(18 Oct 2015, 10:20 pm)MrPottski wrote What changes would you suggest? I know the 5/5A don't take the most direct route but it serves the purpose.
My only real gripe with the 5/5A now is the timings, think it could do with an extra minute or two to get from Bishop Auckland to Shildon as when I get it from Bishop it often arrives in Shildon 2 or 3 minutes late and I think is the main contributing factor as to why I feel this service isn't as reliable as it should be. Another thing that really infuriates me was the decision to mess with the timings around the start of this year where they took 3 minutes out from the Shildon - Aycliffe Town Centre section of the route and slotted them 3 minutes into the Aycliffe Town Centre - Harrowgate Hill? section of the route and the Aycliffe - Darlington stretch of the route really didn't need extra time and the result is when it is on-time you are in for the most painful journey ever because it takes far longer than it should, even the drivers who take a slow and gentle approach to driving and wait at all the timing points will still manage to get to Aycliffe Town Centre 3 minutes early. Honestly have no problems with the route the service takes, even the recent diversion to run past Hitachi, it's just the timings I think could do with being looked at more closely.