(28 Sep 2024, 8:03 pm)Storx wrote To be fair it's not even that, imo one of the worst purchases was the deckers for the X45/X46/X47, bar a few boards they never needed them and it was just overkill. They would've been better keeping the Streetlite's as now 4 years down the line we're on a route which is pretty much back to square one capacity wise but on a seriously reduced frequency.
It's one of those routes I'd love to see some ambition with and see the route downgraded back to singles but the routes restored as they were so you'd have the 45/46/47 all every 30 minutes. For the 47 through to Consett who knows, probably be better terminating the 10A short at Greenside and extending the R2 through to Consett instead, it's overkill having deckers over there imo.
The number of people using the X45, there's clearly demand down that corridor and it's pretty infrequent currently. Those Enviro's/B9's could be then used for the X5/X15/X70/X71/X72 instead.
Hmmm, I see your argument. The only thing is that deckers do offer the same capacity, without the need for extra drivers, vehicles or fuel. Plus even on a 10 or 10/20 frequency (latter for Consett), singles could get cosy when demand to the MetroCentre is high or a match day.
If anything, the Rowlands Gill corridor is likely to be Consett's top performer and actually has a chance making money with the MetroCentre en-route, unlike the other Derwentside to Newcastle services effectively serving farmers fields and relying on commuter traffic.