(08 Sep 2015, 12:16 pm)MurdnunoC wrote But a quicker, direct link between Newcastle and Stanley already exists in the form of services X30 and X31. These are the services likely to see a frequency increase to every 15 minutes if proposals in the consultation are carried out.
You're unnecessarily overcomplicating things.
I think it would be best to have the Stanley express services in the X3- series (steeping into 40s if needed) and then all the consett services in the X7- series (with the current X78) being kept as it is.
In response to Jimmi's point about the Malarkeys proposed X78 not going anywhere near the current 78 route...does the X31 run along the 31 route? Does the X9 and X10 run along the routes of the services of the same number (without the X of course)?
Just because the number on its own already exists, doesn't mean that the number can't be used with an 'X' that runs nowhere along the route of the number without the X.