(09 Jun 2014, 11:09 am)ifm001 wrote Yes but like all other companies you will find cheap fares in areas of competition. In places where there is minimum competition the fares can and are atrocious. I have no choice but to pay £91.10 each month for a network one as I cannot commit to just one operator but I would love to.
At the end of the day. If a bus company cannot fund a service themselves and an evening service has to be funded by nexus. Then yes any operator is welcome to operate. If your not happy about not being able to use your ticket. Buy a different ticket then.

Yes, but in the example given (service 39), the fares are not 'atrocious' in the slightest. I was pointing out that Go North East's entire network cannot be tarred with the same brush of setting unreasonable fare prices etc, when there are some very good deals to be had in some parts of the network - we've discussed service 42 in the past which arguably has less competition yet offers fares which are so competitive that Go North East must make little to no profit from sales of those weekly tickets.

You have no choice but to pay £91.10 each month. I'm not sure of your circumstances, but perhaps if the tendering process was different, you would not have to fork out such a fee. Using service 39 (and other Sunderland services) as an example again, a "Sunderland Saver" is just £11.80 per week. A quick calculation tells me that it would therefore cost £47.20 per month, opposed to the larger fee of £65.80 per month with "The Anytime Ticket" by Network One. Is it really fair that customers are forced to pay £18.60 extra if they want to get home on a night, simply due to the fact the tendering process in Tyne & Wear sees other operators operating services usually operated by Go North East? No it's not!

(09 Jun 2014, 11:15 am)Michael wrote Why should people have to buy a different ticket?

Exactly! They shouldn't have to, but do simply due to the fact Nexus (and other parties) make a saving by offering the tender to the lowest bidder - even though the quality offered during daytime may be superior. Of course, we shouldn't forget the confusion caused by other operators winning tendered services which are commercial throughout the day. I've been on Stagecoach North East's evening 39 service frequently in the past, with the drivers regularly being asked, "Is this the same 39 which runs during the day?" and similar questions.