(16 Jul 2020, 9:34 am)Washingtonian wrote I don't use the 21 to be honest but I'm amazed to hear it has had overcrowding issues when there are so many services covering those areas. What parts of the route are busiest? There are a few times I've seen it Birtley and Chester le Street when they are nowhere near full (again pre-pandemic). If the 21 is as busy as you say then fair enough a higher frequency is justified. Mind you there are definitely other core routes which don't justify so many buses.

In my experience, Newcastle to the Angel tend to be busiest. I know many drivers used to complain that passengers would allow the 1 (A or whatever it was) go passed to get on the 21, only to get off at Gateshead which was the same route. It'll probably be the case for the 25 now too. The same passengers will let a nearly empty 25 go through to get on a busy 21 and complain about overcrowding.

The X21 may have slightly taken the pressure off for those travelling direct to Chester from Newcastle and Gateshead mind. It's a while since I've been on the 21.

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