(22 Jun 2014, 4:53 pm)ifm001 wrote Took a lot of thinking back this. Serviceb X97 ended up being operated by the 2 alexander dash dennis darts which were bought brand new and went straight onto that service. Registrations N670 VUP and N671 VUP which were later sold to GNE. The N reg would have come out approx 1995 so the services would have operated from 1994 roughly. Whicj sounds about right as I worked in Sunderland 1992 to 1995 travelling through seaburn everyday seeing them.

It will have been around that period, Redby introduced a service in competition to the 194 between Newcastle/Heworth and Penshaw.
They used a two door National and it ceased running when Wear Buses ran a Metrorider spoiler in front of it - ontop of the Lynxes or whatever was running the 194 at the time.

(22 Jun 2014, 4:53 pm)ifm001 wrote Took a lot of thinking back this. Serviceb X97 ended up being operated by the 2 alexander dash dennis darts which were bought brand new and went straight onto that service. Registrations N670 VUP and N671 VUP which were later sold to GNE. The N reg would have come out approx 1995 so the services would have operated from 1994 roughly. Whicj sounds about right as I worked in Sunderland 1992 to 1995 travelling through seaburn everyday seeing them.

Im not saying that your wrong though, just that I cant remember of the service from Seaburn prior of the service coming from Silksworth.

Redby started X97 11th April 1995.

(22 Jun 2014, 6:08 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote It will have been around that period, Redby introduced a service in competition to the 194 between Newcastle/Heworth and Penshaw.
They used a two door National and it ceased running when Wear Buses ran a Metrorider spoiler in front of it - ontop of the Lynxes or whatever was running the 194 at the time.

Redby service 13, It was the Wearside bus company brand service, with Wear Buses putting a metrorider 194 in duplication in front of Redby service 13. (Houghton Church to heworth)

(22 Jun 2014, 6:28 pm)cbma06 wrote Redby service 13, It was the Wearside bus company brand service, with Wear Buses putting a metrorider 194 in duplication in front of Redby service 13. (Houghton Church to heworth)

Saw the two have a race up Gladstone Tce in Penshaw once - up towards the tunnel.
The National had dropped off at the bottom of the hill, opposite the garage and the Metrorider overtook it (despite the 13 moving off).
The two continued like this (with the Metrorider on the wrong side of the road) for a short while.
Fortunately there were no parked cars like there are now and there was nowt coming down the hill.

(23 Jun 2014, 6:43 am)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Saw the two have a race up Gladstone Tce in Penshaw once - up towards the tunnel.
The National had dropped off at the bottom of the hill, opposite the garage and the Metrorider overtook it (despite the 13 moving off).
The two continued like this (with the Metrorider on the wrong side of the road) for a short while.
Fortunately there were no parked cars like there are now and there was nowt coming down the hill.

That must have been a sight to behold. I suppose it shows, albeit in a dangerous light, how seriously certain drivers took competition back in 1990s.

For the sake of comparison, here are the timetables for both services 13 and 194 taken from the 'S3' Washington Bus Guide back in January 1994.

(22 Jun 2014, 6:24 pm)cbma06 wrote Im not saying that your wrong though, just that I cant remember of the service from Seaburn prior of the service coming from Silksworth.

Redby started X97 11th April 1995.

It eas def before that date as I finished working in sunderland in 1995 so the seaburn service must have been introduced year or so before then. And then altered to go to silksworth instead as the seaburn route didn't carry many between seaburn and cleadon/boldon

(23 Jun 2014, 7:26 am)ifm001 wrote It eas def before that date as I finished working in sunderland in 1995 so the seaburn service must have been introduced year or so before then. And then altered to go to silksworth instead as the seaburn route didn't carry many between seaburn and cleadon/boldon

I don't know whether service X97 started before April 1995, but there was no such service in May 1994. It could, of course, have been introduced in the interim period but it means that the service between Seaburn and Newcastle lasted a matter of months before it was radically altered.



It certainly didn't go to Seaburn in 1995 as this map, dated October 1995, shows service X97 operating between Silksworth and Newcastle.

(23 Jun 2014, 7:26 am)AdamY wrote That must have been a sight to behold. I suppose it shows, albeit in a dangerous light, how seriously certain drivers took competition back in 1990s.

For the sake of comparison, here are the timetables for both services 13 and 194 taken from the 'S3' Washington Bus Guide back in January 1994.

Yup, those are the two routes.
The 13 ran not far behind the 638 (always nice getting that a mention) on a small section from Penshaw to Fatfield heading north.

When the 13 ended, GNE introduced the 191 between Penshaw Monument/Herrington Park (before Herrington Park was a park) and Newcastle.

Competition can be a good thing when passengers are put first - not sure it is the case when operators are simply marking their territory.

The only Stagecoach/Busways route over that way was the 33.
Maybe it is time they came back and opened the market up a bit more?

(23 Jun 2014, 9:54 am)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Yup, those are the two routes.
The 13 ran not far behind the 638 (always nice getting that a mention) on a small section from Penshaw to Fatfield heading north.

When the 13 ended, GNE introduced the 191 between Penshaw Monument/Herrington Park (before Herrington Park was a park) and Newcastle.

Competition can be a good thing when passengers are put first - not sure it is the case when operators are simply marking their territory.

The only Stagecoach/Busways route over that way was the 33.
Maybe it is time they came back and opened the market up a bit more?

What I found odd about the 194 timetable(s) is that two depart from Heworth at xx06. So on the way to Houghton, there are three buses (two 194s and one 13) operating within minutes of each other competing for passengers on route. Talk about over saturation.

(23 Jun 2014, 10:01 am)AdamY wrote What I found odd about the 194 timetable(s) is that two depart from Heworth at xx06. So on the way to Houghton, there are three buses (two 194s and one 13) operating within minutes of each other competing for passengers on route. Talk about over saturation.

Yup, one will have been a normal allocation and the other the spoiler Metrorider (which was usually empty).

(23 Jun 2014, 8:48 am)AdamY wrote I don't know whether service X97 started before April 1995, but there was no such service in May 1994. It could, of course, have been introduced in the interim period but it means that the service between Seaburn and Newcastle lasted a matter of months before it was radically altered.



It certainly didn't go to Seaburn in 1995 as this map, dated October 1995, shows service X97 operating between Silksworth and Newcastle.

It did only last a metter of weeks. Possibly the same lenght of time that the catch a bus service 15 from south shields to newcastle lasted. It was registered one day and withdrawn the next but it had to operate for the minimum period of 56 days or whatever it was back then. The seaburn x97 was very similar just a few weeks of operateion

(23 Jun 2014, 10:12 am)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Yup, one will have been a normal allocation and the other the spoiler Metrorider (which was usually empty).

It was the same in south shields when stagecoach and catch a bus went into major competition with the x20 and c20. The original X20 departed shields at 00 and 30 the C20 departed 5 mins earlier and then stagecoach or busways at the time put a spoiler on at 50 and 20. A couple of times the spoiler was actually operated by the preserved 1/1801 ECU 201E with its unusal 3 by 2 seating arrangement

(23 Jun 2014, 8:48 am)AdamY wrote I don't know whether service X97 started before April 1995, but there was no such service in May 1994. It could, of course, have been introduced in the interim period but it means that the service between Seaburn and Newcastle lasted a matter of months before it was radically altered.



It certainly didn't go to Seaburn in 1995 as this map, dated October 1995, shows service X97 operating between Silksworth and Newcastle.

Wow this guide is a blast from the past. Have u got the Sunderland South one

(23 Jun 2014, 9:54 am)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Yup, those are the two routes.
The 13 ran not far behind the 638 (always nice getting that a mention) on a small section from Penshaw to Fatfield heading north.

When the 13 ended, GNE introduced the 191 between Penshaw Monument/Herrington Park (before Herrington Park was a park) and Newcastle.

Competition can be a good thing when passengers are put first - not sure it is the case when operators are simply marking their territory.

The only Stagecoach/Busways route over that way was the 33.
Maybe it is time they came back and opened the market up a bit more?

The 33 used to start from Thornley before it got extended to Pittington:

(23 Jun 2014, 2:34 pm)Acky81 wrote Wow this guide is a blast from the past. Have u got the Sunderland South one

Ive scanned some of those guides in the bygone era:

http://northeastbuses.co.uk/forum/showth...hp?tid=560&pid=48955#pid48955

these guides were the first ones after Dereg 86. The guides were produced in FEB 87.

(22 Jun 2014, 6:24 pm)cbma06 wrote Im not saying that your wrong though, just that I cant remember of the service from Seaburn prior of the service coming from Silksworth.

Redby started X97 11th April 1995.

I can only remember the X97 from Silksworth into Newcastle; initially it used Leyland Lynx MKII and N670 VUP & N671 VUP were Volvo B6

(24 Jun 2014, 12:55 pm)Coastliner700 wrote I can only remember the X97 from Silksworth into Newcastle; initially it used Leyland Lynx MKII and N670 VUP & N671 VUP were Volvo B6

Picture of N670VUP on X97:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmighty...weo-aJLjwv

copyright to John Law.

(24 Jun 2014, 1:06 pm)cbma06 wrote Picture of N670VUP on X97:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmighty...weo-aJLjwv

copyright to John Law.

says picture taken on August 2011, 6 years after the service started in 1995.

16 years

You can tell it is pulling out of the old Eldon Sq Bus Station by the angle of the vehicle - obviously both Redby and the bus station had gone by 2011.

(24 Jun 2014, 1:08 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote 16 years

You can tell it is pulling out of the old Eldon Sq Bus Station by the angle of the vehicle - obviously both Redby and the bus station had gone by 2011.

miss read the quote, deleted it off my post, on flickr it says the picture was taken in 1996 lol lol

Remember redby running in stagecoach colours for 139/140 routes now that was a strange one. If stagecoach busways didn't want the route shared with wear buses why not give it all to redby or wear buses. Never understood why it was run under licence by redby for stagecoach hmmm!!

(25 Jun 2014, 7:40 am)Acky81 wrote Remember redby running in stagecoach colours for 139/140 routes now that was a strange one. If stagecoach busways didn't want the route shared with wear buses why not give it all to redby or wear buses. Never understood why it was run under licence by redby for stagecoach hmmm!!

I think it was because Stagecoach and Redby came to some sort of a deal. Same as the 14/14A as well. I remember when Redby put on service 15A/20A but didn't have enough buses, so their had to borrow the Ex Bexley buses (677 etc..) from Stagecoach until the notice of cancellation period passed through VOSA.

I would like to see Stagecoach in Hartlepool bring back the X99 using the following route Hartlepool Interchange- Hartlepool Centre - Hart Village- Dalton Park - A19- Metrocentre- Newcastle what does anyone think

(22 Jul 2014, 6:43 pm)col87 wrote I would like to see Stagecoach in Hartlepool bring back the X99 using the following route Hartlepool Interchange- Hartlepool Centre - Hart Village- Dalton Park - A19- Metrocentre- Newcastle what does anyone think

Why Hart Village?! Do you live there?!

(23 Jul 2014, 9:08 am)Roland Pratt wrote Why Hart Village?! Do you live there?!

No I live the other side of Hartlepool and since it would go near Hart Village it might as well serve it

(23 Jul 2014, 9:13 am)col87 wrote No I live the other side of Hartlepool and since it would go near Hart Village it might as well serve it

Can't see it happening to be honest when northern rail run to Newcastle n metrocentre

Hartlepool Services 8 Throston Grange- Univeristy Hospital- Millbank Road- Marina-Hartlepool Interchange-Town Centre-Stockton Road-Owton Manor Lane it could then either be linked with the 6 or 7. 21 Greatham- Turo Drive- Catcote Road- Westbroke Ave- Oxford Road - Stockton Road- Park Road- Huckleoven Way-Church Street- Victoria Road.

(23 Jul 2014, 9:24 am)Acky81 wrote Can't see it happening to be honest when northern rail run to Newcastle n metrocentre

True but it doesent mean you cant have a bus service is well how many places in tyne and wear have buses and the metro doing the simalur routres

(23 Jul 2014, 9:28 am)col87 wrote True but it doesent mean you cant have a bus service is well how many places in tyne and wear have buses and the metro doing the simalur routres

Again like u say very true. Bus companies are just greedy though and will focus on high frequency town centre services. Look at Sunderland we had m39 and m40 services to metrocentre but these got axed due to lack of custom. Shields had m42 and m43 again axed. Hope your idea comes off though as I like fresh routes. Wish Sunderland would open some new routes

There's got to be a market for a Hartlepool to Newcastle express, but it would have to offer more than the train, with a competitive journey time. This could be tricky to achieve whilst still picking up enough custom.

(23 Jul 2014, 9:32 am)Acky81 wrote Again like u say very true. Bus companies are just greedy though and will focus on high frequency town centre services. Look at Sunderland we had m39 and m40 services to metrocentre but these got axed due to lack of custom. Shields had m42 and m43 again axed. Hope your idea comes off though as I like fresh routes. Wish Sunderland would open some new routes

You are correct i cant see it happening but I think it could work if some company was willing to try espcally in the run up to christmas and school hollidays