(11 Mar 2022, 9:40 am)MurdnunoC wrote Yep. October 86. January 1987 was the next set of major changes and, arguably, when the era of laissez-faire bus operations post deregulation really began. 

Edit: Another little snippet of information regarding Low Fell Coaches (and Gateshead in General).



Taken from Buses Vol.38 No.379 October 1986

Mustn't have lasted that long in the grand scheme of things. Who knew Southend Road and Whinlatter Road were such a hive of competition!

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(11 Mar 2022, 10:31 am)Rob44 wrote really interesting that.... so it basically says that buses going into town was as in direct competition with Metro after dereg.?

In a nutshell.
Interesting about the cuts to evening and Sunday services.

I remember the change to the 26 at the time. Dropped from every 20 to every 30, last runs finished early (last bus around 7pm) and nothing on a Sunday. The PTE funded a couple of late runs on a Friday and Saturday several hours later for a few years.

The PTE also funded and diverted the 733 on a Sunday via Barley Mow to fill the gaps left by the 26 withdrawals.