Blyth to Ashington then let 7541-52 see out their time at Blyth on the 308. I doubt GNE will allocate anything newer than 67 reg StreetDecks on the 309/310/311 (cascaded presumably off the 21) unless they won some sort of Green Bus fund bid or GAG's new investors had a change of heart.
There were absolutely plans before Covid, unsure if they involved the E200s but definitely deckers of some sort.
Northumbria's core network seems pretty robust if we're honest:
The 1/2 are constantly busy with short hop journeys and, when you take into account ANE fare pricing, must make a decent chunk of money. £6.50 for anyone in Blyth going to Ashington and back, for example. I can't remember any exactly, but the single fares from Bebside/Cowpen into Blyth are relatively high too. You can frequently see decent crowds waiting to board both in Blyth Bus Station.
The 35 again is busy with short hops, predominantly concessions during the day though. Is likely helped by school traffic and workers, and again the fares. There have been quite a few times where I've got off a Woodhorn bound 35 at Ashington with another 10-15 people, with another 10-15 waiting to board, and then the one behind is exactly the same.
The 43 seems to be a consistent route, helped by large loadings in the peaks. The morning peak journeys into Gosforth and Newcastle are always rammed, even with a decker, and from what I've seen the northbound PM peaks aren't much quieter. Forget about using it on a Newcastle match day unless you absolutely need to, and loadings on "normal" Saturdays and Sundays also look quite strong.
The 44/45, compared to the others so far, look to be quite feast or famine. Peaks are quite busy, but they seem very quiet outside of that. Matchdays, same as above though.
The 57/57A from what I've seen always have respectable loadings, and I imagine helped by almost being two separate routes (Ashington - Cramlington, and then Cramlington to Whitley Bay, don't imagine many do end to end). Don't think they'll set the world alight with revenue, but an hourly service using minibuses and minibus driver wages probably doesn't need to be taking full loads to make some money. New buses on there now so reliability should improve, which will only help it further.
I'll group the X10/11 and X21/22 together. They all look very strong in the peaks, full seated loads for the main ones into town on a morning. Weekend and match day loadings are also ridiculous, with the only outlier really being the X22 which is very hit/miss and seems to be more reliant on concessionary travel during the day compared to the rest. With all though, decent amount of shorter journeys between towns in-between the peaks which no doubt helps massively. All that said, I imagine that (outside of the peaks) putting the X21/22 down to every 30 could make them a bit stronger financially too - difficult balance to strike though and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they kept them every 20 once funding ends. X21/22 are also massively helped by workers to/from Nelson Industrial Estates.
The X9 seems to be a funny one, always seems busy enough (particularly during the peaks) but I'm not sure if the route change has had much of an impact? That said, with the growing estates around Cramlington it's one that looks like it has quite a bit of potential if managed correctly.
Then there's the Morpeth express work. Morpeth to Newcastle, all of them are busy, obviously in the peaks but also during the day they carry decent loadings. Now that the X14 is every 2 hours north of Morpeth, the ones I've seen during the day seem healthy. The X15/18s, while somewhat seasonal, from what I've seen carry decent numbers - and when they're busy they are very busy. Obviously NCC subsidies will help too, especially in the case of the X14. The X20 is similar, trips from Ashington in the morning are very busy, and there's always reasonable usage between Ashington and Alnwick (mainly split between Ash-Widdrington, and Widdrington-Alnwick).
I can't comment on the 51-4/X7/X8/Newcastle minibus work as I don't have reason to use them, and don't see them regularly enough to pass comment (and I'm not going to comment on the Coast Road as I think it's been done by now).
Obviously the Ashington & Blyth line will pose a threat to some of the above, but realistically I don't think it'll have much of an impact on the shorter journeys, and the bus is still going to be the best option for those commuting from the centre of Blyth, Bedlington, Newbiggin, Cramlington etc. If I'm honest, I think it'll have a much bigger impact on the amount of people commuting by car.
Arriva North East's main issues seem to be with Durham County, and it's been that way for as long as I can remember unfortunately.
