(22 Apr 2018, 1:20 pm)Michael wrote
Ah ye the year where Go North East changed all its network, and tbh, its kinda worked on some routes, at first however, it was confusion as out, loads of services withdrawn and merged with other routes.

Which area was the first to receive branding on such a big scale?

I remember seeing people standing on Burn Park Road in Houghton presumably waiting for a 21a on that first Monday.
No idea how long they were there before they gave up.

As for services which worked from the outset - I think they were just the ones that were revisions or amendments of an established, existing service.
The likes of the 56 had been around for years under the guise of the 56/56A/187/188, before being adapted in to what we see now.
I'm not sure funky flowers and garish colours actually did anything to make it even more popular than it already was, although I appreciate deckers eventually appeared on the route again (having seen deckers on it previously).
Ditto the X1, 21 etc. All established services, given a new colour scheme.

Those that didn't last, such as the ones in Sunderland like the Doxford Dipper, Magic Roundabout - 12 years on and we are still seeing tweaks.
Many a tweak too with the cross-Gateshead services (which again were based on established routes).

Whilst there are still communities lacking a direct service to places they had done for decades previous.