(30 May 2014, 12:53 pm)AdamY wrote One thing I've noticed when travelling around Yorkshire is how well bus and rail services are integrated through the building of interchanges. They all seem to be busy too unlike Prudhoe, Hexham and Hartlepool. Take away the Tyne & Wear Metro (and Hartlepool), I can't really think of any major town in the North East which places bus stations adjacent to rail stations. Of course, geography and location will play some role, but are there any other reasons?

Politics and competition?
Across Yorkshire, you have the PTE tie-ins and as a result, a pretty comprehensive rail and bus network - which would compare with Nexus in Tyne & Wear.
Once you get away from Tyne & Wear, into Northumberland, Durham and Teesside, the integrated infrastructure is non-existent.

Even Hartlepool Interchange has become a white elephant, despite the best intentions of the council.

Looking at a Northern Rail map of stations across the North East, integration is basically non-existent - bar a few stations, where an infrequent bus calls into the railway station or at the nearest main road.

Mind, it isn't just the North East which is like that.
I think places such as Yorkshire (particularly West and South) and London are some of the only exceptions to the rule.