(07 Mar 2015, 11:05 pm)aureolin wrote The diversion isn't *that* much of an issue though. It's a couple of minutes, along a route with zero congestion. You'd expect there to be room in a timetable to accommodate that couple of minutes, otherwise how would you expect the timetable to cope with anything other than a skeleton traffic flow?
I'd ask how long a driver change should realistically take? Again, should be accounted for in a realistic timetable. Mind you, it doesn't help when the bus is still standing there with it's ignition off, minutes after it should have departed, with a driver nowhere in sight. Too much of a common sight when it comes to Durham changeovers.
Stopping between Durham and Coxhoe is practically every stop, but that extends to the 56/57/57A too. I sound like a broken record, but a realistic timetable should account for this. It also indicates that the demand is a lot higher than the supply.
When the X12 arrives in Durham Bus Station there should be 4 minutes between the X12 arriving and then it leaving as the X2 to Newcastle so if a Belmont journey arrives even a minute or two late it results in the X2 leaving late as I'd say it probably takes roughly three minutes for a driver change (inc. sorting the ticket machine) so it only realistically has a minute to get passengers on to leave on-time and this usually takes 2-3 minutes in my experience so little wonder why the Belmont journeys can sometimes leave Durham late. Obviously Stockton journeys don't change drivers in Durham so this isn't a problem.
Think the 56/57/57A get around 6 minutes before departing.
Drivers turning up just before or after the bus is due out in Durham is a problem which I see quite a lot of the time, I'm just glad most of the 7's are run by Darlington depot.