(8 hours ago)peter wrote But that's in essence what all the X-Lines and most of remaining branded routes are - interurban routes between Newcastle, Durham, Sunderland and other key population centres. It's like the difference between Transpennine Express and Northern. 

The X1 and 4 the do different things, the 4 while more strategic than a local service weaves around different places, the X1 pretty much follows a straight line and is 'express' for about half of the route. 

There's no way they can refurbish everything tho - there will always be some routes that don't make as much money and thus don't receive the newest vehicles. Unless you replace every vehicle in the fleet all at once there will always be an oldest bus in the fleet and it has to do something (excluding scholars). 

If the interurban routes are more profitable, get the newer vehicles and are perhaps more-so competing against the private car then I find no issue trying to shout about it. 

The new streetdecks on the X1 or X45 being in a 'standard GNE livery' works both ways. Because they look exactly the same as every other GNE bus, if the last decker you happened to go on in that livery was an ex-London shed, you're gonna think well what's the difference I'm not getting on that bus either. In an ideal world there wouldn't be any sheds, but are you gonna refurb a 15-year old decker for say the 643/644, no, it's still a business at the end of the day and there's no business case for that - those local or more 'socially necessary' services that are less profitable are just that, less profitable, and are always gonna run with the oldest or less high-quality stock. Alternatively if you do find yourself on a GNE livery X1 then you might think oh wow every red GNE bus is this good not just the gold X-Line ones - but if they're no more attractive or enticing than your car or any other GNE bus why would you be drawn to get out your car and on it in the first place.

For people who have no other option but to use the bus, all this X-Lines branding and fancy features means nothing really - it's a bonus and a nice to have that your journey is more pleasant, but if you need to use that service regardless the operator could send anything and it wouldn't really matter you'd have to put up with it (within reason of course to the point where they don't force you off the bus and in your car) - but fundamentally it's less about retaining existing patronage, the X-Lines initiative is more of a marketing exercise to increase passenger numbers, by promoting it is a premium service on longer distance journeys. I think if they had been more precise with its execution it could have been a bigger success.

I know the root cause is mainly down to the users, but some of the seatbacks on the Xline doubles are absolutely disgusting. They've not been maintained or cleaned - I imagine since launch.

Compare to Trent Barton Red Arrow, which is spotless every time you get on!