(06 Apr 2021, 8:35 am)L469 YVK wrote To be fair to GNE, the X11 is a very simple and straight forward dip in the toe exercise. Yes some of the strategy behind it might not be perfectly in line (pricing, combination with the X9/X10 etc) but it does the job what it's set out to do and the strategy is aligned with that. The X11 is not a commuter or standard stage carriage service. It's simply aimed at people after a jolly out to Whitby / Scarborough for the day.Would be nice if they could be bothered to try new services from Hartlepool to places although anything past Peterlee they don’t care about. Let’s be honest the X9/X10 is just a service to get people to Newcastle but other than that they don’t care. It’s not exactly Go North East when they can’t be bothered with a good part of it. The X21 only got extended in Bishop to serve them the bother of doing regular local services there. Darlington and Hartlepool don’t seem to exist to them. They could have tried services from them places but no just do more services from Newcastle instead. A similar X11 service could have been done from Hartlepool for example.
Hopefully, it's a roaring success and GNE can then build on it. They've actually got a decent vehicle allocated compared to what Arriva had on the X60 (not discrediting the performance of the legendary Palatine II though). Might even become a more permanent fixture for all we know!
RE: New service X11