(15 May 2020, 12:20 pm)6049 wrote The Teal Farm connection is correct heading towards Newcastle. You would miss the X1 by around 4 or 5mins. The return is better. If you get the X1 on the hour from Newcastle, there's only a 5mins wait for the 86 returning to Teal Farm. Teal Farm is the oddity of GNE in Washington as it's about the only place not served during the day. This is another part of the system where integrated ticketing would benefit passengers - you'd have to buy a single on the 37 and then buy a Purple day ticket or buy a Day Rover.

The Birtley end, I agree with. The problem is partly down to the layout of Birtley, there's nowhere to turn the bus round unless you moved the terminus to Mount Pleasant. However, then you run into another problem where you'd be turning the bus up Harris Bank which is a nasty enough road to come down before they put the traffic management in.

The main problem is that an increase in frequency may be beneficial in the long term to increaae passenger numbers, but in the short term they'd be unsustainable to do unless subsidised which is unlikely. So we're in a vicious circle which doesn't benefit anyone and is hard to break out of.

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So getting back to Teal Farm is do-able, assuming you get the xx.00 X1 back and there's no delays on the trip?
I take your points about Teal Farm, but to me that shows how fragmented the system is. 
How about Blackfell, Harraton or Lambton and the same journey to/from Newcastle? 

As for Birtley, I think there are many options.
Harras Bank was served in both directions for a good while. The white lines outside the doctors heading down the hill were moved back, so buses could head up. 
There was the circular style service which operated in alternate patterns around Birtley.
Then there could be all sorts of alternative routes in and around Birtley that ensure you can get to and from certain parts and avoid Harras Bank. 

Whether its frequency, changed timings, variationst to routes, ticket integration or whatever else - between us, we've identified a number of problems and possible causes to low numbers and the need to have it subsidised (without even getting on to the should it be/shouldn't it be question). 
The question now, is whether anything will be done (innovative or not) or if we just see a constant repeat of what we see now till the money runs out.