(16 Mar 2017, 7:25 pm)Michael wrote That sounds better, least then they can loose some of those horrid ex London deckers......


I don't think there would be enough Omnicities from Riverside for the 6/X70/X71, the PVR is 10 i think?

The Omnicities at Stanley are Knackered  (X30 today sounded like a bag of hammers with constant engine Screesh..)  I had hoped for the ex DD Citaros to come back to Stanley for a re-branded 6, X30/31, X70/71 maybe a New Northern & Northern Express linked brand reflecting the heritage and established  nature of Northern in the Stanley /Consett area. Venture to continue with feeder routes into Stanley and Consett ( Venture was known as the "little bus" v Northern as the Big bus / Inter city service from the 60's onwards until Go-Ahead buyout) - Think this would still work, but new/ full service & feature buses required for 6/X30/X70 services. Current eqpt. fall way below expectations for such long and important routes. - If not New buses maybe cascaded "Newer" deckers from Ten or Red Arrows with full WiFi, Route Announcements & Power sockets etc...


I would also question Express services duplicating local routes from Sunniside to Newcastle. Maybe these could become limited stop, where local services can feed into hubs like Metro Centre (for some stops served by X30/1,& 6) & Gateshead interchange for X70/1, X31 etc..)

Maybe fresh brands like "Magpie (link with D Diamond / Newcastle "Magpies link to Diamond") Expresses could become a new version of "Swift" (Fast Link) - Both Magpie & Swift could be stylised/ brand executed similar to Red Kite and could be High Profile linking all West Durham services under a similar theme/s