(8 hours ago)PH - BQA wrote The company has been badly managed at a senior level for years, and they’ve got no commercial acumen so further service cuts is the only answer they know. 

Had there been investment in newer vehicles, driver retention, or service improvements the picture may/would have been better - but incompetence from the top down has resulted in this. 

It’s ridiculous really, that in an area immune to the threat of franchising and one which Stagecoach have invested heavily into, that Arriva can’t make their business work.

You’ve drawn all of that from just a few fleet moves?

Let’s be real—Arriva has been stretched thin by DB, and only now, under new ownership, is investment starting to flow in. But, of course, that doesn't happen overnight.

Arriva Yorkshire is set to receive 50 new vehicles later this year, while the North East is due at least 60 next year, not counting the electric vehicles. And that’s just the beginning. Darlington plans to go fully electric by 2027/28, and Blyth is already trialing an electric vehicle with plans to expand to additional services, simply because the data suggests the ranges are a problem - they are actually testing if that is true.

There are other, more significant things happening under the skin of the business, most of it not seen, but at least one big project next year will be in North East.

That level of detail might not be widely known, which is why assumptions like this are so far off the mark. It’s almost laughable how inaccurate they are, but the proof will be in the pudding.

You may wish to bookmark this post and come back to it in 18 months time.