(15 Jul 2019, 10:03 pm)beefcake wrote I find it odd that the X9/10 have been given a separate ticket whilst the X21 which takes longer end to end hasn't. Is it an oversight or is it down to the fact that there's competition on that corridor whereas the GNE offering between Teesside and Tyneside is considerably quicker than what Arriva offer?

The X21 may take longer, but the route is a good 10 miles shorter compared to the X9/X10 so I'd imagine it's considerably more expensive to run. Plus, the X21 is more of a 'local' service than the X9/X10, which is very much an express route, which also goes outside of GNE's normal operating area. The fact that it's also considerably quicker than the alternative routes is another reason why they can get away with charging more. The people who use the service are likely going there for work, and for those people time is most definitely money.

I personally don't really have an issue as they haven't increased the price of the ticket (at least the weekly and monthly tickets), so anyone using the X9/X10 regularly will pay the same, but the people who don't use it will end up paying less. Even for those buying a day ticket, the price has only increased by 30p for the X9/X10

I think these changes overall are very positive, as I'd imagine the majority of customers with the All Zone monthly ticket will choose to save £15 a month. The only people really losing here are the ones who currently buy 1 and 2 zone day tickets.

On a side note, whoever decided that the YouTube video should automatically play when you load the X9/X10 page needs sacked. I didn't realise my laptop had it's volume set high and suddenly I'm being shouted at asking if I've seen the 'super swanky X9 and X10 buses from Go North East'.