(27 Dec 2019, 4:03 pm)Dan wrote I'd say since Stagecoach started operating services between Cobalt & Newcastle that customers are just more thinly spread between all three operators now, such that the main players on the Coast Road (Go North East and Arriva) are taking a bit of a hit, running fuel-hungry double-deck buses around, carrying single figures worth of passengers, outside of peak times.

The withdrawal of the 57, the introduction of the 311, and the revised frequency of the 309/310/311, will see customers on Go North East's services distributed between the three services more evenly. It won't prevent the issues that Arriva are having, and there'll be times where Go North East misses out on discretionary travellers as a result (Arriva will have more of a chance of picking up these people if running a more frequent service), but in my view there probably aren't enough discretionary travellers to warrant Arriva to continue with their existing frequency, and a marginal reduction in frequency on their equivalent routes would be sensible.

It's really not in the best interests of Go North East having buses running round carrying fresh air - and really doesn't do anything to help our issues with congestion and air quality in Newcastle City Centre either!

I agree with this. I think that all in all, GNE will be at an advantage going forward. And the evening timetable looks particularly tasty too and the 310/311 journeys at xx:05 and xx:25 will pose a serious threat to Arriva.

Going forward, I can see the following happening with the 306 / 308.

Service 308
- Replaced by X38 running every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday; 30 minutes on Sundays and 60 minutes during the evenings after 7pm.
- X38 would run non-stop between Billy Mill and Newcastle Haymarket only calling at St Mary's Place.
- PVR would be 6x vehicles Mon-Sat; 2x vehicles Evenings; 4x vehicles Sundays.

Service 306
- Revised to no longer serve Battle Hill Drive.
- On Mondays to Saturdays, service 306 would run every 10 minutes between Newcastle and Billy Mill continuing every 20 minutes to Tynemouth / Whitley Bay.
- During evenings and Sundays, service 306 would run every 15 minutes between Newcastle and Billy Mill continuing every 30 minutes to Tynemouth.
- PVR would be 10x vehicles Mon-Sat; 5x vehicles Evenings and Sundays.

Current PVR vs New PVR
- Mon-Sat: 16 (NEW) vs 18 (Current)
- Evenings: 7 (Unchanged)
- Sundays: 9 (NEW) vs 8 (current)