(25 Oct 2021, 5:30 pm)cbma06 wrote Since the 71 is secured and DCC provides the route and timetable, there must be a reason why the council hasn’t timed with the arrival of trains at Seaham etc…
There maybe an option between Doxford and Seaham , depending on demand for passengers, maybe extend service 37 from Doxford Park to Seaham via Burdon road and Burdon Lane and potentially withdrawl the 71 between Houghton and Seaham , depends if many from Seaham shop at Houghton , then the new 704 replace the 71 between Houghton and Chester
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
DCC only secure it because GNE can't (or won't) make a commercial go of it. Whether it be the 238 or the 71 - they send a bus over the hill on an hourly frequency and somehow expect the population to come to it and grace the service with their presence.
Except they didn't and now DCC are having to bail them out.
If they made something of it and created a service which could flourish, DCC could maybe spend the money on something else.
I'd also argue that persevering as is with a Chester - Houghton service is as sensible as buying a boat load of igloos to sell to camels living in the Saraha.
Anything they try on that corridor needs to be different to what they're offering now. It might work with it being different. It's not going to work doing the same old over and over again. I'd have thought they'd have learned that now.