(22 Nov 2014, 11:25 pm)Andreos1 wrote Fat finger typo - doesn't alter the crux of the post though.
More expensive to set up than ANE and each run is cheaper per mile/per hour due to the greater fuel economy.
I think it would be easier to compare per hour.
Although they're far from frequent on services X1/X2 these days (Pulsars and Lowlanders seem to make up much of Durham's workings opposed to the branded vehicles), it'd be best to use Arriva's VDL DB300/Wright Gemini vehicles for comparison.
Although each individual run of Go North East's 21 may be cheaper to run, I'd imagine it could potentially be a different story when looking at the whole picture... For every two buses per hour on the X2 between Newcastle and Chester-le-Street, there are eight buses per hour on the 21. Likewise from Newcastle to Durham, there are still two buses per hour on the X2, but four on the 21.
I believe the Hybrid nature of the "Angel" branded vehicles only doubles the fuel economy when compared with something similar (ie the Wright Gemini vehicles allocated to service X2). As such, providing this is correct, the running costs (when looking at fuel costs alone) would be the same on the Newcastle - Durham runs. The extra four buses per hour to Chester-le-Street see an additional cost.
I think Newcastle - Durham via the 21 route is approximately 16 miles in total, and Newcastle - Chester-le-Street is approximately 9 miles in total. Go North East therefore operates 36 extra miles in each direction (ie 72) compared to Arriva, at an extra cost.
There are also a number of other factors to consider when thinking about running costs, such as the driver's wages. If a driver has served Go North East for 35 years (there are quite a number of long-time servers at Chester-le-Street), s/he is going to be on a very high wage. This could potentially be another factor where Go North East's running costs are higher.
So all in all, I'd suggest that Go North East's fares are probably higher to cover the additional costs of running a 7.5 minute frequency service... Go North East will also be wanting to recover the costs from the free Wi-Fi offered on-board "Angel" service 21 too, as you have already suggested. If all of those costs are being covered by the higher prices, and there is still a larger amount of profit than usual, then yes, the company has got a good product/service and they're making the most of it.