(29 Nov 2017, 3:34 pm)Ex-conductor wrote Another mess created by Go North East. What on earth is the point of having a bus service from South Shields to North Shields via such a circuitous route? Indeed what’s the point of a service between the two towns, when the ferry takes only 7 minutes? Surely the intelligent way of satisfying the demand for a direct bus from Hebburn to Sunderland would have been to extend the service 9 journeys which currently terminate at Jarrow, leaving the North Shields-Sunderland link intact, albeit only hourly. Yes, this would have created a 40/20 split between buses running from Sunderland to Hebburn, but sometimes this can’t be avoided.
Now North Shields will have another GNE route covering places no-one will want to visit, to add to the other useless routes serving the town, i.e. to Wrekenton, Kibblesworth and the very lengthy routes to the Metrocentre, Cramlington and Kingston Park. It’s all very well arguing that the demand for travel from North Shields to Sunderland was not very heavy, however it’s even less likely that people will want to travel the full length of the extended service 5. It appears that GNE bus routes are designed to satisfy GNE, and not the people it should be serving. Thank Goodness for the Metro.
Because people like me who live on the route between South shields and Boldon like to go to Royal Quays and North Shields as there are more shops that in South Shields. So its not a pointless service in any means.