(24 Nov 2013, 11:11 pm)Dan wrote There's no denying that the X2 may have been profitable (providing it wasn't a coffin dodger bus!) and this is clearly why the X1 and 2A/2C make a large amount of revenue too. Let's not forget the 8 which is line for a Merc upgrade next year also! That doesn't mean to say that there wasn't room for improvement, however.
The X3 used Citaros for a period of time too - how are we to know whether the X2 wouldn't have had them revoked likewise?
If GNE managed to turn a service that was profitable enough to warrant investment in the best single deckers in the fleet in 2007/08, to one that performed so badly it needed buses revoking within a couple of years, they would have perhaps been doing something wrong? The withdrawal of the X2 had nothing to do with lack of revenue and was simply down to wanting to increase the X1 frequency, which did nothing for X2 passengers.
(24 Nov 2013, 11:11 pm)Dan wrote Are you like the average passenger who prefers to 'turn up and go' or do you time your buses so that it fits your routine perfectly?
I believe most will be in favour of the former.
I believe you are living in a fantasy land if you think the majority of people who need to get to work would choose a connecting service over a direct one! Which is precisely what the withdrawal of the X2 meant for everyone who lived on the route that had been served - in one form or another - for decades.