A few things:
- Do you think that the Cobalt Clipper brand will be slightly modified with the new technology being fitted?
- Do you think that 6116 or 6117 will be re-painted if GNE are satisfied with the frequency increase between Whitley Bay and Blyth?
I think there will probably be a slight amendment to the brand with the new technology being fitted. I don't know if it has been successful but I think GNE will stick with the increase due to the fact that only requires 1 extra bus and with the rotas just being recently changed at Percy Main to accommodate the increase therefore; 6116 or 6117 should be repainted at some point but nothing has been said yet. Also, I think that at some point, GNE might increase the frequency to every 30 minutes during the evenings for both the 309 / 310 but, if they wanted to make a good profit and not just 'barely' make a profit, they would probably have to consider curtailing the 58 in Newcastle on a night time and re-route the 310 through Hadrian Park with through fares being sold to be used both on the 310 and 58. The 310 would effectively, run the same route as the old 300 and 316.
Also, if GNE could get a hold of good spare, they could add both 6116 and 6117 to the fleet and keep the 309 / 310 independent of each other (with the exception of Sunday daytime). It would basically mean that the 309 / 310 wouldn't interwork but it would work strongly in the 309's favour and GNE could even move the timing point towards Newcastle to the Jolly Bowman (the first stop) rather than Berwick Drive to cut a minute off the journey time between Newcastle Building Society and Battle Hill Drive. They could also reduce the time between Newcastle Building Society and Cobalt P&G towards Blyth by 1 minute. Obviously, the time cuts wouldn't apply during peak times or have any effect during the evenings. Take this for example:
ANE 308: North Tyneside Hospital 13:13, Haymarket Arr: 13:46, Haymarket Dep: 13:53, North Tyneside Hospital Arr: 14:26
GNE 309: North Tyneside Hospital: 13:09, Haymarker Arr: 13:45, Haymarket Dep: 13:52, North Tyneside Hospital: 14:27
ANE 306: Battle Hill Berwick Drive (stop after Jolly Bowman): 13:33, Haymarket Arr: 13:54, Haymarket Dep: 14:00, Battle Hill Berwick Drive: 14:21
GNE 310: Battle Hill Jolly Bowman: 13:30, Haymarket Arr: 13:53, Haymarket Dep: 13:59, Battle Hill Berwick Drive: 14:21
RE: Go North East - Latest