(23 Nov 2014, 3:23 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote In all honesty, I completely agree. The peak runs ought to be allocated Lolynes, and the runs that pick up a few should really be Solar-operated. I dare say that 10:40 run could even manage an MPD!

The Lolynes will end up on the boards that work school services though.

I feel people should stop and think about the main point of all services though. The X25 (to use it as an example) is never going to be carrying 55 people out of Newcastle at 8am, similarly going towards Gateshead and Newcastle on an afternoon is never going to attract huge loadings. However the opposite is true, with people going to work in Gateshead/Newcastle on a morning, and coming out on an evening.

There are other markets within the route, of course, such as Langley Park-Chester, or Sacriston-Chester, which will attract other times of day. There is always a peak around 0930 as this is when the concessionary passes become free, so journeys arriving into Newcastle/Gateshead around 10am will always be busier than 9am arrivals, in the lull after the peak.

Saturdays tend to be very quiet until around 0930-1000 and then die again after 1500, of course the exception to this is Christmas time when people tend to stay out longer, and there is a higher demand for services to big shopping plazas such as the Metrocentre or indeed Newcastle itself. Sundays on the other hand can have a very limited attraction, being quiet until 1100 then absolutely mental for 2-3 hours, before calming down until after 1800 it basically becomes a complete waste of time.