(11 Sep 2023, 10:37 pm)solsburian wrote Absolutely. The longer it drags on the worst it will get as well. The recent North Tyneside changes suggest to me that the operators are more than willing to nip at the feet of Arriva, and perhaps that will continue if no progress is made with the sale, in North Tyneside and elsewhere possibly (Tees valley?).

I doubt Arriva will let any other routes go in North Tyneside. The rest of the old Jesmond operation which remains is profitable and they will need to keep all the profitable routes to maximise any sale. If GNE or Stagecoach started sniffing around any of them, I expect Arriva would make those routes priority to hold them. The 51-55 were less profitable and the cost of investment to keep them running just made no sense. GNE and Stagecoach had the necessary resources so can make them profitable and get good PR from them too.