(13 Oct 2015, 4:49 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote But in the real world you would advertise them as through buses if they are working through. Connections, whether guaranteed or not, are very off-putting for passengers. The splitting of the service from Lanchester to Newcastle was the worst thing about these recent changes and quite illogical. Keeping the through workings would not have involved any extra vehicles.
Stagecoach don't advertise these 'through journeys'. I appreciate the situation with Go North East is slightly different because they're offering a 'guaranteed connection' at peak times in place of what was once a direct service, but I'm not sure I see the logic in advertising all the through connections on offer. There will be a "Toon Link" branded OmniCity working the new "Durham Diamond" 16/16A service on an evening for a couple of journeys if I remember rightly - should these 'through journeys' be promoted, too?
A connection which isn't guaranteed may be off-putting, but by definition a 'guaranteed connection' is one which is promised with certainty. How is this off-putting?
It would have involved extra "Toon Link" branded vehicles being needed and would have freed up two Solos, but that's besides the point... Go North East's intentions have been clear from the outset with these changes: to provide faster, more reliable bus services. As the majority of customers travel between Newcastle/Gateshead and Stanley or Lanchester and Stanley, it doesn't make sense to continue running an unreliable bus service, if it can be avoided by splitting in the middle which won't affect the majority of customers.