(28 Dec 2015, 12:29 am)BusLoverMum wrote When the contracts came up for renewal, the 57a was replaced by the 58 out this way and the 57 by the 59, which extends all the way to the Arnison centre. We got the 22 back, without subsidy after a lot of lobbying, as a lot of locals ended up cut off from the bit of Durham where they actually worked, on a Sunday. Extending to Sunderland definitely makes it viable, as it ends up doing much of the work of 5 buses an hour (plus a GNE one)!

We actually lost evening services entirely, for a short while, when big'un was a baby, thanks to some thugs who enjoyed pelting buses with rocks on a regular basis. Drivers refused to come through.

In turn, the current 57A partially replaced the previous 33 route which ran Ferryhill - Hartlepool as the 33 route was cut to run Ferryhill - Sedgefield only, still supported by Durham County Council and operated by Scarlet Band, with the 57A replacing the Trimdon Village - Hartlepool section of the 33 running commercially I believe with the 21/21A covering the Sedgefield - Trimdon Village section.

I have heard that rocks and such being pelted off buses was a big problem over that way back then.