(25 May 2023, 8:48 pm)Jimmi wrote Surely, if the demand was there for 2 direct GNE buses an hour between Peterlee and Sunderland then you would've thought that the X7 wouldn't have been withdrawn?

Part of the proposals for the 22/23 did suggest at looking to revise the times of the 208 to better align up with the new 22/23 times, the changes also suggested that there would be 4 direct buses left overall between Peterlee and Sunderland although I think that's counting the 61.

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Hardly surprised to see the 22/23 cutback on the Sunderland end of the routes, as people have said they’re rarely carrying huge numbers. I think my overall opinion is that the bus network is a mess. Really the suggestion that the X6 go half hourly isn’t too crazy, although I can’t see it happening in the current climate, as you’re left with Arriva offering 2 buses per hour taking 45 minutes whereas GNE’s X6 does it 10 minutes quicker. And really counting the 61 which takes over an hour to get from point to point, is rather stretching it a bit. But this is where I think bus networks fall down now, as competition is all but dead. Arriva and GNE could compete on a roughly similar corridor with Arriva having a longer journey time, but serving the villages and GNE having a quicker journey that serves less areas but does go via the key travel areas. But they don’t do that, too risky…