(28 Dec 2020, 4:10 pm)L469 YVK wrote But the corney marketing has worked wonders for GNE & Transdev.

Has it though? GNE especially seem to be moving away from it at a rate of knots, toward a more streamlined set of brands (X-Lines being the main one, then you have Voltra) - something Arriva did very well about 5 years ago...

If corney marketing was the way forward, I'm sure the recent First and Stagecoach rebrands would have leaned into it too. 

(28 Dec 2020, 4:10 pm)L469 YVK wrote X15/X16/X18 yes but I'd keep the X14 a separate sub brand.

X20 I'd 100% brand too. I'd even go as far as cannibalising the Ashington - Newbiggin section of the X21 to hourly and introducing a sister X19 service to the X20. A half hourly fast service between Ashington and Newcastle with clean, comfy and reliable buses would be something to shout from the rooftops.

Arriva need to lose the dreary image and make their core services really stand out. Make an effort to stand out and show that bus travel is the way forward.

They've got a good set of routes at hand but going forward, Arriva need to be shouting from the rooftops and really selling themselves.

Surely if anything it would be the X16 you'd keep seperate? To be honest though they all just need to be put under one brand to help allocation at Ashington with the Alnwick outstation, and the X16 helps quite a bit to supplement the frequency in "normal times". 

The general standard of ANE (particularly Northumbria), while needing investment (which, as has been said repeatedly, was due this year but pushed due to Covid), isn't as bad as it is made out. Compare it to certain other operations around the country from all major groups and ANE looks fantastic in comparison - hell First are repainting stuff in Aberdeen but leaving the interiors as they were when new 12+ years ago (bar one B7RLE), and still without WiFi.