(31 Jul 2017, 9:25 pm)Jamie M wrote Since when do drivers have to tell passengers what stop they are at? They're there to drive safely and provide valid tickets, not be a tourist announcement script.
The difference would also be limited. Go north east gave away Ashington and those routes in exchange for Hexham, would be silly to try and go back to turf-waring in the very same areas. The councils wouldn't want it at all.
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What I meant was that with Arriva already operating a number 1 service in Blyth, GNE drivers would need to ask passengers boarding in Blyth where they intend to travel to if they're buying a ticket or got any form of a pass / key card etc.
They wouldn't need to announce the stops or let passengers know where to get off, they would just have to ask any passengers boarding in Blyth where they're going to make sure that any vunlerable passengers (elderly, visually impaired etc) don't end up in Wallsend / Byker if they were intending to head into Ashington / Bedlington.
Extending the Coaster to Blyth wouldn't rattle Arriva as such. All it would do is allow passengers from Tynemouth, Cullercoates and North Shields as well as other parts of North Tyneside to ride through to Blyth without needing to change onto the 309. Would prove very popular in the summer particularly with familes due to Ridley Park if the Coaster served Ridley Park rather then Renwick Road / Broadway like the 309. The express route mirroring the 308 and parts of the 309 might annoy Arriva but no market for an express service covering has been tried and tested bar Arriva not opting to re-route the 44 to mirror the 308 route only serving the key stops rather than serving Marden / New York.