(03 Sep 2014, 9:08 am)Michael Ye, not many places they could go, as Stagecoach and Go North East both have established routes.

I do hope Arriva win LOT 1 from NEXUS, if it happens

(03 Sep 2014, 9:08 am)Michael Ye, not many places they could go, as Stagecoach and Go North East both have established routes.

I do hope Arriva win LOT 1 from NEXUS, if it happens

(03 Sep 2014, 8:54 am)tyresmoke The X21 will run off the 21 during the day, with the additional peak journeys being operated by Stockton (am) and Durham (pm)

(03 Sep 2014, 11:00 am)Jimmi Will there be through connections between the 21 & X21.

(03 Sep 2014, 11:43 am)tyresmoke It'll be the same bus so yes there will be. It will be direct to Ryhope I am told. The reason for the 22/24 numbers changing is we've swapped the routes over between Durham and Peterlee to give a direct link between Wheatley Hill/Thornley and Sunderland which has apparently been asked for lots!

(03 Sep 2014, 11:43 am)tyresmoke It'll be the same bus so yes there will be. It will be direct to Ryhope I am told. The reason for the 22/24 numbers changing is we've swapped the routes over between Durham and Peterlee to give a direct link between Wheatley Hill/Thornley and Sunderland which has apparently been asked for lots!

(03 Sep 2014, 11:51 am)minibus1474 Same arrangements that existed previously at Peterlee with 21/31 and 21A/31A ?

(03 Sep 2014, 1:10 pm)cbma06 So if the X21 is hourly through the day coming off service 21, so where does Arriva get the extra bus to do the X21 every 30 minutes at peak times, will the extra X21 per hour come off the 21A?.

(03 Sep 2014, 11:43 am)tyresmoke It'll be the same bus so yes there will be. It will be direct to Ryhope I am told. The reason for the 22/24 numbers changing is we've swapped the routes over between Durham and Peterlee to give a direct link between Wheatley Hill/Thornley and Sunderland which has apparently been asked for lots!

(03 Sep 2014, 11:43 am)tyresmoke It'll be the same bus so yes there will be. It will be direct to Ryhope I am told. The reason for the 22/24 numbers changing is we've swapped the routes over between Durham and Peterlee to give a direct link between Wheatley Hill/Thornley and Sunderland which has apparently been asked for lots!

(03 Sep 2014, 9:04 am)Michael Thanks, the loading's must be decent from Sunderland to Peterlee, if we getting a 3rd service there, be interesting to see what GNE do, when they see they have launched a 3rd service to Peterlee...

If these contracts go ahead, i really hope Arriva get Sunderland's lot!

(03 Sep 2014, 3:36 pm)Dan From my sightings today, which reflects the same story as in previous discussion, the loadings are nothing more than mediocre on services 23/24 coming into Sunderland, though the latter does seem to be the better achiever of the two. With free periods being added to the mix at school, I get even more chance to see the goings-on on Stockton Road, and I can't say I've ever seen a full load on a Pulsar/Omnicity or standees on a Solo.

I was with Scott a few weeks back and he came off the X7 which was full, and the 23 he had seen came in with around 10 people (and that's before you consider that some of those passengers weren't fare paying). Whilst I'd suggest the service will definitely be breaking even, and it should be making a profit (however small or large that may be) at the end of the day (when you take higher peak time loadings into account), the loadings aren't high enough to justify bringing in a new express service to ease loadings, and I'd imagine that this is very much a stab in the dark, with the company anticipating they can bring a few passengers off the X7 following its success.

I've mentioned previously that competition between Arriva and Go North East is very much a vicious circle. We've seen that Go North East has been successful on the Tyne Valley, so this seems all too convenient... Whilst I wish Arriva the best of luck, my loyalties (obviously) lie with Go North East, and I hope that customers - especially the ones who are fare paying - don't decide to migrate from the X7 and onto the X21 (as this would scupper any plans to upgrade the service in terms of frequency - which would be an awful shame!)

(03 Sep 2014, 3:41 pm)Tom Well I know I'll be using the X7 as the difference in price is £1.60. And I'd rather have a Citaro than a Omnicity.

(03 Sep 2014, 3:41 pm)Dan Unusual for GNE's singles to be cheaper!

(03 Sep 2014, 3:36 pm)Dan From my sightings today, which reflects the same story as in previous discussion, the loadings are nothing more than mediocre on services 23/24 coming into Sunderland, though the latter does seem to be the better achiever of the two. With free periods being added to the mix at school, I get even more chance to see the goings-on on Stockton Road, and I can't say I've ever seen a full load on a Pulsar/Omnicity or standees on a Solo.

I was with Scott a few weeks back and he came off the X7 which was full, and the 23 he had seen came in with around 10 people (and that's before you consider that some of those passengers weren't fare paying). Whilst I'd suggest the service will definitely be breaking even, and it should be making a profit (however small or large that may be) at the end of the day (when you take higher peak time loadings into account), the loadings aren't high enough to justify bringing in a new express service to ease loadings, and I'd imagine that this is very much a stab in the dark, with the company anticipating they can bring a few passengers off the X7 following its success.

I've mentioned previously that competition between Arriva and Go North East is very much a vicious circle. We've seen that Go North East has been successful on the Tyne Valley, so this seems all too convenient... Whilst I wish Arriva the best of luck, my loyalties (obviously) lie with Go North East, and I hope that customers - especially the ones who are fare paying - don't decide to migrate from the X7 and onto the X21 (as this would scupper any plans to upgrade the service in terms of frequency - which would be an awful shame!)

(03 Sep 2014, 3:55 pm)Jimmi The 23 I saw arriving in Peterlee from Sunderland this morning had few seats left, also 1301 which left at around 1337 had a fair few passengers from when it was leaving Sunderland this afternoon and you can't judge the passenger numbers from just Park Lane as people travel locally like Easington to Sunderland or Horden to Peterlee. The 24 left with Sunderland with a decent amount of passengers just in front of the 23 I mentioned above.

The X7 I got on from Peterlee this morning had standees'

(03 Sep 2014, 3:58 pm)Dan For an express service you can. If the service is going to be limited stop Sunderland - Ryhope - Peterlee, the loadings from Sunderland mean almost everything. The passengers can only be expected to migrate from their current services or the X7...

Dart 1301 came into Park Lane (about 6 mins late at 1600), with about six passengers. The bus notably sped past me and didn't stop!
The larger vehicle made the loadings seem even more disappointing.

(03 Sep 2014, 3:58 pm)Dan For an express service you can. If the service is going to be limited stop Sunderland - Ryhope - Peterlee, the loadings from Sunderland mean almost everything. The passengers can only be expected to migrate from their current services or the X7...

Dart 1301 came into Park Lane (about 6 mins late at 1600), with about six passengers. The bus notably sped past me and didn't stop!
The larger vehicle made the loadings seem even more disappointing.

(03 Sep 2014, 4:05 pm)Tom Reliability is a issue to - the 24 is often late.