(25 Sep 2022, 9:59 pm)Storx wrote I'm assuming that's more likely the 3 Southern depots not Durham. Whenever I've been down Darlington the town services seem to have very good loadings and the Solo's need to go asap as they're finished and I was down at Richmond the other week and the X26/X27 loadings were strong aswell, one was nearly 3/4 full and it wasn't peak either.
Stockton's also got some strong routes aswell. I don't know enough about Redcar to say much but the 63 has always been a flagship route and the Temsa's are getting on now.
Durham and Jesmond have always come across as the two weak depots in pretty much everything especially fleet presentation. Both have a lot of old cascaded stock at them and poor routes aswell really.
The Darlington town services do really well. I suppose that's because it's a stable network with frequent services and reasonable fares. I think the maximum single fares on the town services is £2, and they've had a £1 evening fare for a long time.
Cross town links as well, including to Amazon.
Other operators should take note - but because it's Arriva, they get no credit for it.