(20 Aug 2013, 9:04 pm)Andreos1 wrote Maybe worth looking at again? Especially as the Metrocentre was only half built and looking at those timetables, didn't even have a railway station.
Castleside - Consett - Shotley Bridge - Ebchester - High Spen - Greenside - Ryton - express to Metrocentre & Newcastle
Lanchester - Consett - Ebchester - Stocksfield - Prudhoe - Crawcrook - Ryton - express to Metrocentre & Newcastle
I know you like to create new links between otherwise unconnected villages, but honestly the 45/46 would be the express option in both of the routes you suggest. Remarkably, the journey between Blackhall Mill and Rowlands Gill takes 20 odd minutes on the 47 through Chopwell opposed to just 6 minutes between Hamsterley Bank Top and Rowlands Gill on the 45/46. Add on the extra time it would take to traverse through Greenside, Crawcrook and Ryton (around another 35 mins) - you're beginning to take on a journey time proportional to the 638! - If living in either Castleside or Lanchester, it would be quicker to get the bus to Consett then transfer onto the 45/46 with a journey time of just 44 minutes from Consett to the Metrocentre.