(14 Feb 2026, 11:55 am)Storx wrote Assuming the Streetdeck's do end up on the 301 and not the 307/9 as it's been bouncing between the two for ages, I'd say it's better to keep the B9TL's personally. The 307/309 are the sort of the routes which have to be next in line for investment, and will have a stronger business case to suits in an office down south who only care about numbers, especially in comparison to the 50. Those mpg numbers, also helping the business case. 

At the moment in their current form they are.

But if GNE are worried that they can't sustain a service ex Newcastle after 11.10pm (even just pushing the proposed last 11pm 307 back 10 mins) plus curtailing & cutting other journeys & frequencies, does the 307 & 309 fall into fhat bracket for investment - or will they go back to the underdog days of the 300/305 when they ran Excels & SPD's - with NMS/Arriva (and some GNE/Coastline joint runs) dominating with the 306 & 308?

Except for the end-to-end X39 journeys, there's no demand for Cobalt on the 309 like before covid.

Arriva aren't going to publicly come out about any frequency increases, but if they could draft in vehicles from elsewhere - it would be a political win for them re-increasing the 306 & 308 back to every 7/8 mins with no BSIP or subsidy - compared to Stagecoach & GNE who used it to prop up their "goldmine" routes.