(22 May 2021, 6:13 pm)Jimmi wrote OK1 went in summertime 2013, X66 didn't go MAX until December 2014 with the X67 being introduced in October 2015.
Do agree about the competition forcing Arriva to act accordingly, to some extents I wish the same could happen again in some instances to hopefully improve Arriva's offering. On the flip side of the coin, GNE seem to lose out on some corridors against Arriva such as Hartlepool with the 55 being curtailed at Peterlee although on the plus side at least, having the 55 run hourly looping via Station Town & Hutton Henry is better than the previous 206 running on a rather sporadic timetable.
(22 May 2021, 7:10 pm)Storx wrote I know what your trying to do here but it won't work like that all. We'll have the North Tyneside / SE Northumberland bus wars all over again. Personally if I was Arriva and GNE attempted to try and attack me in my territory then my first point of call would be to be to go for their corridors again, Peterlee would be my first target especially now the X6/X7 is down to hourly then I'd be looking at taking on the 20 and 21 with services extended to Sunderland from Brandon or buses via Leamside, Great Lumley and Gilesgate direct to Newcastle or whatever. GNE's network isn't all that great North of Durham either unless you happen to live on the 21/X21 corridor.
Oops got my dates mixed up with the X66/67 there, thought it was around the same time! But my point still stands about the OK1/X1 and I agree, I'd like to see some competition from GNE primarily cause it might make Arriva step their game up more than anything else! But agreed GNE have lost out previously in cases such as the OK1, the X7 to Middlesbrough, and the 55 to Hartlepool!
I don't think we would see the same extent of the Northumberland bus wars in County Durham. Firstly given the previous examples mentioned above, I don't think GNE would take the commercial risk of trying to compete across multiple routes. In turn, like L469 YVK said, I don't think Arriva are in much of a position to respond at present if GNE did decide to go all out - they certainly don't seem to have a vast availability of extra drivers and vehicles. There again, my point is that if the threat was there, I think ANE could make route and vehicle improvements happen - but they won't improve things cause why would they when passengers have no other alternative - they have to use Arriva in what ever state the service is running atm - older buses and limited frequencies.
As for the examples you mention, it seems clear GNE have already lost out as far as the X6 is concerned but if Arriva reintroduced the X21 would that be such a bad thing? Say Arriva introduced an express Durham to Sunderland service to compete with the 20/X20, it would be interesting to see who would come out trumps there with Arriva having the better network in Durham, but with GNE having the better network in Sunderland. And given the state of the X12, I can't see Arriva winning in the race to Newcastle.
But if past examples are anything to go by, say the 21 were eventually extended to Brandon, I'm sure the only response by Arriva would be on the relevant route, so I could imagine 49/49A would be extended to the Arnison Centre to compete. GNE would, judging by past examples, lose out and withdraw their extension. But there's a good chance that the 49/49A extension would remain, which would be an improvement for passengers. I'm not suggesting we want an all out war, but I think a little competition on one of ANE's routes would result in benefits in the long-run! The only real loser is GNE, but it's entirely possible that ANE genuinely might not be in a position to respond these days and GNE might finally come out on top, especially with an extension on such a prominent service such as the 21! If the X21 is competing well with the 6 by offering that extra stretch from Durham to Newcastle then perhaps the 21 would do too!