(12 Sep 2023, 7:28 pm)L469 YVK wrote And people said the same about the 50's and look what happened. If Arriva seriously wanted to keep them and found them viable to operate out of Northumberland, they would've went to arms length to keep them.
The 306 has always been on a bit of a decline although popular during the summer months.......
- 1997 NMS: New buses purchased (P4** CCU Volvo Olympian Palatine II's)
- 1997 COASTLINE: 300 & 305 only every 15 mins and very limited evening & Sunday service
At this point....the 300/305 were effectively the secondary routes although the 305 did offer Easy Access with the Excels
- 2003/04 GNE: 300/305 - "Turn up and go" 10 minute frequency and more reputable evening & Sunday frequency with 305 running every 30 minutes
- 2005 Arriva: W*** RBB ex 602/308 Dennis Tridents from Blyth
- 2006: 305/315/316 - Every 7-8 minutes Hadrian Park to Newcastle
- 2008 GNE: 58 introduced
- 2010 GNE: Revised 309 and New 310 introduced giving a 7-8 minute service on top of the 58
- 2010 Arriva: 306 kept on Coast Road and X8/X9 introduced, but latter reduced and 306 re-instated through Battle Hill Drive
- 2012 Arriva: 306 reduced from single deckers
- 2014 GNE: New B9TLs for 309 & 310
- 2015 Arriva: Sunday evening service reduced to hourly
- 2020 GNE: 309/310/311 with bus up to every 6-7 minutes
Although it makes money for Arriva, it's not the goldmine it once was. If Arriva could potentially be short on drivers....plus the logistics of running the 306 on top, those two factors alone are potentially enough.
Although it wouldn't be easy as Arriva would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 308.....and likewise Stagecoach would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 306 as I doubt GNE would want to be out of pocket having to re-jigg and add extra resource to the 307 & 309.
The difference between the 50's and the 306 is clear. It's regularly busy and while it might not be as busy as it used to be, it is clearly far busier and therefore more profitable than the 50's were. They also currently have the infrastructure to run it, which wasn't the case with the 50's where it would have cost to increase the depot and clearly there wasn't a business case for that. As somebody pointed out, they will also want to keep an equal share with GNE along the busy coast road corridor.
As for the driver situation, it will be interesting to see what happens. I understand people saying the commute will mean a lot will leave, but as we don't have personnel files, we don't know that drivers will be worse off with a move to Blyth. There is also an argument that it might be easier to recruit new drivers to a Blyth depot where I believe unemployment is slightly higher and job opportunities are less than in Newcastle itself. Whether Arriva can get their recruitment right is another question.