(25 Sep 2015, 12:07 pm)markydh wrote Now that is interesting! Though for a route beset by reliability issues, extending the route by this much is very risky... I doubt this is a serious move to compete with the other companies, though. It opens up opportunities for the vast majority of Newcastle bus users who currently have to use two companies to get to Cobalt to get there using a Stagecoach only ticket, which is cheaper for them. It wouldn't surprise me if this has been requested by several residents and been deemed commercially possible...
While I agree the motive behind the extension probably isn't to attract custom from passengers currently using service 1 between Rosehill and Newcastle, the frequency of the service (every 10 mins), in my opinion, very much suggests that this is a serious move to compete with other companies between Newcastle (or Wallsend) and Cobalt. If this extension was introduced to offer Stagecoach customers a token bus service to/from Cobalt then, perhaps, a 20 or 30 minute frequency would suffice. However, it seems Stagecoach are prepared to go someway to match whats on offer from competing operators by offering a 10 minute frequency; introducing an express variant during peak-times; and by continuing the extension to Cobalt/Silverlink on Evenings/Sundays. I may be wrong here, but surely this would suggest a serious intent to compete - wouldn't it?