(14 Jul 2014, 7:11 pm)Tom wrote I agree it's appalling.
Only other way I can think of is the 1740 X10 to Heworth, arriving at 1842, then a M2A to Concord, departing at 1851, and arriving into Concord at 1909, then a 56 from Concord to Sunderland departing at 1910, and arriving at 1939. That will take only two hours.
That would cover three zones opposed to two.
Like I say, I think it's most likely that the X10 would have been re-routed and the X7 halted.