(Yesterday, 9:11 pm)Dan wrote Despite the restructuring exercise, it is worth noting that the headcount at Go North East is larger than it ever was before. Overhead costs these days must be staggeringly high compared to what they were.

I saw an old photograph of a management “away day” last week, taken 4-5 years ago. The entire team - including directorate, senior management and depot management - consisted of 42 people. Interesting to note that just four of those remain in employment with the company now, with most having voluntarily left.

Prior to that photo being taken, aside from retirees, Go North East’s Head Office team had an incredibly low turnover.

I wonder what changed.

I hoped that the old guard moving on, would see improvements and changes on a network and passenger level. 

I hoped these changes would lead to fresh thoughts and ideas - beyond buzzwords, public back patting and cheesy photo opportunities. 

I saw those people who had been over promoted (but protected at all costs because of friendships), move on and hoped their replacements would be of a different mindset. 

Instead, we've pretty much got the same old network, passenger perceptions as they were and a new clique, with a slightly different secret handshake and potentially different coloured socks.

A shame. And (another) missed opportunity.