If we're honest you can't really compare Newcastle vs Sunderland in terms of network. It's like comparing Newcastle to Manchester. It's a total different kettle of fish.

Re-22 anything heading in the vague direction of Cobalt suffers from all 3 operators.

The thing with Newcastle is routes like 1, 38, 10, 11, 30/31/36, 39/40 (to name a few) are established historically successful routes serving big populations in a growing diverse city. There's very little you can change with the majority of that network unless you fiiddle with peripheral routes like the 35, 18, etc