(18 Feb 2020, 10:26 am)scanialover wrote The pots of money it makes over the summer must compensate for the winter months but then, looking  at things on a positive front, Arriva could do more to promote the service; a dedicated fleet would help. Who wants to travel from Middlesbrough to Scarborough on a Temsa or worse will a Solo? This is what happens and then, thinking about it 7424 et al aren't exactly what you might call a "quality" ride.

(18 Feb 2020, 1:28 pm)L469 YVK wrote Arriva as I've said many times before needs a shakeup from top to bottom.

The only new purchase that has been made in the last three years has been the X21 / X22 E400MMCs and even then they only replaced 12 of them.

(18 Feb 2020, 3:40 pm)scanialover wrote Excuse my ignorance here but just what is an IPO?

(16 Feb 2020, 7:28 am)Stephen James Peter Johns wrote Yes it has as it's been seen operating out of Waterloo depot on 262

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

(18 Feb 2020, 5:03 pm)Dan wrote Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2iuQQDr

Suggests "on loan" rather than it being a permanent transfer?

(18 Feb 2020, 5:48 pm)scanialover wrote Thanks for the heads up on the IPO. Who though could/might be interested in buying Arriva? Would we see it fragmented. Could we see a better operation than we have at present? Questions, questions.

(18 Feb 2020, 6:13 pm)scanialover wrote Has either/any of the operators mentioned got the capital to buy the company? If so, why hasn't it happened? I like the idea for my area - Stockton/Middlesbrough, Redcar and Whitby. Got a lot of admiration for GNE and as for Transdev moving into Whitby? Wouldn't that be better to become a GNE operation as well seeing as they operate down the coast?

(18 Feb 2020, 6:01 pm)L469 YVK wrote If Arriva was to be fragmented (and before anyone mentions, yes I know Arriva will most likely be sold as a whole) but this is what I'd think would happen to keep the Competition Commission happy.

Northumbria:
- Ashington > GNE
- Blyth > Stagecoach
- Jesmond > GNE with routes later split between Percy Main & Riverside (306 goes to Stagecoach, I don't see why GNE would want it)

Durham & Tees:
- Belmont > Stagecoach (Stagecoach also gets whole of X12)
- Darlington > GNE * In return for Stagecoach getting the 306, GNE completely get the 7
- Stockton > GNE
- Redcar > GNE
- Whitby > Transdev

(18 Feb 2020, 9:29 pm)Storx wrote If anyone was going to buy anything it would be per area. No way can you just drip and drop depots here and there. Don't know how you've come to these neither. You're creating less competition in most area.

GNE dominate Darlington / Bishop / North Tyneside / Peterlee it just makes no sense.

Also Whitby is an outstation of Redcar so you can't have one going to one and the other another.

If Stagecoach bought it (which your hinting) what likely would happen is they'd get everything bar Stockton which they'd be forced to sell off. All the other areas don't really cause any issues even known it's not for sale and they wouldn't buy it anyway.

The big 4 have much bigger issues with there finances due to cock ups with trains than to bother with buying more buses:
GoAhead (GNE) - Thameslink / Southern
Stagecoach - Virgin East Coast
Arriva - Northern
First - Avanti / Transpennine

(19 Feb 2020, 12:45 am)L469 YVK wrote Yeah, for the southern half of the region Stagecoach getting everything bar Stockton would make sense. Stockton would work perfect for GNE too if they got that as they'd be able to enhance the X9 / X10 by reducing dead mileage as well as offering later journeys back from Newcastle.

For Northumbria however, I think Jesmond would most likely need to go to GNE as although GNE would end up with a monopoly in parts of North Tyneside, Stagecoach would end up with a monopoly too (i.e Killingworth to Newcastle).

Ashington would be better under GNE too and I could see them running it as a 'hub and spoke' model similar to their Stanley and Washington services.

(18 Feb 2020, 5:03 pm)Dan wrote Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2iuQQDr

Suggests "on loan" rather than it being a permanent transfer?

(19 Feb 2020, 9:41 am)Storx wrote Personally I'd say Killingworth is less than the whole of North Tyneside though plus they'd be able to simplify the 52 / 54 into other bus routes which they run anyway. I'm not sure the locals would mind as their much cheaper than both GNE and Arriva anyway.

Weirdly I think Stagecoach would be a better fit for Ashington as they have more experience in long distance bus routes and might actually run the Berwick buses with appropiate buses (coaches like in their Scottish work) rather than Enviro's which aren't really fit for the distance of the journeys. The routes ideally would be better to be like Citylink in Scotland which they have a 35% share of the ownership with a possibly a extension to Edinburgh creating a new link between the two cities and the towns inbetween. Whereas GNE excluding the X9 / X10 don't really have any long distance routes which are mostly non-stop.

(18 Feb 2020, 5:17 pm)Dyllan7817 wrote Dormastown 7516 Volvo alx300 has transferred to yorkshire tiger huddersfield

(19 Feb 2020, 12:43 pm)neilwatson wrote YJ58FHL must be on loan to Blyth now. I've seen it near Corner House going to Blyth.

(19 Feb 2020, 2:41 pm)L469 YVK wrote This is the exact problem with Arriva, they're running on a shoestring. Yes the E400 may be 'Max' standard but these and the other bits of tat are keep popping up on Blyth's 'goldmine' services.

The 308 should've received new vehicles by now considering it's been nearly 7 year since new vehicles were purchased!

Not saying GNE are perfect but they have at least invested over the last few years. Arriva seriously need to step up their game otherwise they'll lose passengers big time. It's a good job GNE's Citaros aren't able to be upgraded to Euro 6 as the way Arriva are now, GNE (and Stagecoach) could quite comfortably walk into Arriva territory and Arriva wouldn't bat an eyelid.

(19 Feb 2020, 2:41 pm)L469 YVK wrote This is the exact problem with Arriva, they're running on a shoestring. Yes the E400 may be 'Max' standard but these and the other bits of tat are keep popping up on Blyth's 'goldmine' services.

The 308 should've received new vehicles by now considering it's been nearly 7 year since new vehicles were purchased!

Not saying GNE are perfect but they have at least invested over the last few years. Arriva seriously need to step up their game otherwise they'll lose passengers big time. It's a good job GNE's Citaros aren't able to be upgraded to Euro 6 as the way Arriva are now, GNE (and Stagecoach) could quite comfortably walk into Arriva territory and Arriva wouldn't bat an eyelid.

(19 Feb 2020, 7:52 pm)mb134 wrote  I'd echo what Storx has said below. While Arriva are by no means a shining light of a bus operator, out of all of the Northumbrian express routes the only buses that frequently appear and are in need of replacement soon are 1401-3, 4653/9/64 and 7485/7. The vast majority are between 5 and 11 years old with decent interior spec, so while replacement will likely start soon it's by no means essential. 

Majority of the vehicles being used were bought in the last major round of investment and, barring the remaining ex-London deckers, the vast majority can be converted to Euro 6 spec.