(06 Aug 2023, 1:34 pm)Storx wrote

• Quicker route from Cramlington to Killingworth
  
• More bang for your buck with day tickets, with the 62, 63, X63 being available aswell for passengers going to places where people actually want to be rather than North Shields / Whitley Bay.
  
• Stagecoach being the principal operator the majority of the routes and have brand recognition.
  
• Better Newcastle connections, Haymarket is a negative and miles out of the way imo.
  
• More frequent Killingworth to Freeman services.
  
• Less confusion with complicated dual numbering. 37 is easier to remember than 352/353/354 and XXX numbers usually mean contract routes.
  
• Metro being there for people who want a quick route to Newcastle from Longbenton / Benton / Meadway so won't be using the bus regardless if it's for speed. Matthew Bank is not quick.
  
• No evening / Sunday service on the 355.
  
• The X8/43/57A still existing for Cramlington to Burradon / Annitsford / Dudley passengers and have the bonus of getting to Newcastle every 15 minutes on the 43/X7/X8 depending where you are so likely won't move from Arriva at all and just change their habits if currently shopping at Killingworth (it's not hard to do).
  
• The 54 (354) is ran by Stagecoach in an evening so no evening or Sunday Killingworth to FLE quick link.
  

• Stagecoach’s day ticket is more expensive than Go North East’s Newcastle and North Tyne ticket - so it depends how you measure value.
  
• Stagecoach have made no effort (yet) to market their new services. Go North East was the first to register their new network, the first to comment in the local media, and the first to announce on their own channels. Stagecoach might have better brand recognition, but nobody knows their new network is going to exist (starting in just four weeks’ time).
  
• Passengers are currently travelling to and from Haymarket. It might be because that is their only option, or it might be because that’s where they want to go.
  
• Customers are more likely to be familiar with a 3xx number which relates to the current service 51-55, than a completely new 37 going to ‘Whickham View’ (where is that, for anyone living in Cramlington?)
  
• The contract for the 54 may change hands in future.