(07 Oct 2015, 9:42 pm)G-CPTN wrote All these 'ten minute' departures seem attractive, but, as far as I have observed (at Hexham), buses occasionally get delayed when loading a queue of waiting passengers (agreed that these buses from Hexham are at best every 30 minutes and some hourly).
Even when the bus arrives ahead of the departure time it can be difficult to leave on time (and when other services arrive off-schedule the resulting traffic congestion can prevent vehicles leaving - or getting onto their stand).
Admittedly Hexham is going to get a new bus station (and at times the present bus station is 'impossible' with buses queuing on Priestpopple waiting to get in), but I still foresee delays despite the promised linear layout of the new stands being planned.
With departures every ten minutes, it only takes a few minutes delay arriving to back-up the departures.
Do passengers have to move from stand to stand to catch different services to the same destination?
At Washington Galleries, Gateshead interchange and Metrocentre, buses sharing the same stand and eventual destination just park up behind each other. Ones like Eldon Square, Peterlee and Durham, they do use different, often neighbouring stands. The GNE 21 and Arriva X12 are often parked up next to each other, for example - leave Durham within a few minutes of each other, follow the same route, though the X12 doesn't follow all the stops and the X12 ends up at Eldon Square in the stand next to the 21, a few minutes before it arrives.
Anyone using Durham is used to stand hopping, anyhow. That station is seriously over capacity.