(14 May 2023, 8:34 pm)L469 YVK wrote And that defeats the whole scale of efficiencies as unless EV's were rolled out further, interworking the 43/44/45 with other Blyth based routes would be a no go for starters.
Then Arriva still have the issue of the 306 & 308 including dead runs to Tynemouth / Whitley Bay plus the long evening layovers too for the 306 given the fact that any interworking patterns would also gave to tie in with the 307 & 309 to maintain common headways.
Then....the inevitable when the ABTRL opens too for the X7/X8/X9/X10/X11
You had said there was no investment though, where there clearly is. Also unsure why they'd want the 43/44/45 to be interworking with anything else, the operation of them as they are now looks pretty efficient.
I don't see a huge difference in 306s running dead to Whitley Bay from Blyth compared to from Jesmond, Google actually indicates the dead run will now be fewer miles.