(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).
Blyth do a very good job of keeping buses on-time from the Blyth end, so I'm guessing if the 308 didn't arrive in on time, they'd get whichever bus is in the depot and put it on the 308 stand so that it can depart on time - even if this does mean a branded vehicle is going to go out on a service which it shouldn't, causing customer confusion, etc etc...
Clearly, the issue lies at the Newcastle end. Drivers are faced with an awful predicament whereby they have to get out of the cab to ring control, alerting them that they're late, and seek guidance as to whether they should be regulated or not (making customers even more annoyed in the process - with a telephone call taking more time than something over the radio would) - or be put under pressure to try and make up time. I'd hope that drivers wouldn't self-regulate.