(19 Feb 2026, 4:41 pm)DaveFromUpNorth wrote Supose it is a good excuse to get rid of 653 then? COAST road buses connect to chili for Freeman 1 bus connects for that hospital at Walkergate the metro will be close to walk from Wallsend
Having looked at the bids more closely I am satisfied and happy to see GCT has won the 599 contract . HOWEVER the bid did come in by £100k inc VAT
Loyalty to Northstar or loyalty to the taxpayer?
I could bid £50k to operate it with two Vauxhall Vivaros and you'd support it, even if I then took the 50k and didn't run any buses?
What I'm saying is GCT have a track record of unreliability and allocating unsuitable vehicles. It's not about loyalty to Northstar or GCT or anyone, money should not be the only factor. What's the point in going for the cheaper bid knowing said bidder is probably going to do a much worse job?
Put it in perspective:
If you were booking a coach trip, based on your posts you would slip a hundred quid to dodgy derek from round the corner who's lost his license god knows how many times, rather than paying £200 to a known, trusted and reliable company.