(11 Jan 2015, 11:55 am)MarcTheA4 wrote I would think the majority of the people in Sacriston would opt for the Diamonds to get to Durham.

Or the first bus that comes?
They need to do something with the 13 as it carries fresh air most of the time, and I don't know how it's continued running at all. 

(11 Jan 2015, 12:01 pm)Tom wrote Or the first bus that comes?
They need to do something with the 13 as it carries fresh air most of the time, and I don't know how it's continued running at all. 

Most likely because of the Diamonds.

The 13 is every hour, the Diamond is every 15 minutes. And quicker.

(11 Jan 2015, 12:02 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Most likely because of the Diamonds.

The 13 is every hour, the Diamond is every 15 minutes. And quicker.

They both take 10 minutes.
But I agree, and people from Langley Park must use the 14 as that is always busier. 

The vast majority do use the 14 because they go into the arnison centre, the 13 does carry some early on, never picked anyone up at sacriston on the 13 for durham tbh, 43/44 as said before is frequent enough. But that said if the 14 went half hourly gne would need to either interwork it with another service or have massive layover +additional vehicles because it takes more than an hour for a round trip iirc. Maybe interwork with an X25?

(11 Jan 2015, 1:35 pm)nk55 wrote The vast majority do use the 14 because they go into the arnison centre, the 13 does carry some early on, never picked anyone up at sacriston on the 13 for durham tbh, 43/44 as said before is frequent enough. But that said if the 14 went half hourly gne would need to either interwork it with another service or have massive layover +additional vehicles because it takes more than an hour for a round trip iirc. Maybe interwork with an X25?

I think an interworking with the X25 will be great.

I'll try and come up with something...

(11 Jan 2015, 1:35 pm)nk55 wrote The vast majority do use the 14 because they go into the arnison centre, the 13 does carry some early on, never picked anyone up at sacriston on the 13 for durham tbh, 43/44 as said before is frequent enough. But that said if the 14 went half hourly gne would need to either interwork it with another service or have massive layover +additional vehicles because it takes more than an hour for a round trip iirc. Maybe interwork with an X25?

Do you think diverting the 14 via Sacriston Front Street and Cross Lane would do anything to increase passenger numbers? It would provide improved links between Sacriston and the Arnison Centre although journey times would increase slightly.

Right, I've had a long hard think about this over the past couple of months and put some work into it. Basically, I've created a suggestion timetable for the Cobalt Clipper services. Now, all 17 B9TLs at Percy Main would have to be used, however:

- Service 309 would now inter-work with the 919 instead of the DFDS / Scholars boards. One journey towards Blyth would be cut short in the morning (Mon - Fri) and would terminate at Whitley Bay. However, the two journeys either side would get people into Blyth for on the hour and half hour starts. No afternoon 309 journeys would be cut short in the afternoon (Mon - Fri). Passengers on the 919 would then benefit from free Wi-Fi and power sockets attracting more passengers and creating growth. The Mon to Sat daytime PVR for the 309 would be 10.

- Services 309 / 919 and 310 / X39 with the exception of one journey towards Newcastle in the morning (Mon - Fri) and a late Sunday night journey towards North Shields from Newcastle would no longer inter-work. All changeovers would take place in either North Shields (310) or New York (309).

- Service 310 would inter-work with the X39. Two journeys in the morning towards North Shields would join back onto the 310 on Middle Engine Lane and the other would just operate straight back to North Shields due to a 310 following closely behind. Afternoon 310 journeys inter-working with the X39 would terminate at Norham Road as present with journeys continuing half hourly to Newcastle as Service 310. The Mon to Sat daytime PVR for the 310 would be 7.

- Services 309 / 310 have been re-timed to compete effectively with Arriva's 306 / 308. This means that most journeys would arrive and depart between Station Road and Newcastle just before either two services above and as a result, picking up more traffic particularly from St Mary's Place and at other stops between Station Road and Newcastle.

- In conjunction with the above point, all evening journeys on Services 309 / 310 would be increased to every 30 minutes (15 combined between Station Road and Newcastle) but all journeys would be re-timed to ensure that they arrive at Haymarket 4 minutes before the 306 / 308 (11 minutes after the previous Arriva service) and leave 5 minutes before the next Arriva service (10 minutes after the previous Arriva service). The evening PVR for the 309 would be 4 and the 310 would be 3.

- Sunday daytime journeys on Services 309 / 310 would be increased to every 20 minutes (10 combined between Station Road and Newcastle). This would pick up more loyalty to the Cobalt Clippers particularly between Blyth and Rake Lane where a certain green bus decides to turn up 15 minutes late every Sunday. Service 309 would operate with a PVR of 7 and Service 310 would operate with a PVR of 5. Both services would have 9 minutes layover at Haymarket and 11 minutes in Blyth (309) or 9 minutes in North Shields (310). Service 309 would be more frequent than Service 308 offering more opportunities to get out and about.

- Despite the fact that a Max PVR of 17 would leave the Clippers with no spare, Services 310 / X39 (with the exception of between Station Road and Newcastle) doesn't really have any competition with the exception of Arriva's Streetlites therefore, if any of the 17 buses were to go VOR, the 310 / X39 could pick up the slack with a Northern Spare or depending on what is done with 6084 and Riverside's / Hexham's operational requirements, 3942. What also must be taken into account is that if GNE were to ever lose any scholars work, the 919 would continue to be covered without buses sitting idle in Percy Main depot all day.

Please note that this is NOT an official document published or implemented by Go Ahead North East. Colour coding is used for fleet numbers in some instances. Blue means that the bus will be rotating onto other peak time Cobalt Services or back onto regular Cobalt Clipper Services completely. Red means that the bus has finished it's day and is no longer required as part of the PVR.

Attached in a separate post is the timetable for my suggestion (sorry, was in quick reply mode).

---

(11 Jan 2015, 5:24 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Right, I've had a long hard think about this over the past couple of months and put some work into it. Basically, I've created a suggestion timetable for the Cobalt Clipper services. Now, all 17 B9TLs at Percy Main would have to be used, however:

- Service 309 would now inter-work with the 919 instead of the DFDS / Scholars boards. One journey towards Blyth would be cut short in the morning (Mon - Fri) and would terminate at Whitley Bay. However, the two journeys either side would get people into Blyth for on the hour and half hour starts. No afternoon 309 journeys would be cut short in the afternoon (Mon - Fri). Passengers on the 919 would then benefit from free Wi-Fi and power sockets attracting more passengers and creating growth. The Mon to Sat daytime PVR for the 309 would be 10.

- Services 309 / 919 and 310 / X39 with the exception of one journey towards Newcastle in the morning (Mon - Fri) and a late Sunday night journey towards North Shields from Newcastle would no longer inter-work. All changeovers would take place in either North Shields (310) or New York (309).

- Service 310 would inter-work with the X39. Two journeys in the morning towards North Shields would join back onto the 310 on Middle Engine Lane and the other would just operate straight back to North Shields due to a 310 following closely behind. Afternoon 310 journeys inter-working with the X39 would terminate at Norham Road as present with journeys continuing half hourly to Newcastle as Service 310. The Mon to Sat daytime PVR for the 310 would be 7.

- Services 309 / 310 have been re-timed to compete effectively with Arriva's 306 / 308. This means that most journeys would arrive and depart between Station Road and Newcastle just before either two services above and as a result, picking up more traffic particularly from St Mary's Place and at other stops between Station Road and Newcastle.

- In conjunction with the above point, all evening journeys on Services 309 / 310 would be increased to every 30 minutes (15 combined between Station Road and Newcastle) but all journeys would be re-timed to ensure that they arrive at Haymarket 4 minutes before the 306 / 308 (11 minutes after the previous Arriva service) and leave 5 minutes before the next Arriva service (10 minutes after the previous Arriva service). The evening PVR for the 309 would be 4 and the 310 would be 3.

- Sunday daytime journeys on Services 309 / 310 would be increased to every 20 minutes (10 combined between Station Road and Newcastle). This would pick up more loyalty to the Cobalt Clippers particularly between Blyth and Rake Lane where a certain green bus decides to turn up 15 minutes late every Sunday. Service 309 would operate with a PVR of 7 and Service 310 would operate with a PVR of 5. Both services would have 9 minutes layover at Haymarket and 11 minutes in Blyth (309) or 9 minutes in North Shields (310). Service 309 would be more frequent than Service 308 offering more opportunities to get out and about.

- Despite the fact that a Max PVR of 17 would leave the Clippers with no spare, Services 310 / X39 (with the exception of between Station Road and Newcastle) doesn't really have any competition with the exception of Arriva's Streetlites therefore, if any of the 17 buses were to go VOR, the 310 / X39 could pick up the slack with a Northern Spare or depending on what is done with 6084 and Riverside's / Hexham's operational requirements, 3942. What also must be taken into account is that if GNE were to ever lose any scholars work, the 919 would continue to be covered without buses sitting idle in Percy Main depot all day.

Please note that this is NOT an official document published or implemented by Go Ahead North East. Colour coding is used for fleet numbers in some instances. Blue means that the bus will be rotating onto other peak time Cobalt Services or back onto regular Cobalt Clipper Services completely. Red means that the bus has finished it's day and is no longer required as part of the PVR.

Attached in a separate post is the timetable for my suggestion (sorry, was in quick reply mode).

---

Just had a look through that, very good!

That fact that you've made a working timetable for your suggestion makes it all the better!

Btw, if you think it's weird I responded 2 minutes after you posted such a large post - I have push notifications and went straight into the timetables.

(11 Jan 2015, 5:24 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Right, I've had a long hard think about this over the past couple of months and put some work into it. Basically, I've created a suggestion timetable for the Cobalt Clipper services. Now, all 17 B9TLs at Percy Main would have to be used, however:

- Service 309 would now inter-work with the 919 instead of the DFDS / Scholars boards. One journey towards Blyth would be cut short in the morning (Mon - Fri) and would terminate at Whitley Bay. However, the two journeys either side would get people into Blyth for on the hour and half hour starts. No afternoon 309 journeys would be cut short in the afternoon (Mon - Fri). Passengers on the 919 would then benefit from free Wi-Fi and power sockets attracting more passengers and creating growth. The Mon to Sat daytime PVR for the 309 would be 10.

- Services 309 / 919 and 310 / X39 with the exception of one journey towards Newcastle in the morning (Mon - Fri) and a late Sunday night journey towards North Shields from Newcastle would no longer inter-work. All changeovers would take place in either North Shields (310) or New York (309).

- Service 310 would inter-work with the X39. Two journeys in the morning towards North Shields would join back onto the 310 on Middle Engine Lane and the other would just operate straight back to North Shields due to a 310 following closely behind. Afternoon 310 journeys inter-working with the X39 would terminate at Norham Road as present with journeys continuing half hourly to Newcastle as Service 310. The Mon to Sat daytime PVR for the 310 would be 7.

- Services 309 / 310 have been re-timed to compete effectively with Arriva's 306 / 308. This means that most journeys would arrive and depart between Station Road and Newcastle just before either two services above and as a result, picking up more traffic particularly from St Mary's Place and at other stops between Station Road and Newcastle.

- In conjunction with the above point, all evening journeys on Services 309 / 310 would be increased to every 30 minutes (15 combined between Station Road and Newcastle) but all journeys would be re-timed to ensure that they arrive at Haymarket 4 minutes before the 306 / 308 (11 minutes after the previous Arriva service) and leave 5 minutes before the next Arriva service (10 minutes after the previous Arriva service). The evening PVR for the 309 would be 4 and the 310 would be 3.

- Sunday daytime journeys on Services 309 / 310 would be increased to every 20 minutes (10 combined between Station Road and Newcastle). This would pick up more loyalty to the Cobalt Clippers particularly between Blyth and Rake Lane where a certain green bus decides to turn up 15 minutes late every Sunday. Service 309 would operate with a PVR of 7 and Service 310 would operate with a PVR of 5. Both services would have 9 minutes layover at Haymarket and 11 minutes in Blyth (309) or 9 minutes in North Shields (310). Service 309 would be more frequent than Service 308 offering more opportunities to get out and about.

- Despite the fact that a Max PVR of 17 would leave the Clippers with no spare, Services 310 / X39 (with the exception of between Station Road and Newcastle) doesn't really have any competition with the exception of Arriva's Streetlites therefore, if any of the 17 buses were to go VOR, the 310 / X39 could pick up the slack with a Northern Spare or depending on what is done with 6084 and Riverside's / Hexham's operational requirements, 3942. What also must be taken into account is that if GNE were to ever lose any scholars work, the 919 would continue to be covered without buses sitting idle in Percy Main depot all day.

Please note that this is NOT an official document published or implemented by Go Ahead North East. Colour coding is used for fleet numbers in some instances. Blue means that the bus will be rotating onto other peak time Cobalt Services or back onto regular Cobalt Clipper Services completely. Red means that the bus has finished it's day and is no longer required as part of the PVR.

Attached in a separate post is the timetable for my suggestion (sorry, was in quick reply mode).

---

Can't knock the effort - whatever people say or think.
Kudos to you!

(11 Jan 2015, 10:45 pm)Andreos1 wrote Can't knock the effort - whatever people say or think.
Kudos to you!

Second that...

Well done Davey, I must say that is a magnificent effort as Marcus said it makes the idea more interesting by making an example of a timetables for it...

Must have took a while to do all that, I have tried making example timetables up before and I get bored too easy

Okay, so here I have an interworking timetable if the X25/13/14 were to interwork...

Starting at Langley Park, the vehicle having arrived from Newcastle on an X25 at 05 minutes past...

#13 - Langley Park Kingsway - 13
#13 - Langley Park Stringer Terrace - 27
#13 - Langley Park War Memorial - 30
#13 - Witton Gilbert War Memorial - 35
#13 - Sacriston Fynway - 38
#13 - Framwellgate Moor - 43
#13 - Durham North Road - 48
#13 - Durham Millburngate - 51

Driver goes back around to North Road, gets a 21 minute layover between 51 minutes past and 16 minutes past, possibly park up in the bus station?

#14 - Durham North Road - 12
#14 - Durham Millburngate - 16
#14 - Framwellgate Moor - 21
#14 - Arnison Centre - 26
#14 - Kimblesworth - 32
#14 - Nettlesworth - 34
#14 - Sacriston Crossroads - 38
#14 - Witton Gilbert War Memorial - 40
#14 - Langley Park Kingsway - 46
#14 - Langley Park Stringer Terrace - 51

Another layover in Langley Park...albeit not as long...

#X25 - Langley Park Stringer Terrace - 08
#X25 - Langley Park War Memorial - 11
#X25 - Witton Gilbert - 15
#X25 - Sacriston Crossroads - 18
#X25 - Waldridge Village - 27
#X25 - Waldridge Park Estate - 29
#X25 - Chester-Le-Street - 40
#X25 - Barley Mow Inn - 45
#X25 - Portobello Board Inn - 49
#X25 - Wrekenton High Street - 00
#X25 - Gateshead Interchange - 10
#X25 Newcastle Eldon Square - 20

93/94 - Gateshead - Newcastle City Centre - Bensham - Team Valley - Low Fell - Q.E. Hospital - Felling Square - Heworth - Saltmeadows Road - Gateshead College - Gateshead

(21 Jan 2015, 8:00 pm)Malarkey wrote 93/94 - Gateshead - Newcastle City Centre - Bensham - Team Valley - Low Fell - Q.E. Hospital - Felling Square - Heworth - Saltmeadows Road - Gateshead College - Gateshead

Interestingly, that's how the service used to operate prior to the opening of the Metro in 1980/81.

Back then, the services were numbered 13 and 14 before being renumbered 93 and 94 when both were curtailed to terminate at Gateshead.

Just reckoning up following the chat about the 15, to see if it would be possible to send one via Langley Park and tweak the 13, 14 and X25 as a result.

13 - merge with 15a.
14 - as is.
15 - as is.
15a - as is to Langley Park and then the 13 route to Durham.
X25 - The section between Sacriston and Langley Park goes via the 43/44 route to Dryburn and back out via the 15 route to Langley Park.

Or something along those lines...

68 - Bill Quay - Pelaw - Heworth - Felling Square - Q.E. Hospital - Wrekenton - Eighton Banks - Springwell Village - Donwell - Blackfell Knoulberry - Sainsburys - Washington Galleries

@Malarkey - I think that's a great idea, try and integrate it with the 23 and it would be a success I feel

(19 Feb 2015, 9:20 pm)leestransportphotos wrote @Malarkey - I think that's a great idea, try and integrate it with the 23 and it would be a success I feel

Only problem with that is once the 23 get to Wrekenton from Washington it goes to Birtley.

Probably somewhat controversial but a few things I'd consider on Gateshead/Newcastle bound routes

All services that continue to Gateshead Highway Roundabout no longer serve Jackson St but continue past High St West (the Gloucester) to roundabout cutting out unnecessary diversions (Gateshead has a perfectly good bus station! - Basically the 21 route)

Newcastle bound Xservices and Angel to Eldon Square to serve Tyne Bridge Slip Road - Pilgrim Street then Blackett St omitting Central Motorway (as per X9/X10)

Removal of Civic Centre bus stop (southbound) to prevent services being held up by red lights after missing the green due to passenger loading

(19 Feb 2015, 9:23 pm)Malarkey wrote Only problem with that is once the 23 get to Wrekenton from Washington it goes to Birtley.

Yeah, 23 from Barley Mow to Wrekenton and then the 68 there on

GNE are possibly missing a trick!  Over the last 10 years there has been a lot of housing development on the east side of Shotley Bridge - the 'racecourse estate, Elm Park and the Woodlands (on the hospital site).  The nearest bus is the Red Kite 45 which at best, is a 10 min. walk down a steep hill - and up on the return.
GNE could solve this problem at no additional cost, no alteration of running times and the opportunity to pick up additional passengers.
Presently the 45 & 46 run from Consett to Shotley Bridge by different routes providing a half-hour service on each.  They then come together in Shotley Bridge to provide a 15 min service through to Newcastle.
If the 45 continued as at present to provide a half-hour service via Ebchester and Hamsterley Bank Top, the 46 could operate from the Kings Head, Shotley Bridge, up Snows Green Road and on to Daisy Hill (B6310), Medomsley Cross-roads and Medomsley Village.  Then via Longclose Bank to rejoin the normal route at Hamsterley Mill.  Bus stops with raised kerbs are all in place (for school services) and the running time would be exactly the same.
This alteration would provide a service for the Daisy Hill area of Shotley Bridge and a direct service to Metrocentre for The Dene and Medomsley.  It is unlikely that a half-hour service through Ebchester would cause any loss of passengers - they would simply adjust to the new timetable and any passengers picked up between Snows Green and Hamsterley Mill would be a bonus.  Whats not to like?
Sorry its long-winded but you guys who know the area will see where I'm coming from!

Very unlikely to happen, but I've been thinking about a service between Newcastle and Darlington. I am aware Go North East left Darlington territory years ago, and it may be suited to Arriva, seeing as they have the majority of services in Darlington, but I still think it could work. It would basically be a bit similar to the 723 Newcastle-Darlington service from 'the olden days' .



NEWCASTLE, ELDON SQUARE -           00      30
Gateshead Transport Interchange -            10      40
Chester-le-Street Front Street -                  30      50
Framwellgate Moor, The Salutation -           44      14
Durham Bus Station -                             50      20
Ferryhill Bus Station -                                  05      35
DARLINGTON TUBWELL ROW -            25      55

DARLINGTON TUBWELL ROW -             30      00
Ferryhill Bus Station -                                   50      20
Durham Bus Station -                              05      35
Framwellgate Moor, The Salutation -             11     41
Chester-le-Street Front Street -                   25     55
Gateshead Transport Interchange -             45     15
NEWCASTLE, ELDON SQUARE -            55     25

The combined PVR of the new service would be 6.

I understand people could easily get a 21/X21/X2, etc from Newcastle to Durham then the 7 to Darlington, but it would be roughly 1 hour on the 21, 50 minutes on the X2 and around the same on the X21, plus another hour and 9 minutes on the Sapphire 7 service to Darlington. So a total of roughly (hoping the timings work) 1h 25m from Newcastle to Darlington, via Gateshead, Chester-le-Street and Durham. 

The drivers would get a 5 minute layover at each terminus point, and would be operated by Chester-le-Street.
 

(25 Feb 2015, 6:01 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote NEWCASTLE, ELDON SQUARE -           00      30
Gateshead Transport Interchange -         10      40
Chester-le-Street Front St. for Marcus -   30      50
Framwellgate Moor, The Salutation -       44      14
Durham Bus Station -                         50      20
Ferryhill Bus Station -                            05      35
DARLINGTON TUBWELL ROW -           25      55

DARLINGTON TUBWELL ROW -           30      00
Ferryhill Bus Station -                             50      20
Durham Bus Station -                          05      35
Framwellgate Moor, The Salutation -        11     41
Chester-le-Street Front St. for Marcus -    25     55
Gateshead Transport Interchange -          45     15
NEWCASTLE, ELDON SQUARE -            55     25

Basically just a Marcus Express.  

(25 Feb 2015, 6:01 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Very unlikely to happen, but I've been thinking about a service between Newcastle and Darlington. I am aware Go North East left Darlington territory years ago, and it may be suited to Arriva, seeing as they have the majority of services in Darlington, but I still think it could work. It would basically be a bit similar to the 723 Newcastle-Darlington service from 'the olden days' .







NEWCASTLE, ELDON SQUARE -           00      30

Gateshead Transport Interchange -            10      40

Chester-le-Street Front Street -                  30      50

Framwellgate Moor, The Salutation -           44      14

Durham Bus Station -                             50      20

Ferryhill Bus Station -                                  05      35

DARLINGTON TUBWELL ROW -            25      55



DARLINGTON TUBWELL ROW -             30      00

Ferryhill Bus Station -                                   50      20

Durham Bus Station -                              05      35

Framwellgate Moor, The Salutation -             11     41

Chester-le-Street Front Street -                   25     55

Gateshead Transport Interchange -             45     15

NEWCASTLE, ELDON SQUARE -            55     25



The combined PVR of the new service would be 6.



I understand people could easily get a 21/X21/X2, etc from Newcastle to Durham then the 7 to Darlington, but it would be roughly 1 hour on the 21, 50 minutes on the X2 and around the same on the X21, plus another hour and 9 minutes on the Sapphire 7 service to Darlington. So a total of roughly (hoping the timings work) 1h 25m from Newcastle to Darlington, via Gateshead, Chester-le-Street and Durham. 



The drivers would get a 5 minute layover at each terminus point, and would be operated by Chester-le-Street.

 

Forgot about this post.

You couldn't do Ferryhill - Darlington in 20 minutes.

It would be good to see an express between Darlington and Durham then on to Newcastle but I doubt it will ever happen.

50 - Durham - Framwellgate Moor - Arnison Centre - Plawsworth - Waldridge Park - Chester le Street - Picktree Village - Rickleton - Harraton - Lambton - Washington Galleries - Concord - Nissan - Waterview Park - Boldon - West Harton - South Shields

• Frequency upgraded so the Service operates Every 20 Minutes
  
• Service 82A is Withdrawn
  
• Three Cadets from Washington would then be Transferred to Percy Main in Exchange for Scania Omnicities (5247/48/49) which would then be Transferred to Chester le Street
  

Service 82 will also be upgraded in Frequency to operate Every 20 Minutes from Birtley Northside to Concord, and Every 30 Minutes towards to Heworth, Furthermore there will be a Route change around Birtley to help improve Reliability, route will be as follows.

Coming from the Washington direction, Barley Mow Estate - Portmeads - B1288 - Birtley Northside - Blackfell Way - Birtley Town Centre - Harras Bank - Fell Bank - Portmeads - Barley Mow Estate, This will mean the Service will not have to duplicate stops around Birtley which adds significant time to the timetable, a simple one way loop will also decrease passenger confusion as what side of the road they should be standing on to board the Service.

The current route around Birtley is as follows, Barley Mow Estate - Portmeads - Fell Bank - Harras Banks - Birtley Town Centre - Blackfell Way - Birtley Northside - B1288 - Birtley Town Centre - Harras Bank - Fell Bank - Portmeads - Barley Mow Estate.

(03 Mar 2015, 5:44 pm)Malarkey wrote 50 - Durham - Framwellgate Moor - Arnison Centre - Plawsworth - Waldridge Park - Chester le Street - Picktree Village - Rickleton - Harraton - Lambton - Washington Galleries - Concord - Nissan - Waterview Park - Boldon - West Harton - South Shields

• Frequency upgraded so the Service operates Every 20 Minutes
  
• Service 82A is Withdrawn
  
• Three Cadets from Washington would then be Transferred to Percy Main in Exchange for Scania Omnicities (5247/48/49) which would then be Transferred to Chester le Street
  

Service 82 will also be upgraded in Frequency to operate Every 20 Minutes from Birtley Northside to Concord, and Every 30 Minutes towards to Heworth, Furthermore there will be a Route change around Birtley to help improve Reliability, route will be as follows.

Coming from the Washington direction, Barley Mow Estate - Portmeads - B1288 - Birtley Northside - Blackfell Way - Birtley Town Centre - Harras Bank - Fell Bank - Portmeads - Barley Mow Estate, This will mean the Service will not have to duplicate stops around Birtley which adds significant time to the timetable, a simple one way loop will also decrease passenger confusion as what side of the road they should be standing on to board the Service.

The current route around Birtley is as follows, Barley Mow Estate - Portmeads - Fell Bank - Harras Banks - Birtley Town Centre - Blackfell Way - Birtley Northside - B1288 - Birtley Town Centre - Harras Bank - Fell Bank - Portmeads - Barley Mow Estate.

God i got on the 82 today from Usworth to the Galleries.. i forgot it went around the world!, the 82 would be better if it went one way around Birtley, as it seems pointless atm.

I can't comment on numbers on the 50... (like most routes haha), however a lot of people seem to get on at Concord or the Galleries, in both directions. 

(03 Mar 2015, 5:52 pm)Michael wrote God i got on the 82 today from Usworth to the Galleries.. i forgot it went around the world!, the 82 would be better if it went one way around Birtley, as it seems pointless atm.

I can't comment on numbers on the 50... (like most routes haha), however a lot of people seem to get on at Concord or the Galleries, in both directions. 

I got on the 82 Yesterday at Portmeads heading towards Northside, rather than waiting in cold for 15 Minutes on the opposite side of the road for it coming back to go Home after visiting JH/Kingsleys Depot, and I was certainly baffled by the route it took, as for going around the world, it does take 28 Minutes from Usworth to the Galleries like, should of got the 4.

(03 Mar 2015, 5:58 pm)Malarkey wrote I got on the 82 Yesterday at Portmeads heading towards Northside, rather than waiting in cold for 15 Minutes on the opposite side of the road for it coming back to go Home after visiting JH/Kingsleys Depot, and I was certainly baffled by the route it took, as for going around the world, it does take 28 Minutes from Usworth to the Galleries like, should of got the 4.

I just missed the 4 and it came before the next 4, couldn't be arsed to wait haha

(03 Mar 2015, 6:00 pm)Michael wrote I just missed the 4 and it came before the next 4, couldn't be arsed to wait haha

Fair enough, would of done the same if I still went to Usworth College, door to door for me when it came to using the 82/M2/W3 and god knows what other Service Numbers it had my 3 Years there.

I am thinking 1-2 years down the line here and on the assumption access to Dalton Park will be improved when Phase 2 is built...Suggesting modifications to present routes and new ones

New Service X8
Sunderland-Seaham-Dalton Park-Peterlee-Hartlepool...Running a combined half hourly service alongside X7

Modified X10
As present, only popping into Dalton Park

New Service X11
Newcastle-Heworth-A19-Seaton Lane-Seaham-Dalton Park-Murton Station

New 62
Same as 61 to Woods Terrace, new 62 would go round the opposite way to the 61 and they would interwork

It opens up links to Tyneside and Teesside and links to Hartlepool

(03 Mar 2015, 10:41 pm)MrFozz wrote I am thinking 1-2 years down the line here and on the assumption access to Dalton Park will be improved when Phase 2 is built...Suggesting modifications to present routes and new ones

New Service X8
Sunderland-Seaham-Dalton Park-Peterlee-Hartlepool...Running a combined half hourly service alongside X7

Modified X10
As present, only popping into Dalton Park

New Service X11
Newcastle-Heworth-A19-Seaton Lane-Seaham-Dalton Park-Murton Station

New 62
Same as 61 to Woods Terrace, new 62 would go round the opposite way to the 61 and they would interwork

It opens up links to Tyneside and Teesside and links to Hartlepool

Wouldn't have the X10 serving Dalton Park like. Gets enough delays as it is.