(29 Jul 2021, 3:25 pm)Andreos1 wrote How many changes are being forced by the CAZ and how many are commercial decisions?Dipton to Durham never lost its direct route to Durham. In terms of craghead to Newcastle the old 43/44/44a route took an absolute age, it was great in terms of shift length, most folk would travel to Stanley and change onto the X30/X31 or via the 78 route to CLS then onto X21.
The 6 has existed in various guises for a number of years and has had very little done with it in terms of promotion, marketing or anything else.
The axing of the entire Newcastle - Durham route and curtailment at Stanley, was only going to have a negative effect, as it reduced the chances of someone in say Craghead making that journey towards Tyneside.
Ditto for any through fares from say Dipton - Durham.
For those passengers who have a choice between a car or two buses, the decision may be heavily weighted towards the car.
I would be very concerned if decisions on services were being made as a result of what has happened over the last 18months.
Things have changed with home working and businesses closing down, so unfortunately these changes will partly be down to the last 18 months.