(05 Sep 2012, 6:00 pm)Brandon wrote Some trips on the 36 do run empty or near empty, but quite a lot get fairly busy. A bus passed me today leaving Southwick towards the estates with standing room only.

Stagecoach will be cheaper from Town End Farm to Sunderland from next Monday, with their Dayrider at £3 as against Go North East's £3.30. The Stagecoach Megarider at £11.70 is more expensive than Go North East's Sunderland Weekly Ticket (£11) & the SimpliCity Saver (£7.80), but the 36 doesn't run on Sundays. The Sunderland Weekly Ticket is valid on the 135/136, but the SimpliCity Saver isn't.

Worst thing Go North East could do now is back-down; it would send the message to any other operator - "run buses on our routes with cheaper fares and we'll back right off". I had hoped a Sunday service would be introduced on the 36, just half hourly on the same pattern as the evening service, which would provide a complete alternative to Stagecoach if people wanted it. Interestingly, it seems that Go North East are initiating their own set of 10 minute services, most recently with the proposed 39, a model proven to be a success by Stagecoach.

I think Go North East made the mistake by withdrawing the 10 minute 33 to Silksworth after the Stagecoach 12 was introduced. Because now it's been proposed to replace the 10 minute 35 with a 20 minute 33 instead.

I don't want to wander off thread too much, but I had wondered if people's travelling needs would be better met if the 26 and 36 were absorbed into 56, perhaps every 20 minutes on 36 route, and every 20 minutes on 26 route through Castletown. The 99 could then be revised to run hourly to Seaburn, and hourly to Boldon ASDA and Heworth. I can't really see the 26 and 99 keep running half hourly to Boldon ASDA and Seaburn Morrisons respectively when the new Tesco opens at Wheatsheaf next year.