(03 Jul 2016, 4:15 pm)Adrian wrote That X6 is hardly an express though Adam. I reckon you're looking at close to 2 hours end to end.
Your X8 would work better if it ran via the A184, A194 and then A1 to junction 60 from Heworth, and didn't bother with Norton and Stockton. You could instead serve Rushyford, Newton Aycliffe, Aycliffe Village and into Darlington.
With the X6 suggestion, if it didn't serve Seaham and went direct via the A19 like the Arriva X21 does you could do it in just under 90 minutes using a PVR of 3. These are some times I came up with when I suggested it before:
Darlington, Tubwell Row - 33
Darlington College - 37
Haughton Green, The Gray Horse - 41
Great Burdon - 44
Stockton High Street South - 59
Stockton High Street North - 01
Norton, Red Lion - 07
Peterlee, Moorcock - 26
Peterlee Bus Station arr - 30
Peterlee Bus Station dep - 33
Essington Way, Crawford Av - 36
Ryhope, Green - 50
Sunderland, Park Lane - 59
Sunderland Park Lane - 04
Ryhope, Green - 13
Essington Way, Crawford Av - 27
Peterlee Bus Station arr - 30
Peterlee Bus Station dep - 33
Peterlee, Moorcock - 38
Norton, Red Lion - 57
Stockton High Street North - 03
Stockton Yarm Lane - 05
Great Burdon - 19
Haughton Road, The Gray Horse - 22
Darlington College - 26
Darlington, Tubwell Row - 30
I prefer your X8 suggestion, for obvious reasons
also if it goes via Stockton you would have to compete with Arriva's X66/X67 between Darlington and Stockton which runs every 15 minutes although you could maybe pick up a few passengers between these points if you ran via Great Burdon and Haughton Road giving Haughton Road a link to Stockton. Alternatively you could do a X21 styled route running the same between Newcastle and Croxdale then onto Darlington.