Looking at the new revised TEN routes though, the same argument could apply as what was applied to Arriva's X21 / X22 changes when they were revised to effectively swap routes between Bedlington Red Lion and Hartford Bank despite increasing journey times on some parts of one if not, both routes.
All about simplification and commonality these days compared to the days of 3/4 routes running with practically the same termini albeit minor route variations. Bar the link between the Tyne Valley and West Gateshead to Newcastle Business Park being lost as well as a slightly quicker journey to Newcastle, the routes have been practically the same.
Although an extra 5 minutes or so journey might be annoying and could well be seen as a cost cutting exercise, got to remember that the capacity of the B9TLs will be better utilised thus generating slightly more revenue as well as the potential additional revenue of new service 11.
As well as this, if the TEN became a more profitable route as a result of the Tyne Valley corridor being streamlined and with the hint of them spare Mercs being used to make new service 57 every 15 minutes, something like this could well end up happening in the future:
- New buses for the TEN services (15+2 spare)
- 14x B9TLs transfer to Stanley to upgrade all Red Kite journeys to double deck perhaps with a spare
- 10x + 1x spare Streetlites transfer from Stanley to Riverside for the 57 if it was to be upgraded.
- 2x B9TLs + 2x spare B9TLs transfer from Stanley to Chester Le Street for Angel service 21.
The following vehicles then become free for future cascades:
- 10x Mercs
- 2x B7TLs (one could go to Stanley as a spare for the Red Kite)
RE: Go North East: Upcoming Service Changes