(24 Nov 2019, 4:21 pm)big mac wrote I also think the X prefix could be confusing to passengers, who will see the X and presume that means limited stop, but on the x45/x46/x47, and also the x21, there are large sections of the route where the services serve every single stop along the way. People will just get baffled about which service stops where.

I do think any initial hype and subsequent increased number of bums on seats, will start to fall away once punters realise these services are anything but express in the main.

There was discussion a while back about the X1 and its stopping arrangements and route now, versus those it saw in its X5 incarnation. 

It was limited stop all the way from Hartlepool to the Galls (opposed to a stopping service between Easington Lane and the Galls) and it operated via Stormont Main Club at Wrekenton (rather than via the bus link). 
There was no faffing about at Gateshead either, as like most cross-Tyne services, it didn't enter the Interchange heading towards the town. 
Straight over the High Level and up Clayton St. Back out as it does now, but again, it missed out Wrekenton High St, turning left at the lights and missing all of the associated delays in Wrekenton and those encountered getting back out and turning against the traffic. 

Appreciate there is more traffic now than in year's gone by, but when you add each and every stop that it now calls at, to the changes in route once it hits Gateshead, then the time difference in a journey (regardless of the actual timetable), is quite significant.

One other point of note, was that there was no dictat about which way it should/shouldn't leave/enter the Galls either.
If there was traffic at the southern access, it would leave by the northern access and vice versa on a south-bound run.

Edit. Managed to locate a timetable for the limited stop X5 from the Bygone Era. Compare the journey time from Easington Lane - Newcastle with the current X1.

Appreciate there is more traffic now, than back in 89, but if operators are wanting people to ditch the cars and use public transport, are they going about it the right way?