(19 May 2021, 6:16 pm)peter wrote Do you have any sources to back this up or is it purely speculation on your part? I can't see why full timetables wouldn't resume in June (if they're going to at all) when lockdown (hopefully) comes to end, as there will be a re-emerging market for bus travel.
GNE have already returned to more-or-less pre-COVID levels - as far as I can tell, the only benefit to Arriva waiting longer is that it avoids driver/vehicle shortages. Having said all that, it might be possible that these new reduced frequencies are here to stay. We saw GNE make significant and seemingly permanent cost-cutting service revisions early on in the pandemic (reduced frequencies being a primary part of this), perhaps ANE are doing the same, as we look forward to a potentially reduced demand for bus-travel in the long-term
My opinion is anything that hasn't been put back 100% by now, is unlikely to be.
CBSSG ends when social distancing ends - so the financial safety net will be removed. Operators will look to rebase against the demand levels that exist at that time - I suspect, only lifting frequencies as demand creeps up.
I read somewhere that passenger levels in North East are still only around 60% of normal, which is a worry.