(11 Jan 2015, 3:44 pm)upt50k wrote I agree and believe growth would still have been achieved on service 7 with 10 new pulsars and most of all a team of drivers who wanted success Service X1 was a success with 4 of the oldest pulsars in the fleet with a minimum of branding but a dedicated team who overcame the challenge of OK!

Then you compare this to the current situation on the Tyne Valley...

Go North East introduced "Tynedalexpress" services X84/X85 following the withdrawal of "OK Expressway" service OK1, using the same vehicles albeit in a different colour, and these services are a commercial success. Granted, service X84 directly replaced service 684 (and hence the market was already established), but service X85 was a completely new service.

Service X84 departs five minutes prior to Arriva's service 685, and Arriva's 685 often leaves Eldon Square with very few passengers as a result. Go North East's X85 departs ten minutes prior to Arriva's competing X85 on evenings, and again, Arriva's X85 leaves with very few passengers as a result.

Branding may have contributed to the success of the "Tynedalexpress" services on the Tyne Valley, but a bus being 5 minutes in front of the 685 is the main reason why these services are so commercially successful... Wasn't this the case up in Bishop Auckland for Arriva, too? Certainly doesn't take a 'dedicated team' to time a service five minutes in front of a service it competes with!