(18 Jul 2013, 4:15 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote(18 Jul 2013, 2:22 pm)cbma06 wrote(18 Jul 2013, 1:28 pm)Andreos1 wrote Its finding the balance between speed and generating enough revenue/custom to make the service viable.
They obviously feel Newcastle Road and North Sunderland is their best option, rather than sending anything direct via say the A19 and Felling Bypass (which would be quicker).
If enough people use the service point to point ie Park Lane to Newcastle, then it would be beneficial.
If the loadings are low from Park Lane, then the only other way to generate custom is for the service to operate as a local service upto a certain point and then an express for the rest of the journey.
When Go North East was doing the Sunderland North Estates proposal for the X36, I did mention in an email to GNE that there should do 4 expresses per hour on a 15 minute interval, have 1 bus as X3, 1 bus as proposed X36 and have the other 2 as X56 same route as 56 between Sunderland and Concord then direct from Concord to Heworth then Gateshead and Newcastle.
I agree, why there isn't an express service through that corridor is beyond me, the fact it took 45 Minutes instead of 70 Minutes to get from Heworth to Sunderland is quite amazing considering I had half hour wait for the X36. Even if got the Metro, that's about 25-30 Minutes from Heworth to Sunderland.
The problem that I see is that it follows a Metro route. The majority of people who would use such a service through the day will most likely have a Metro Gold card. With that being the case I'd say they're more likely to use the Metro than a bus.
I'd personally love to see companies compete with the Metro, as I've been an annual ticket holder with GNE for the past 10 years. So I have to pay (a fortune) every time I want to use the Metro, unless it's a match day when I can use my Magpie mover.