(06 Dec 2014, 4:16 pm)Dan wrote The present "Laser" network is profitable as a whole, but the most profitable section of the route is the Sunderland - South Shields section. In terms of the route itself, this section remains unchanged, and it will be re-numbered to 20/20A only. The less profitable section is the Sunderland - Houghton-le-Spring (and beyond) section, and I have to say that my belief is that this is due to the complexity of the lettered variations of the route (35, 35A, 35B and 35C). The North Sunderland section of the revised 35/36 isn't actually so much of a gamble as you'd think - service 29 delivers some very high passenger numbers compared to its former guise of service 26. This is why the revised network will see a combined frequency of 15 minutes opposed to the current 20 minutes. As you rightly point out; outside of peaks, the Houghton-le-Spring to Rainton Bridge section carries very few passengers during the day. Replacing this section of the 35 with a lower frequency service (38 - hourly) still provides a service, but it's more suited to the level of demand that 'corridor' needs.
Personally, I've had very few issues with timekeeping on service 20. When I do use the service (mainly Sunderland - Houghton), I often find drivers have time to wait at The Broadway. My experiences are limited to know whether or not there are issues beyond Houghton onto Durham, but lost mileage isn't particularly high, so I assume that drivers are able to make up this time quite easily. I shan't bite to the vehicle reliability - we all know my views on the matter - but what I will say is that the Scania L94UB/Wright Solar vehicles cope very well across the network as a whole. They are found on interurban and express services - quite demanding work for vehicles of their age - and very few encounter difficulties. Vehicles, especially during peak periods, are currently on standby in Park Lane to time-correct services (primarily service 56 due to roadworks at Nissan). If running time is increased and the layover period at each end is increased to ensure that timekeeping issues are minimal, I cannot see why anyone would consider these changes to be anything other than good.
That's why i think we will see new buses on the 20/20A or 35/36 next time, if the changes work out....
I'm looking forward to seen how all the changes will look like after 6 months also i was gonna do repaints but then i remembered Dan's done it already - this can be found here: http://northeastbuses.co.uk/forum/showth...p?tid=1030&page=39
Edit: Spelling mistake!