I just want to comment on the weird assertion that the 685 is not a local service. I'm sorry but it is, in the same way as GNE's X9 and X10 are. Whilst it may run cross country from Carlisle to Newcastle it still counts as a local service as it calls at many places en route and acts as a local service for many communities. Until very recently it was the only service from villages like Horsley to Newcastle, for example. The reason it survives as a through route is purely because it is jointly operated by two companies based at either end of the route for reasons alluded to in the link above.

As for forcing everyone to use the train, not every village on the route has access to a train station and most of the stations west of Hexham are only served every 2 hours anyway. It would end up costing more to have local shuttles all over the place as these would almost certainly need to be fully subsidised and you'd also have cross boundary issues also. I also believe it's telling that one of the few routes that Arriva kept when GNE bought their Hexham depot is the 685. There must have been a reason for it.