(13 Jul 2015, 8:40 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote From my Experiences with the service I think it would be a good idea.
I used to use the 50 every now and then, back when the service had 4926-4931 branded for it, now it's just a one-off if I do. I recall the Chester-le-Street to Washington section was, and I'm sure still is, very busy; as it is the fastest link between there and the Galleries, beating the 8 by a few minutes. I understand a lot of families use the service as a means of getting to South Shields during the summer, hence the need for double decker capacity on Bank Holidays, when the service is expected to be pretty busy. The Chester-le-Street to Durham section; I usually find that people don't board in Chester-le-Street with the intention of going all the way to Durham on the service, as the 21 beats it time-wise. However, it is a useful link to the Arnison Centre, and has some good local links throughout. That said, I'm unsure if brand new double deckers should be ordered to upgrade the route.