(06 Jan 2020, 8:50 pm)AIG20 wrote Whenever I've seen the 516 it has carried nothing but fresh air. If Nexus ever withdrew the service Stagecoach could easily reroute some services, such as the 10/11, 12/12A & 30, or create a new bus service to avoid the roads only served by the 516 being left without a bus service. I'm sure one of the reasons the 516 (or the 16 as it used to be named) was created was so that there would be a bus service on the Coast Road between Redwell Lane and the New Crown as I'm sure there was lots of backlash when Stagecoach service E3 was withdrawn?
I've seen quite a lot of Nexus funded services ran by independent operators running with very low passenger numbers. I don't know how they can afford it? Maybe that's why they aren't ran by any of the "big three".
Part of the 516 route was created off what the 10/11 originally did up Lincoln Road, and through the Lakeside Estate when Stagecoach operated their little Mercedes Minibuses, although I can't remember if they used to also serve the Lawe Top. All I really remember is my Nanna being annoyed at me when I was a little kid that I told her the 10 went to the Nook when we were waiting for a bus on Keppel Street, I neglected to mention it went round the rest of Shields first before it got there!