(17 Nov 2022, 11:30 pm)Storx wrote @mb134 has pretty much said what I'd say so I won't parrot it but the 51, 53 and 57A don't go out to tender they usually get a 'that word that's gone' deal before going out to tender. The 52 isn't subsidised at all bar the extension which Nexus paid Arriva to run North of Killingworth but that was by choice as far as I'm aware.Ashington used to have a dead run every weekday from Ashington Depot to Belford. Almost 90 minutes before the bus even started taking fares.
On the Streetlite's personally I'd just purchase some form of midibus the same length as the 8xxx series with GNE for the 1 and 2 in 2024 or whenever the Pulsar's are up for replacement, they do a job for now. Any Streetlite's should go down to Durham with the rest of their sisters if there ever is a replacement up here, they're a bit of an odd bod.
On the dead runs they're pretty short really. Stockton and Darlington have some very long dead runs, potentially up there with the highest in the country on the X1 (Stanhope back to the depot) and 5 (Stockton to Easington in the morning and evening (East Cleveland)) both over 20 mile because of the Bishop Auckland and Loftus closures respectively.
RE: Arriva Northumbria - Future of Local Services