What about heworth pelaw hebburn fellgate boldon nook marsedn horsley hill then E1 route 30 mins

What about heworth pelaw hebburn fellgate boldon nook marsedn horsley hill then E1 route 30 mins

Thanks for that. Never realised that people were complaining about Wrekenton bus link not being served initially. Yeah it shouldn't be a problem for the proposed 23A/C to still serve Wrekenton. I mainly suggested to omit it as there are loads of buses that currently serve it and it was just a short walk away from the shops anyway. Plus it would have cut out waiting at the lights and made the service a little more direct.

The plan was to initially run both 23A/C hourly and if it proved popular to increase to every 30 mins. It may prove to be popular when the new Morrisions opens.

So a reduction in frequency by removing those short runs? I'm sure some mouthy councillor will be straight on the phone!

It'd be interesting to see if Morrisons (Easter 2015) opening will reduce traffic out of Birtley to Wrekenton and Galleries and increase traffic into Birtley as Morrisons is a fairly lower cost supermarket compared to Co-Op at Wreketon.

The 23 used to omit the bus link but the lack of shelter and confusion as to where to board the bus contributed to the changes. It's a bit like the 21 stopping on Percy Street when everything else goes to Eldon Square

Could they do a 7/x7 instead of x7

So a reduction in frequency by removing those short runs? I'm sure some mouthy councillor will be straight on the phone!

It'd be interesting to see if Morrisons (Easter 2015) opening will reduce traffic out of Birtley to Wrekenton and Galleries and increase traffic into Birtley as Morrisons is a fairly lower cost supermarket compared to Co-Op at Wreketon.

The 23 used to omit the bus link but the lack of shelter and confusion as to where to board the bus contributed to the changes.  It's a bit like the 21 stopping on Percy Street when everything else goes to Eldon Square

If this route was to be funded by Nexus then yeah unfortunately the short runs would probably have to be removed as I doubt Nexus would pay for them. By my estimates, my proposed 23A/C would take around 45-50+ mins to complete the full route. The short runs on the current 23 take between 17-19 mins, so if these journeys were to continue it would mean an increase in the number of buses needed (PVR?) for the route, which is what I doubt Nexus would pay for sadly. You could say that its a bit unfair how only parts of the current 23 benefit from a 30 minute frequency whereas other areas don't. Another problem with the existing 23 is that it stops running at around 5.15pm, and most of the areas it serves do not have a bus service at all on evenings or Sundays. This is unfair on the residents, particularly the elderly who maybe would like to go to the shops,the pub or church or visit friends etc. I think it might be worth trying the proposed 23A/C as a commercial route, with a frequency of every 30 mins during the day and every hour evenings and Sundays, and Nexus may be prepared to help out with the costs of the less profitable areas of the route as they do with other commercial services. If it were to be a commercial route though, I would hope it would be given a lot of promotion and advertising.

Yeah I'd imagine the new Morrsions would attract more people into Birtley. The residents of Birtley have had limited options for shopping since the likes of Kwik Save, Netto and Somerfield closed. Having said that I think some people will still prefer to go to Wrekenton where there are also low priced supermarkets such as Farmfoods and Lidl and I think some people would still prefer the Galleries where there is a more choice of shops and it is indoors. It will be interesting to see what happens anyway.

My biggest concern about the new Morrisons, is whether or not the little trolley man who was there from the days of Presto transfers back in an emotional homecoming.
He has been at Chester Morrisons for a few years now and I for one, would love to see him back on his old stomping ground.

Why dont they change 689 to x15 and oporate it sunday interworking with 15

Ideias here they could have a x55 between seaburn morrisons and boldon asda making the 558 every 30 minutes use iether 635 or 636 and put 1 on 38 to interwork with 38c

Another ideia s1 is always busy so take 8266 off put frequency every 7/8minutes put 618/619 on

My biggest concern about the new Morrisons, is whether or not the little trolley man who was there from the days of Presto transfers back in an emotional homecoming.
He has been at Chester Morrisons for a few years now and I for one, would love to see him back on his old stomping ground.

  I'm not sure who you mean but he will probably want to stay at Chester Morrisons as there will be less trolleys for him to collect there

939 - Team Valley - Crowther Industrial Estate - Washington Galleries - Concord - Waterview Park - Southwick - Sunderland

Well you could do that nothing stopping them

Well you could do that nothing stopping them

Thing is - these things have to be able to work financially. While something can work, it might not necessarily succeed, if you know what I mean.

There are lots of things a bus company have to consider before making changes and/or starting a new service.

939 - Team Valley - Crowther Industrial Estate - Washington Galleries - Concord - Waterview Park - Southwick - Sunderland

Don't see why it couldn't work, but it's funded by Nexus, so not sure if they would do anything. 

Going for a Malarkey marathon!!!

61/265 merge -

Sunderland, Interchange , Grangetown, Stockton Terrace  , Ryhope, Green  , New Seaham, Dalton Park, Murton, Webb Avenue, Hetton-le-Hole,  Low Moorsley, Front Street , Low Pittington, Blacksmiths Arms , Belmont, Gilesgate Moor, Sherburn Road , Durham Bus Station.

Should take around 65 mins

Monday to Saturday day times -
With a bus every 15 minutes – 9 PVR
With a bus every 20 minutes - 7 PVR

Evenings/Sundays - Every 30 mins then Hourly from Murton to Durham.

Going for a Malarkey marathon!!!

61/265 merge -

Sunderland, Interchange , Grangetown, Stockton Terrace  , Ryhope, Green  , New Seaham, Dalton Park, Murton, Webb Avenue, Hetton-le-Hole,  Low Moorsley, Front Street , Low Pittington, Blacksmiths Arms , Belmont, Gilesgate Moor, Sherburn Road , Durham Bus Station.

Should take around 65 mins

Monday to Saturday day times -
With a bus every 15 minutes – 9 PVR
With a bus every 20 minutes - 7 PVR

Evenings/Sundays - Every 30 mins then Hourly from Murton to Durham.

Would need a Shave by the time you get off that, think you have completely outdone any of my so called Marathons.

Going for a Malarkey marathon!!!

 61/265 merge -
 Sunderland, Interchange , Grangetown, Stockton Terrace  , Ryhope, Green  , New Seaham, Dalton Park, Murton, Webb Avenue, Hetton-le-Hole,  Low Moorsley, Front Street , Low Pittington, Blacksmiths Arms , Belmont, Gilesgate Moor, Sherburn Road , Durham Bus Station.
 Should take around 65 mins
 Monday to Saturday day times -
 With a bus every 15 minutes – 9 PVR
 With a bus every 20 minutes - 7 PVR
 Evenings/Sundays - Every 30 mins then Hourly from Murton to Durham.

Problem with this is that the 61 currently operates as a circular service through Murton so how could much of the current route would still be served (I'm not familiar with the 61 route) also I'm not sure there is much call for a 15 minute service to Durham from these areas, perhaps it could run as the 61 via the current 61 route every 30 minutes and run to Durham as the 61A every 30 minutes giving a combined 15 minute frequency on the Sunderland to Dalton Park section of the route.

Would need a Shave by the time you get off that, think you have completely outdone any of my so called Marathons.

It's shorter than some current routes. 

It might also bring the passenger numbers up on each service 

That used to be a route believe it or not - or pretty damn close to the route.

It was only fairly recently in the scheme of things, that it was curtailed to run between Seaham and Durham.

Would need a Shave by the time you get off that, think you have completely outdone any of my so called Marathons.

Still shorter than the Arriva 22 from Durham to Sunderland.

That used to be a route believe it or not - or pretty damn close to the route.

It was only fairly recently in the scheme of things, that it was curtailed to run between Seaham and Durham.

Really, what year was that?

Seems a decent route, least then once again the 265 could run on a evening and Sunday but as the 61. 

Upto late 90's/early 00's
Fozz might know for sure. Have a look in the Bygone section - the old timetables might be in there.

Upto late 90's/early 00's
Fozz might know for sure. Have a look in the Bygone section - the old timetables might be in there.

Was it not either the 154/254?

I know at least one of those services (if not both) ran from Sunderland to Durham via Seaham and both could be considered forerunners to the current 265 service.

Yeah, the 154 was the service I was thinking of.
Pretty sure it ran under another guise prior to that too.
Can't think of the number 100%.

Yeah, the 154 was the service I was thinking of.
Pretty sure it ran under another guise prior to that too.
Can't think of the number 100%.

From my limited knowledge it was known as the 154 from the late 70s/early 80s and ran between Seaham and Durham up until the point of deregulation. The Sunderland to Seaham section was added after sometime deregulation - probably around 1988 or 1989 - and lasted well into the 90s. I'm not sure when it was curtailed back to Seaham though.

Had a quick look in bygone section.

An X3 ran in the 60's between Durham and Sunderland via Seaham.
I know this ran until the 80's.
At some point in the 80's (de-reg?) the X3 ran alongside the 220 (20/20A route).

There is a timetable from 1997, which shows the 154 doing the Sunderland - Durham via Seaham route.
I think it changed a few years after this, how long, I am not sure.

Would need a Shave by the time you get off that, think you have completely outdone any of my so called Marathons.

Coming from the person who suggested a service to Gretna and Dumfries

The Sunderland-Seaham-Durham bus was the 254 in the early/mid 90's, iirc, the 254 came into being after the Drivers Strike in 1991 to squeeze out competition by Bleanch Travel in Hetton who ran the 154 during that strike. Lasted till about 1997/98 when the route was modified to follow the 152 to Sunderland and was re-numbered 151, which itself lasted till about 2006/07 when the 61/62 was introduced, the 62 went on to become the 162 and a little while later 202

As for routing a potential Durham service round Murton, the 61 as it is could be kept on it's clockwise loop round Murton and another service could routed on the anti-clockwise loop of Murton...

This would be my suggestion...

61A...X7 Route to A19-Dalton Park-Woods Terrace-Cornwall Estate-Barnes Road-Station Road-Easington Lane-Elemore-Pittington-Gilesgate-Durham

Sunderland-Dalton Park could probably be done in around 20 mins
Dalton Park-E.Lane about 15 mins
E. Lane-Durham about 20 minutes

I am probably being quite generous with timing, so give or take a few minutes

I would say between 60-70 minutes, at the lowest guess it would be a similar time to the 20 and would always probably beat the 22...

The question I have to ask though, is there any financial sense in another service from East Durham to Durham City, what brand would it be, would it be an extension of 61 Simplicity, Prince Bishops or East Durham...

Personally I would like to see Murton and East Durham better connected, nowhere North of Peterlee within County Durhams boundary has a service to Newcastle or Teesside or Darlington

I'd like to see the 61 extended to Seaburn actually.

I'd also like to see a new X2 service from Newcastle to Hetton-le-Hole via Washington, Teal Farm, Seaham and Murton.

Problem with merging 61/265 is that Seaham lose their Durham connection, I can't imagine anyone would be too pleased about that.
Id like to see a Newcastle service introduced. I've said it a few time that having the Red Arrows every 10 minutes Newcastle-Houghton.
X1 to Easington Lane via Hetton every 30 minutes
X2 to Dalton Park via Hetton & Murton every 30 minutes
X3 to Seaham via Seaton & Station Road every 30 minutes

X1 doesn't pick up a lot of passengers on the Easington Lane-Houghton part on most trips, and a lot of the travel is local hops. Something could be introduced Houghton-Easington Lane to then work alongside X1/X35 to give a bus every 10 minutes from Houghton, Hetton, Easington Lane.

Problem with merging 61/265 is that Seaham lose their Durham connection, I can't imagine anyone would be too pleased about that.
Id like to see a Newcastle service introduced. I've said it a few time that having the Red Arrows every 10 minutes Newcastle-Houghton.
X1 to Easington Lane via Hetton every 30 minutes
X2 to Dalton Park via Hetton & Murton every 30 minutes
X3 to Seaham via Seaton & Station Road every 30 minutes

X1 doesn't pick up a lot of passengers on the Easington Lane-Houghton part on most trips, and a lot of the travel is local hops. Something could be introduced Houghton-Easington Lane to then work alongside X1/X35 to give a bus every 10 minutes from Houghton, Hetton, Easington Lane.

Only between The Avenue and Dalton Park would the Durham link be lost...

Most of the Avenue lost that link when the 65 became the 265...infact a lot lost out when the 265 came about...

With a bit of thought a Sunderland-Seaham-Durham could be done, either what I suggested the other day or could be done by going to the Mill Inn, Station Road, then Byron Place