(23 Feb 2014, 5:35 pm)tyresmoke wrote Being the quickest option between Sunderland and Hartlepool helps, and the upgrade to full size buses must be justified otherwise as VolvoMarkII says, Arriva wouldn't invest if the business case wasn't there (or indeed if it would extract revenue from another route dragging the whole house of cards down...).

There's no denying that certain routes don't generate a massive amount of profit but they are slowly being thinned out (see the recent changes on Teesside) but there are a few jewels in the crown which see repeated investment across the region.

Hopefully by 2015 we will have all of the poor quality vehicles left in the fleet ousted, certainly we are expecting to be completely low floor inside the next few months. What's left of the DAF Prestiges will be all gone, as will the older MPD's and hopefully a start can be made on the larger Darts too

It's only the quickest option by 8 minutes. Arriva's 23 takes 1hr 10m while GNE's X7/X35 takes 1hr 18m (with a connection at Peterlee). Despite this, I highly doubt many people actually use service 23 between Sunderland and Hartlepool. The competition blows Arriva's 23 out of the water on both sections of the route.

I don't know which company provides the cheapest fares, but if they are the same or Arriva's fares are more expensive, I can see why customers seemingly prefer Go North East's services. At Hartlepool in the past, I have heard customers complaining regarding the reliability of service 23. I personally can vouch for delays over 10 minutes during mid-afternoon periods towards Sunderland. I have also heard complaints regarding the reliability of service X35, but as we know, recent service changes enabled Go North East to provide a greater layover for that service in Sunderland. In the little experience I've had with the service post service changes, it has improved things.
Like the SimpliCity ticket for Go North East (recently discussed on that section of the forum), I think the introduction of saver tickets in the East Durham area would have been to attract custom from the competition. Whether this has worked or whether it has backfired and an even smaller amount of revenue is now being generated, I do not know.

I think if anything, Arriva have invested in a service allocated Solos for MPD replacement. Service 23 - albeit poor - must have been one of the better services allocated Solos... Quite like the Venture network for Go North East.