(14 Dec 2022, 8:51 pm)Storx wrote Don't see why not, there's technically already competition with the Metro really and the Stagecoach 1/22/38/62/63 for parts of the Coast Road depending where you are. The Hexham/Ashington swap was much worse in terms of competition and gave Arriva a monopoly in Ashington and also the Stagecoach Darlington sale to Arriva which again has no competition at all.

But would you say Arriva having a monopoly is actually better for the customers, as they'll get a better service overall compared to if there was 4-5 different operators, the only downside is that there could be just arriva hiking prices, Im pretty sure its like £4.50 to go from Sunderland to Durham on the 22, whereas the the 20 is like £2.30, are people willing to pay the £4.50 and GNE are actually pricing too low.