(08 Jul 2018, 6:51 pm)mb134 wrote I honestly don't see the point in those changes? Delays on the X15/X18 currently can be handled to an extent because of the fast running on the route south of Morpeth, but if you're incorporating those journeys into local services, then passengers will quickly become annoyed (and bar excessive layover, there is nowhere to make up time)
The X5, in my opinion, wouldn't work. South of Alnwick it's exactly the same as what you have now, and the whole point of the current X18 is that it hugs the coast and serves several key tourist locations. Missing out the villages along the route, and then Craster and Beadnell, would lose you passengers (and it also wouldn't massively make the route quicker, maybe 10 minutes missed out?)
Cutting the X20 would also annoy more people than it would please. The section from Ashington to Newcastle has been a key part of the Ashington express network for 9 years, and I can't see any reason that you would withdraw it now. You also need to bear in mind that it serves parts of Ashington that the X21/22 don't.
Well passengers of Seaton can easily jump on a 57 and connect with a X21 at Ashington or Bedlington.