(26 Jan 2021, 12:17 pm)Andreos1 wrote In summary: There is a strategy which is apparently two years old and involves painting some vehicles in a colour scheme which aligns to a specific area. Some vehicles are painted entirely in that colour, some have a nod to it in their rear and some at the front.
Some don't have any links to the area and will maintain the corporate identity.
Some will have separate branded liveries.
Some will have the express livery and in the main, it won't tie in with the colour scheme of the area.
Then there's the 'special' liveries as seen on the likes of the 53/54 or Q3.
I have to agree with all that’s been said here.
There was a point a couple of years ago when lots of brands got removed, I’m thinking Chester Le Street in particular; 50, 28, 34 all were unbranded, which seem at the time to be an opportunity to simplify and unify the branded services. Sounds good in principal. But looking at where we are now, it doesn’t seem any clearer how this strategy creates a more unified approach. In fact in a way, I don’t think the general public will notice a difference from five years ago when the majority of routes were branded, some weren’t. The only difference will be the fact there’s fewer branded routes today.
A point for a different thread, should probably be what does a unbranded route do for growth, passenger numbers and customer perceptions for a route. While it’s great to see the company investing in new X-lines buses and coaches for the X10 does Jill from Beamish feel the company neglects the 28 service now?