(29 Jan 2016, 10:39 pm)James101 wrote Unsure if this has been discussed before; do people here think Go North East would be a welcome change in Hartlepool?
Stagecoach have held the monopoly since purchasing Hartlepool Transport in the nineties and have slashed the network to simplified core routes, most with no evening or Sunday service. Arriva and Go North East only serve long distance, their routes to the town shuttle to the town centre without serving any real 'short-hop' customers.
Where it may be argued that if Stagecoach can't make it work, how could GNE? I would say the companies differ in their approach to planning services. In the North East, Stagecoach have treat their depots as isolated operations and stuck solidly to their PTE routes. GNE have a more broad minded, regional outlook, with 'pockets' of local routes (indigo, tynedale links etc). I think a Hartlepool operation could be made up of a cluster of local routes (eg H1, H2 H3 etc) and the depot used as a hub for new trans-Tees/Durham services
Can't see Go North East (or Arriva) really taking on any more services within the Hartlepool area when Stagecoach have the monopoly there with various different services on fairly high frequencies on many routes, don't think GNE could compete with that.
Wrong thread I know, but I wonder if Stagecoach could ever do a Hartlepool - Sunderland route to compete with the 23 and X35?