GNE would give that away in a sense. But put it this way, when GNE took over the Hexham depot, 6 weeks later, they carried out a consultation and one of the questions was, "Would you use our TEN service more for a faster journey time by not stopping between the Metrocentre and Newcastle Monday to Saturday daytime?" The majority answered yes and despite people wanting fast journeys between Newcastle and the Metrocentre, it would've been particularly favoured by people on the Tyne Valley corridor.
If GNE implemented my idea above, rather than the journey time being 40 minutes to Rake Lane hospital on Arriva's 308 during peak time or more due to it struggling to keep to time, the 309 would do it in around 35 minutes. And off peak, Arriva's 308 takes 33 minutes to Rake Lane. The 309 would do it in 30 minutes. It's not much less off peak but during peak time, the time saved would be better.
If GNE sent leaflets around on the existing 309 route and some of it overlapping Arriva's 308 route with the service changes promoting a faster journey time, the patronage would be good. The 309 and 310 would run just before the 58 Monday to Saturday daytime through Battle Hill with the 58 only stepping in place to provide the lost links due to a faster 309 / 310 service and to still serve High Farm.
RE: Go North East Service Suggestions