(16 Nov 2022, 10:51 pm)L469 YVK wrote It's not to say that the 52 and 53 are bad routes. But with Arriva's business strategy and a focus on Northumberland, can they viably keep the services going taking everything into account when another operator (SCNE, GNE, GCT etc) would be in a better place to pick up a tender with some commercial risk (like the 19 and 317) from Nexus.

The problem is the 52 and 53 are Northumberland routes, the main links are all around linking Cramlington and Shiremoor / Whitley Bay which are also strong Arriva areas which they can't just ignore. Burradon and Dudley are also Arriva areas so letting other's in those areas isn't in their best interests.

It's why the 46 has been dropped instantly as it really didn't impact anyone in their core areas. The 54 is the only route which is a bit of an odd one out nowadays since the dropping of the 355/356 years ago. 51 being the main service across Earsdon / Shiremoor and that area - similar issues with the 57/57A.

One thing which wouldn't surprise me too much is the 51 and 55 being merged and the short 53 and 55 being merged.

So you'd have something like these hourly

R1: 55 from Newcastle to Palmersville, direct to Holystone, 51 to Whitley Bay
R2: 55 from Newcastle to Palmersville, 53 to Cramlington
R3: 53 from Cramlington to North Shields

Potentially might see aswell:

R4: 54 from Newcastle to Cobalt, 53 to North Shields

R1/R2: Every 30 Minutes, Palmersville to Newcastle
R2/R3: Every 30 Minutes, Palmersville to Cramlington
R3/R4: Every 30 Minutes, Cobalt to North Shields

Rest of the 51 binned off as Wiltshire Drive is GNE land which they binned off. Would help with everything linking back to Cramlington if you threw the 52 in the mix aswell and open some new links with the 55 and keep the core bits still every 30 minutes. Realistically there's probably few people travelling end to end on the 53 for example.

The short 53 sitting at the end of the 55 isn't a co-incidence imo.