(07 Mar 2015, 10:28 pm)tyresmoke wrote I'm wondering if the diversions in Chester-le-Street are causing some of it. Having said that the Stockton ones all seem to run more or less on time (the 1535 from Middlesbrough today departed on time) so I think it's more an issue with Durham's operation. Whether that's down to the buses (Geminis limited at 50mph), the drivers or something else I'm not sure.
Shouldn't be having as big an affect as it seems to be having, and of course this diversion hasn't been in place for months (or years) on end. See aureolin's earlier post.
Go North East's services are running fine, as the diversion in Chester-le-Street only really adds about two minutes to the normal timetabled journey. Easily made up when you've got enough recovery time built into the timing points or layover time at each end, which, as already established, the X2/X12 has very little.
I would e-mail Arriva Customer Services to address my issues with regards to timekeeping and lack of layover, but quite frankly, it's not worth the 30-day wait for a response. Quite surprising Arriva isn't more proactive on a route which they face strong competition on...