It's good to see them release a Tyne and Wear day rover, but it naturally leads me to two questions.

1) Why now?
2) Is their network really designed for Tyne and Wear wide travel?

I ask 'why now?', because Stagecoach in Tyne and Wear have always focused on the three individual markets, and I guess that extends back as far as the Busways days? This leads me on to my other question, and is their network designed for it? At a glance - nope. If I lived in Sunderland, and commute to South Shields for example, then that is already covered in the Sunderland Megarider area (using the E services). If I commute to Newcastle? Well that's a different story. I'd have to get the bus to Marsden, and then wait for a half hourly service (X34) to Newcastle. A trip of about 80-90 minutes at least. Not to mention that the earliest I can get there for is 7.55, which isn't ideal at all. Are Stagecoach going to venture into the interurban market, and potentially ruffle GNE's feathers?