(30 Jul 2022, 9:05 pm)L469 YVK wrote Posting in here as it applies to both GNE & Arriva.

But the number of services along the Coast Road after an NUFC evening kick off is simply not enough. Before March 2020, there was........

Arriva:
- 2x 306 per hour
- 2x 308 per hour

GNE:
- 1x 309 per hour
- 1x 310 per hour
- 2x 57 per hour (until Jan 2020)
- 1x 311 per hour (after Jan 2020)

Now it's only 4x services per hour in total (not including the 51)

Now fair enough, I wouldn't expect either operator to regularly run the levels they did pre-covid but on match nights, surely a DVSA registration for such events could be made for extra journeys even if for the timebeing (given driver shortages) sub-contracing to JH or Stanley.

No need for a DVSA registration - simply dupe the current runs if demand is sufficient. They definitely wouldn't sub-contract.

Jesmond ran dupes, as far as I could tell, on the GNR services last night, with Ashington running an extra X21, and I think Blyth had an extra X11. The queue for the 306/308 stretched out of Haymarket at 22:00, after the 21:42 306 had left full, but could probably be cleared in a full bus load - and if the supervisor noticed it was out of hand I'm sure would have duped the 306 rather than the 44/45. As a comparison, I caught the duped 43 home which didn't start to empty until after Regent Centre having left more than a full stand of people behind - for many of those folks there is no Metro/GNE alternative.