As an exiled North Easterner, and with connections to people who work in the NE bus industry, my thoughts...
There's quite a bit of criticism on these posts for Nigel Featham, and seemingly wanting to point out that there were strikes at Arriva NE and Go North West under his tenure from
@Snex . Given how much he's been involved in Manchester, I'd question quite how much he's been involved at the sharp end of North East in recent weeks/months. I might add that with GNW, he was facing into some long established problems that hadn't been tackled for years and resulted in all manner of wasteful practices being perpetuated. I wonder if there's a few things at Go North East that have been left for many years? Of course, the PR release from Unite is similar in that it points how profitable Arriva was, in much the same way that Go Ahead Group is highlighted whilst not addressing the local issue. I'm sure that the dispute will be resolved; I recall the Go Ahead Northern strike in 1991 and the damage that it did so hope they do get it resolved.
The criticism on taking on the former Arriva 50-series services is interesting, especially the claim that they were loss making. Without seeing the financials, that is impossible to say, and I'd point to the fact that both Go Ahead and Stagecoach both threw their hats into the ring for these allegedly loss making routes! GNE steamed in first with their registrations and probably thought that would secure them, so you can see the logic. That Stagecoach responded by extending the 38 (and creating the 37) will give them the advantage as it's simply a marginal extension with limited increase in resources.
The closure of Chester le Street depot is very reminiscent of Arriva's closure of Bishop Auckland depot in 2011. The same reasons were provided - ageing depot, expensive to maintain, needing work, can be covered by spare capacity at nearby depots, etc. As with that case, closing CLS is the wrong solution to the problem. It exacerbates the driver shortages (which driver in the town wants to drive to Consett or Riverside depot? - you might as well move to Washington or else work for Arriva at Belmont). Instead, a smaller, cheaper Chester base would have been appropriate.
ps whilst not strictly on topic, it has been mentioned about Arriva's closure of Jesmond. Whilst the site was sold on a sale and lease back several years ago, it was always known that a break clause was coming. The plan was to move to a smaller depot (as Arriva's operations at Jesmond had declined so markedly) as was announced when Jesmond's closure was disclosed. It was only a few months later that they decided that they couldn't afford a Newcastle site that they decided to move to Ashington and Blyth (and then they didn't secure Ashington overflow); had they continued with Newcastle, then those allegedly loss making 50-series routes may well have been retained, esp at a site with a lower cost base. As it was, they simply couldn't be operated remotely with the level of interworking being undertaken already. Oh, and that does suppose that it had to be a brand new depot for Arriva in Newcastle whereas, as with both Belmont and Darlington, you can make do with a repurposed existing site...but I digress.
The policies of Martjin Gilbert were too much on shiny marketing. Now, I am a firm believer that marketing works but the product has to be right. The branding of X-links was a good move, representing a return to the former Go Ahead Northern Expresslink concept of the late 1980s. However, the pointless rebrands of many other routes with established identities was a waste of money and management effort when there were much more pressing issues operationally to focus upon. Note: with X-Links, whilst I'm broadly ok with the concept, placing new deckers on the X84/5 was never going to pay it's way. Similarly, the arrival of the ex Oxford coaches was clearly not going to work (though were they foisted on the North East by group?)
Go North East is a bit of a mess. The decision to close CLS depot was ill conceived. I recall the plan had been, at one time, to close both CLS and Stanley and have a super depot, in much the same way as Riverside and Deptford schemes. If that was the plan, then Consett wouldn't have been the right place. Perhaps if/when Manchester calms down and the dispute is resolved, Nigel Featham can get to grips with an operation that from the hard nosed expansionist days of Peter Huntley and the quiet conservatism of Kevin Carr, seems to have been lost to too many flights of fancy in the Gilbert era. A Routemaster on the Angel - that's when the shark was truly jumped!
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