(15 Jun 2014, 6:02 am)citaro5284 wrote Of course it could also mean that is what the NCC/National Parks wanted and GNE are operating just that. On the other hand no matter what happens, GNE will always be at fault whatever the circumstances are in some people's eyes.
What were the fares on the service last year when GNE did not operate it?
An independent wasn't it?
One of those small companies that don't have a massive bus network to feed into the contracted service nor the financial clout or influence that a major plc has.
As well as that, you had Classic - who would have incurred huge dead mileage costs.
To be honest, although the service is standalone - I cant imagine NCC have turned round to GNE and told them that the ad122 MUST stay as a service which MUST NOT accept the operators tickets - knowing full well those factors would probably do nothing to help increase passenger numbers.
I may be wrong, but the ticket prices and structure is probably more to do with the tender bid, affordability and margins.
Busman101 and his 'sources' may be able to advise otherwise.
As always, happy to be pointed in the right direction, as a lot of my points on the ad122 are based on guess work.
Edit: http://www.thisisnorthumberland.com/news...ad122-bus/ fare info from a couple of years ago.