(03 Jun 2023, 9:04 am)Storx wrote Aye it'll definitely be interesting, especially in Co. Durham which the 60/61/65 are all in with the reduction in English National Concessionary funding. The cuts with Arriva are pretty hard in some areas and the routes which are getting cuts there ie. the Darlington locals always seem stronger than the likes of the 61 and 65 on an evening and Sunderland. Heard there's similar due for Stagecoach aswell.Idk what you mean with the 60 was due to driver shortages/61 reduction was low passenger numbers, however the 61 are regularly rammed when the 22/23 went to hourly, and i assume that will be a similar situation, espeically if the 61 gets from Sunderland to Dalton Park and Vice Versa just before the 22/23 (whcih is what they should do tbh) by about 5 mins. And it might actually cause an increase in frequency as the link to Dalton park can be very busy.
Some of the Consett routes could be seriously at risk aswell as they're never exactly the busiest routes especially at night, the likes of the 6 in particular which is constantly meddled with.
I'm usually quite critical but reducting the funds, regardless to there being less passengers or not, is just wreckless imo. The sad thing is whichever smart arse thought the small savings was clever is now dumped with the issue of subsidising some of them or leaving whole towns stranded in the case of Barnard Castle on a Sunday. Suppose in the case of Teesside they can just plowing money on the fantasy airport which ironically doesn't have a bus service now...
Consett routes I agree bar the X45 they are very busy weekdays, however are very weak like all consett routes bar the 78 really on an evening.