RE: Arriva North East: Upcoming Service Changes
To the majority of people the X66/67 changes will be seen as a improvement and Arriva have added resources to the service. Obviously a few people will have been adversely affected - those living on the parts old route whose frequency was 20 minutes, and perhaps those on some other route (I don't really take much notice of Arriva services east of Middlesbrough) who may have had a route cut or withdrawn to provide these extra resources - me being cynical, but usually one increase is accompanied by another decrease. We have to accept that the bus industry is a business and routes must be viewed commercially, but there must be a balance between this and providing an overall SERVICE and the needs of the passenger must be seen as the most important aspect. I'm against franchising, Quality Contracts, or anything taking away the ability of companies to provide the commercial services they wish, but there must be an element of responsibility and public service. That is where there needs to be partnership between local authorities and operators.