(13 Oct 2019, 1:14 pm)streetdeckfan wrote
It's just what I've overheard some staff talking about, from what I've heard the extension to Tindale hasn't made as much money as management thought it would, and drivers have been complaining about the route it takes through Woodhouse so some higher ups had a trip down, saw the absolute mess that is the route through Woodhouse and are thinking of changing it.
The route that they've been taking with the diversion this week is 10x better than the actual route, something which I've heard basically all the drivers say, plus from my experience very few people actually get on or off at the stops that have been missed out, plus it cuts the journey time by quite a bit
As it turns out, the reason that the Arriva 6 is so busy isn't because it goes to Tindale, it's because it goes to West Auckland and Cockfield, which I imagine is quite a bit of money that GNE are missing out on.
I personally think it was a mistake getting rid of the 18, as any traffic in Durham means the X21 is usually running 15-20 minutes late, and quite a few times they've just turned it around in Bishop and missed out Tindale to get it back on time. As much as I like having a direct bus to Newcastle, I would prefer having a bus that will turn up!
They could always extend the X22 through at the same time, then they could extend it to Cockfield...