(21 Jun 2023, 10:21 am)xpm wrote As I’ve probably said on at least one previous occasion, at its peak the x84/x85 service could run with full solos with the exception of the twirly peaks in the morning and afternoon.  Post covid a lot of the twirlys just never returned.  

Particularly in the days of running scanias I could have a full standing load leaving corbridge or sometimes even Hexham on the first one of the day leaving Hexham (x85) post 9am  Similarly on the 2pm and 5 pm leaving Newcastle, and on corbridge car boot sale days.  Post covid, regular passengers that got on everyday from the co op in Hexham through corbridge just disappeared.

There was always an element of whether the x85 got there first or the 685, but there was some loyalty to gne, particularly when we had regular experienced drivers like myself on the peak routes.

Fast forward a little bit and a lot of staff turnover and the introduction on the citaros, neither did much for retention.  Complaints about hard seats meant that some just went for the 685 instead, couple that with a lot of adblu de rates in the mercs which took eminox an age to sort out, and we lost a lot of the regulars that way too.  The citaros were also a lot harder to get as smooth a journey as the mercs. 

Heddon was an odd one, always used to be busy and passengers just literally disappears off the map for all routes, so it made no sense to continue serving it on the x85, could even argue the same with corbridge to a certain extent.

I think they were clearly trying to grow numbers, but in those areas, any growth is going to be limited. 
It's not as if the population in any of the towns/villages are growing massively through housebuilding or new estates. 
As a result, passenger growth is going to be limited to a proportion of residents who are wanting to travel by bus and want/need to go to the places served. 
Realistically 1 or 2%. And as you say, a Solo beyond peaks would probably surfice. Even with growth. 

There's clearly a limit of what could be done on that corridor, versus say the Consett or Great Park areas, where the population is growing quickly and there's a greater opportunity to pick up a proportion of those passengers. 
Even if you're expecting 1 or 2% growth in those areas, that's a significant number more than say Heddon, Ovingham or Corbridge.