I’d be interested to see if the 45 etc would have been renumbered had the decision to tag them onto the X31/X70/X71 not been made.
The interworking plans, X30 extension and removal of the 30 for the M6 means that barring the CLS Towns and Cathedral Bus, every Hownsgill based bus will end up at Consett over the course of its service day. How many driver changeovers will still take place at Stanley?
Leaning towards the argument that these changes are more for operational reasons than for the benefit of passengers.