(14 Dec 2022, 9:01 pm)Unber43 wrote 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.

I don't think it would change much, the Coast Road fares are capped at £3.10 single, £4.50 return/day max anyway as a Metro day saver using Pop is £4.85 or a single £3.25 and if it's more expensive than that then no-one will use it from Whitley Bay.

The only place which might suffer a bit is Seaton Sluice and parts of Blyth where the fares are too low really but I'd doubt many people will use it throughout as it takes forever. Darlington fares are some of the cheapest around and they have no competition.

£4.50 from Sunderland to Durham via the 22 route isn't really that bad, it's over 20 mile so only 22p a mile or so. Anything under a 60p or so mile is generally alright it's the shorter fares which can be much higher than that.