(19 Dec 2014, 7:42 pm)gtom wrote Is it really a risk?  There's obviously money in it or they wouldn't be doing it.

Is running the QuayLink commercially a risk? Yes...

Go North East is more-or-less guaranteed to make a profit at the moment, as they based their tender back in 2010 on making a profit. Obviously non-compliant workings will vary each month, but as we discussed for Gateshead Central Taxis/Compass Community Transport a while back, these workings (however frequent they are) should not mean that they are running the contract at a loss.
Obviously Go North East would have identified the current passenger trends and took action based on their research (as is the case with Stanley Travel 706/707), but the revenue they generate from the QuayLink will not be guaranteed...

It's a commercial risk because Go North East doesn't know if passenger trends will change or not. If the frequency of service Q2 is altered to become every 20 minutes instead of every 15, will passenger numbers decrease as walking becomes a more attractive alternative? We don't know. There are a lot of questions that cannot be answered and only predicted...

(19 Dec 2014, 8:15 pm)Andreos1 wrote What makes the dig at QCS even more annoying, is the fact Nexus are supporting it via di minimus rules.

Although this is set to reduce gradually so that it is not as much of a commercial risk to Go North East initially? After three years, the QuayLink will be fully commercially operated.

I don't think we know the extent to which Nexus is supporting the QuayLink, do we? This could be anything from a few runs a night to funding POP card use on-board the QuayLink to allow passengers to travel for free?