(27 Nov 2024, 1:56 pm)Ambassador wrote It did look like demand was well maanged vs last year when Newcastle were at home and appears to be the case again.
Shopping isn't what it was on Boxing Day and doesn't really have the pull and realistically, you're not going to get a huge amount of services running when you look at cost vs demand vs availability of drivers
I think on the most part, the Boxing Day network copes, but you're never going to change the behaviour of when people set off into Newcastle for the match. I don't know how Durham Road copes with the 21 at a 15 minute frequency, but the X1 struggles at half-hourly for this period. It's why I think a bespoke solution for match traffic would be better.
Shopping isn't what it once was, but I think the hospitality industry is more popular on Boxing Day now than ever. In part that is because of the direction that Newcastle City Centre is going, and there's still the further redevelopment of Eldon Square (Debenhams and Eldon Leisure Centre) to come.