(19 Feb 2026, 5:49 pm)F114TML wrote 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?

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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.

Surely GoNorthEast and Arriva would have be excluded aswell. Both have been an absolute shambles, much worse than Gateshead Taxis. 

People around here are actively using the 19 because it actually runs which is less said about the 57/57a and both are tendered in parts. 

Stuff like the 317 and 82 only went tendered in the first place as they done that exact thing you said above and they've been shocking ever since with strikes, ''cold weather" issues, driver shortages and so on. 

I know it shouldn't be a race to a bottom but GCT really aren't that bad imo if you're judging them against who's bidding against them.

I don't know the crack with the 71 but maybe DCC have permitted them to use smaller buses?