(16 Aug 2021, 7:35 pm)Storx wrote Investment doesn't affect profits though. It's all done in the balance sheet which will be depreciated over the lifetime of the bus, so it's still the same for the Gemini's which will be still be getting paid off now every year.

It's more about what routes they've got that's why. Arriva serve close towns in the case of SE Northumberland which are ex pit towns / villages and naturally have a lower car usage with no competition at all. It's how they can get away with what they're doing. It's the same with Stagecoach in the West End running MAN buses around. It's the similar down Durham way with Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor, Shildon etc. The routes are also dead close by so you can serve multiple towns / villages enroute to Newcastle without it being a detour Blyth -> Cramlington -> Newcastle or Ashington -> Bedlington -> Newcastle each with their own flows.

Compare that to GNE, they've got Peterlee, North Tyneside, Sunderland and South Tyneside which are all competition hot spots and argubly they have the weaker routes in the areas, Derwentside is a nightmare to serve as you have two large towns then pretty much nothing inbetween with the complication of either serving the Metro Centre or Newcastle but not both as it's too 'slow' but there's money there. Washington and Peterlee are both very high car usage areas. What's left, Gateshead which is a good area and it shows with multiple 15 minute+ services, no doubt it's where most of the money comes from aswell - notice there's been few cuts there over the years and Hexham / Tyne Valley which are both strong areas - also no cuts there.

• Investment does affect net profit as it needs to be paid for and factored in over a number of years. Ideally, a bus will be depreciated more between 1-8 years (or less if more demanding work) before being moved onto a "secondary" route. The VDL Geminis at Blyth on the 308 & X10/X11 should've been replaced around 2018/19 then cascaded accordingly. And the "right" investments along with a well planned network will help improve efficiency and create growth / profit over a longer term.
  
  
• But what about the "next generation" of bus users in SE Northumberland also taking into account the ABTRL? If they keep experiencing a Gemini in limp mode or a sub-standard B7TL deputising or constantly getting chased by the bus behind due to late running, they're going to be more tempted towards alternative modes of transport.  Again, short term vs long term. GNE are actually making an effort to market and make their services attractive rather than the dreary same old.
  
  
• As things stand in Derwentside, GNE have a strong corridor on the X45/X46 and have actually created growth through correct investment and marketing as shown by the upgrade from single to double deck vehicles not forgetting running via the Metrocentre although not a 'de-tour' for most parts of the routes. Likewise, GNE have actually reduced the impact of the X30/X31 & X70/X71/X72 having nothing in between by streamlining the frequency between Sunniside and Newcastle to provide a bus roughly every 10 minutes. In fact, the X30 and soon to be X31 between Sunniside and Newcastle already replaces former parts of the 98 that used to operate until 2015.
  
  
• The Tyne Valley...........now to be fair, GNE already had a stronghold along the Ryton - Newcastle corridor before 2010. However, they have actually grown the 10 (former 602). So half hourly with B10BLEs > every 20 mins with Mercs > every 30 minutes with Volvo B9TLs (and approx every 15 mins to Prudhoe with the 10B). Again in comparison to Arriva, that growth and sustainability came through correct investment and marketing. Would actually be interesting to think how things would've turned out had the deal with Arriva not happened. And then.............came along the X84/X85 in 2013 ironically competing with Arriva's 685 (complained about in the press) and look where that has gone now with X-Lines?