(06 Jun 2026, 8:18 am)tvd wrote Does anyone have any theories over just why Redcar depot is unprofitable?
It runs the X4 which has recently got new buses and it busy.  The 63 was always a core high frequency route.
The X2 and X3 serve parts of the area with no other services so presumably are fairly busy.  Likewise the 64.
The depot is fairly newish, without much dead mileage.
What am I missing, where is the money being lost?

Ignoring Whitby for a minute, Redcar is running at around 35 PVR from what I can see, and once you factor in full depot overheads, the numbers just don't really stack up.
You could make a similar argument for Stockton. It's around 46 PVR, but it's still carrying a full set of depot overheads, so it's not exactly in a strong position either.

Putting the two together into a single operation of roughly 80 PVR, while Whitby continues as it does now, is much closer to how most depots across the region are structured. That gives a more sustainable income base to cover depot overheads and wider central costs.

I've also heard that internal discussions have touched on potential electrification of the Tees Valley operation. If that's on the agenda, a single larger depot makes far more sense than trying to electrify two smaller sites. The biggest cost isn't usually the chargers or depot modifications, it's the grid connection, which can easily run into the millions.

None of this necessarily says anything negative about the routes themselves. It's more a case of the cost base not matching the scale of the operation. Arriva have already said no service changes are expected, and it probably also helps explain why the 28 and 81 were merged back in March.