(03 Aug 2014, 8:54 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote I'm not saying GNE is an end to an all. Look at the 21 when you get buses running in 3's sometimes and the CLS runs can be unreliable. What put's the 309 at another advantage is this:
Driver: 61xx to control, my bus has broken down or / there's a massive jam and I'm running late.
Control: No problem, can let passengers know and see if there's any spares (Percy Main or at an extreme if a 309 and 310 was running late, could try and get a bus with a driver who wants some overtime from Riverside 15 mins from Newcastle).
Does that in you example actually happen? Most GNE rota's are pretty much done to get the maximum hours out of the driver, but of course taking in to any contractual requirements or flexible working agreements. I'd be surprised if they sent a bus from Riverside over too, as the driver wouldn't have had route training on that route...?