(16 Feb 2016, 11:43 pm)Andreos1 wrote I am going off my memory here and may be wrong but:
The 8 was Stanley - Castleside initially.
The X8 was Sunderland - Stanley.
The X2 was replaced by the 8.
The 8 replaced the X8 and stopped running to Castleside.
Thats exactly how it was, only without the period of time when the 8 ran between Castleside and Chester-le-Street. The Stanley - Castleside section was replaced by service V8.