(22 Oct 2014, 8:32 pm)Dan wrote Do remember that there only tends to be one winner in a 'bus war', with one service either being withdrawn or facing cuts in each review the service receives... I needn't remind everyone of the recent examples, as I've done these to death in posts in the past.
If - and it's a big if - Go North East's service starts running at a loss due to the increased patronage Arriva will expect to see on service 23 (due to the investment), and a competing service being implemented which offers a slightly quicker journey time, then it's entirely possible that service X7 will face cuts and it could potentially lead to the service's withdrawal.
Bad news for Peterlee drivers if there is a PVR reduction at their depot, and bad news for customers who currently benefit from unlimited travel on all "East Durham" services, "Fast Cats" X35 and "Wear Tees Xpress" X7 (Sunderland - Wingate) with GNE's "East Durham" saver ticket. The price of this ticket is unlikely to decrease, even if there was 'less value for money' due to the withdrawal of the X7 service...
Competition can be a good thing in the sense that operators will battle at first - perhaps implementing cheaper fares or more features on-board buses - but I'd suggest that it doesn't always end well.
It won't be good but its good we will see some competition again... anyway... its only a 4 min difference from Sunderland to Peterlee on the X7 and X21
X7 - 30 mins
X21 - 26 mins
I really think passengers will just stick to what they currently use.. the 21 and 22 may loose a few to the X21 though but it only runs hourly and the X7 and X21 don't leave at the same time.