(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 thing is without it though, you might aswell cancel the 308 aswell as they interwork with each other to give a 10 minute service.
Either way, it's GoNorthEast that needs to drop services not Arriva and with the potential upcoming strikes I can't imagine things getting better either, their cancellations the past few weeks are much worse than Arriva at Blyth. Riverside has had cancellations for over 2 year now and is never ending and getting worse again.
Unless things get better fast, things like the 352 and 354 seriously need considered for being cancelled considering the first duplicates the 37 which is running and the second is and has been a basket case of a route for ages which is now duplicated by the 359 on it's unique section.