(09 Aug 2024, 11:54 am)busmanT wrote I suspect that GNE isn't the only large operator getting BSIP funding to increase frequencies in urban areas.

Whether a service gets BSIP funding isn't up to the operator - it's a Local Authority decision.
The LAs musn't believe that there is a general issue with towns/villages which have poor evening and weekend services or they would allocate BSIP funding. 

Weren't the GNE 2A, 8, 20A, 27, 51/52, 93/94 evening/Sunday enhancements introduced with BSIP funding? - and the all year round Sunday service on Stagecoach X24/X34?

I bet there's never much resistance though...

Most of those services you've listed were reduced by Go North East in the past two or so years, claiming "The number of people returning to places of work and needing to travel has and continues to change as a result of the pandemic, affecting both the demand for our services, and where and when we see congestion on our road network." 

GNE have deleted the news article from their website for some reason, but fortunately the WayBack Machine has archived it: https://web.archive.org/web/202207112349...es-24-july (also attached to this post for prosperity, in case that disappears!)
 
Have those travel demands changed since July 2022? Journey numbers were on the increase in that period (106.6 million Apr-22 to Mar-23, compared to 94.3 million in Apr-21-Mar 22) in the LA7 area, yet those services were still deemed worthy of the Featham-axe. What about congestion, has that suddenly gone away?

Of course, it could also be the age old problem of the demand being there, but the buses not. We'll keep on hammering those square pegs into those round holes though.