In September 2014, Arriva launched the Max brand for interurban express services.

The first services were launched by Arriva North East, which is cited as the creator and home of the brand (alongside jointly managed Arriva Yorkshire), with routes X10 and X11 from Newcastle to Blyth using refurbished double-deck vehicles.

Most of the new routes were launched with Titan the Robot, to celebrate and create interest in each upgrade.

[4][5][6][7][8][9] The Max brand has been scaled back significantly in recent years as part of the Arriva rebrand, however some routes were withdrawn or were upgraded with new standard or refurbished Arriva Sapphire buses.

Since then, Arriva North East had also refurbished Scania OmniCitys and Alexander Dennis Enviro400s and more recently had purchased brand new stock in the form of further Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, Wright StreetLites and Volvo B9TLs.