(12 Jan 2014, 7:57 am)Greg in Weardale wrote Whilst Stagecoach seems content to plod along steadily, not changing too much, and presumably doing OK, GNE is obsessed with change - timetables, brands, which buses are on which route, etc - often for no obvious reason and sometimes altered again a short time later. Perhaps it's only to justify the existence of management or an obsession with saving every penny, rather than establishing a stable NETWORK making a decent profit which is what Stagecoach seem to have done.
Stagecoach can hardly compare to Go North East - the latter's fleet has approximately 200 more vehicles and their network size is huge compared to Stagecoach's.
You rarely see Stagecoach trying out new things (I admit - last year - they added a higher frequency on services in Newcastle and introduced an extension to Seaburn on service 23 in Sunderland), and I have a feeling Stagecoach's 'steady profit levels' are shown clearly by the lack of investment in certain depots, which must be pretty low for the lack of investment up until last year (or if they are high, why are SNE not investing profit back into the company like GNE?)
Teesside is highly neglected I feel. Go North East at least spread their investment out into depots evenly, where it can be justified. Stagecoach just don't seem to do that - with one depot getting all investment (Sunderland last year) and others left to cope with the cascades which are quite old now too.
I'd prefer a network which changes (often for the best) if Go North East are maximising profit levels and giving customers the best possible buses on those routes affected by change.