(11 Dec 2013, 9:14 am)Roland Pratt wrote So sod the regular long standing customers for the sake of a bit of retaliation?

Exactly. It's a question of SERVICE v COMPETITION. I agree that Northern starting the X84/85 between Hexham and Newcastle was opportunistic (although they did run the 684 hourly, albeit slower), more so than the introduction of the OK1 which did fill a gap in the market with a fast bus Crook - Bishop - Darlington and on a different route than Arriva's 1/1B ie via the new shops at St Helens and West Auckland rather than Shildon. But Arriva's response to the Tynedalexpress has put competition before service, as northern156 has lost his early SERVICE to Carlisle, so Arriva can COMPETE with GNE between Hexham and Newcastle, even though to do this they now have five light workings between Jesmond and Hexham and one all the way to Carlisle, instead of the one they had before (the return of the evening X85). Why didn't they just retime their X85's to run in front of Northern? Yes, they've saved three long layovers in Carlisle in the morning (assuming the word on the street is correct that the empty bus works the 1107) and two in the evening, but there must still be four long breaks in Carlisle between 1256 and 1707, unless the Tardis has regenerated as an OmniCity! It's silly, illogical and commercially it can't be financially viable as the revenue Arriva may claw back from GNE will be gobbled up by all the empty running.