(29 Oct 2023, 6:43 pm)mb134 wrote To get that extra £3m per year though, they'd have to grow revenue by over £8000 per day. Lets assume all passengers are paying by £2 singles - that's an extra 4000 journeys per day needed to claw back that £3m.
That's on top of the £4m that has been stated above to cover the pay rise which has been offered. Combined, GNE would need to increase revenue by over £19000 per day to fully cover the pay rise. That's 4750 new customers that need to make 2 trips by bus, every single day.
In terms of your point on Arriva and Stagecoach, I wonder if that is more due to them having reasonably stable networks, especially in Northumberland and Newcastle? Those networks (bar the 51-55) are now slowly starting to expand again, albeit largely due to BSIP funding.
I struggle to see how they grow the business in it's current state, especially given the amount required to pay for these pay increases. There seems to be no investment currently from the new owners, just more second hand vehicles which themselves will need replacing sooner rather than later.
I think the expansion into North Tyneside was probably a decent attempt, but even if they were making a bit of money to start with I can't see those routes surviving this strike - passengers will have gone to Stagecoach, or will have arranged car shares as you've pointed out in another thread.
In the first point, isn't the deficit between the standard fare and £2 fare being reimbursed by the Government?
Just for context, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-67248853 they were apparently carrying approx 200k pax per day prior to the strikes.
Your 4th paragraph sums it up imo. I've said it for years on here and elsewhere. They're not going to grow, when constantly consolidating.
The second hand vehicles are an inevitable outcome of those cuts.
There's been no to little growth for decades. Despite the spin.
Covid is just an easy get out. A bit like the roadworks in Newcastle that has been used as excuses in shareholder reports.