(11 May 2026, 7:24 pm)TransitObserver wrote There is a genuine concern growing that due to the franchising Stagecoach could pull out of Newcastle completely if they don’t like the way the franchising will go. They already lost 2 depots in Manchester, a load of buses they probably lost quite a bit of money when that happened and I doubt they want to go through that again.
If they do pull out of Newcastle all the routes would be up for grabs, less profitable ones will just die off and 400+ drivers will be out of work. I really hope it doesn’t go that way but with the lack of investment in the fleet with some buses nearing 20 years old it’s something to think about.
im seeing daily failures in some of the MMCs and i think if they are waiting 2 years to await results that's just asking for a trouble, realistically another 15 single decks and maybe 25 double decks would be a significant upgrade on the busier routes,
surely its not a case of if the franchise doesn't go there way they lose the buses? they could just swap them with older cumbria ones if they wanted to show a middle finger