(30 Jul 2015, 6:03 pm)Dan wrote Arriva has invested massively into its services operating in the Peterlee area in the last twelve months, while Go North East has continued to allocate 10+ year old vehicles to its services within the Peterlee area despite being the principal operator in the area. I'd suggest that reliability of the services under MPD operation has perhaps dwindled in recent years, which could have led to customers finding alternative means of transport to their destination (whether that be by car or on a competing service operated by Arriva). If Go North East wanted to attract attention to their buses to claw back customers - what better way to do it than to paint them pink?! You can hardly miss them, and I doubt anyone will dispute that...
I agree with what you've said that Arrivas upgrades of the 22/23/24 and the newer bigger buses on 21/X21, certianly meant a GNE Upgrade was needed.
However, for this reason I was surprised when the buses don't have wifi or plug sockets- this could mean they are similar standards for both operators.
Not that I personally care, Wifi and Sockets, don't make me use a service just thought with Arriva offering it that GNE would of wanted to offer it also.