(12 Jan 2014, 8:24 am)Dan wrote 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.
The two Newcastle and South Shields depots for Stagecoach have received huge investments in terms of vehicles and yet they seem to still bring in the money. I think the main problem is, Go North East do try and meddle with their services too much, so much that people don't know whether they're coming or going. Unfortunately, the majority of their plans put their profits before the customer demand.