(07 Mar 2023, 7:29 pm)L469 YVK wrote I can't see Percy Main closing, not with the new qualifying agreement and the timetable too.
Maybe if a successful bid to 'green' the 306/307/308/309, a joint depot facility with Arriva. Somewhere with centralised compounds for charging / gas in North Tyneside but GNE & Arriva having separate 'depots within a depot'. Then GNE could effectively move Percy Main there with Arriva also having a few non-EV operations stationed there too (for likes of the 50's, minibuses etc).
Why would Arriva want a depot in North Tyneside it's too close to Blyth and they don't need one there - it's Cramlington / Sandy Lane where it's more needed. It's just as awkward for the likes of the 55.
Arriva will have surplus space when the Northumberland Line opens next year as it will hit some routes hard in particular the X7, X8, X9, X10, X11 and X21. Don't underestimate how much damage it will do for bus numbers as it will as they're really pushing it rather than it being some side tracked thing like Horden station especially if it's included in Network One which has been mentioned in the past.
CLS for example can't sustain bus routes to the West of CLS where everyone uses the train instead and nor can most of North Tyneside because of the Metro.
Having another depot will likely make the whole area unsustainable.