(16 Jun 2023, 2:38 pm)Countydurhambuses wrote Arriva had the 84/85 and 95/96 contracts back in like 2011, it would be very odd to see them take over the problem mainly being that they all run into eachother and are rural routes, the only depot which could do it is darlington and they've already scrapped most the solos and the e200s will be needed on more profitable runs. It's also unlikely they would extend the 6 to barnard castle there likely wouldn't be much through travel to durham and most would get off in west auckland and bishop which is already provided by 85
it seems like an odd choice to go to ramshaw, the 104 bus sits in bishop quite a bit during the day the only fixes which would work would be going to newfield hourly which there wouldn't be demand for or pretty unlikely if they got the 9 contract and the 104 was weardale drive to newfield.
At least it feels less silly than the 104 being supported to effectively dupe the 6 & 85 between Bishop and Evenwood for the sake of the few stops up to Ramshaw, also at least Ramshaw now gets an hourly service as opposed to the 3 trips a day currently on offer.
Suppose the time freed up on the 104 may allow drivers to swap between buses on the 81/89, 87 & 104 rather than having to send a Transit over to Bishop Auckland for changeovers/breaks.