(07 Jun 2023, 3:43 pm)L469 YVK wrote But with only 12x EV's on order, Arriva will have to either....
- Curtail the 43 at Cramlington and introduce a 15 minute layover at Haymarket so that interworking can happen with the 44/45 - straight issue with stand availability waiting for 7-8 minutes before being allowed to pull in.
- Drop the 43 & 44/45 to every 20 minutes each as per current Saturday timetable to allow interworking - why would they do that if frequency has already been re-increased to every 15 minutes.
Remote reliefs to Dinnington or Regent Centre will prove costly overtime.
Other option with a Qualifying Agreement set up covering all of the 43/44/45 (except the Cramlington to Morpeth stretch).....
- Arriva keep the 43
- GNE take on the 44/45 from Riverside
There's 14 vehicles on order for the 43/44/45/47. As far as I'm aware, part of the terms of the funding is they have to keep at least the same frequency as they have now for a set number of years (I believe it's 5 years), so if that's right they won't have the option of returning to the Saturday timetable during the week.
The services are busy though so I can't see any reason why Arriva would want to hand them over to a competitor.