(29 Jun 2026, 4:07 pm)Busadvocate wrote I suspect Dan has more sense. Even if it is operationally feasible, starting a full-on head to head competitive service would be a very brave move. All experience in the nearly 40 years since deregulation is that even for the national firms it is very, very, hard to succeed in such attempts, and easy to burn a lot of money. Remember the X43 is almost certainly only viable for Northstar as an opportunistic Sat and school holidays service making use of buses that are needed for school-time services. So far there is no sign of them becoming more than that.
It's also very late in the day to attempt such a move. The region is almost inevitably going to a franchised model, so this kind of competition will be extinct in a couple of years, if it's not already now by will.