(20 Dec 2015, 5:26 pm)S813 FVK wrote I got the BUSES Yearbook today and it has an interesting article about Arriva North East in it. The article itself spans from Operation Overdrive in 2005 right until the present day and how it has became the good company (well, division) that it is today. It tells the basics of the X93 story as well as MAX and Sapphire.

I think that although many people including myself have given Arriva a hard time on here, they've come a long way from what they were back in the last decade or so moving away from a scrappy and run down image to a modern(?) and relatively clean and tidy fleet with some better (or not) and more profitable services operating. If however, they:

- Improved consistency (no mixed saloon allocations unless deckers aren't warrented for a big chunk of the journeys [X12/X7/X8 although the latter 2x should be sorted by the ex London Geminis], vehicles on routes are relatively the same age [57 plate vs 14 plate Sapphires], correct branding and allocations where possible with suitable spares).

- Implemented a live control room with direct driver contact based in the North East with one for Durham / Tees depots and one for Northumbria depots.

- Ensure that all routes are adequately timed to prevent services not turning up or having to be regulated by either missing stops or implementing a spare vehicle.

- Customer service team based in the North East with 1 team per division (Durham / Tees and Northumbria with a central contact point for initial enquiries and complaints before being forwarded to the relevant team).

Then they could become a very reputable and well respected operator which they are now, but the customer perception of Arriva would significantly improve.