(09 Jul 2020, 7:47 pm)scanialover wrote I don't know how I missed this thread ? As a devotee and regular traveller on the X9/10 all I'll say is "at last, at last', we can say goodbye to the ratbag collection of vehicles that have plied up and down the A19 over there years; we past an unidentified "Crusader" in Gillingham today and won't that have been an experience!
But who cares what colour they are, where they will stop and start and all that? It's going to be interesting for sure but the compensation of travelling on something comfortable and reliable more that compensate.
It's brings us on briefly to Arriva's X12 ? Why it carries that operating number beats me? 2 and half hours of misery riding on a Pulsar or worse. Perhaps time for an upgrade there as well?
The point of the X12 is for places throughout the route ie. Coxhoe to Newcastle, Sedgefield to Newcastle etc. Durham to Middlesbrough. It's not really there for customers travelling from Newcastle to Middlesbrough. Also it's express out of Durham towards to Middlesbrough and express through Low Fell and most of Birtley.
Coaches on it wouldn't work as there's too many stops and it would seriously get delayed. It doesn't deserve an upgrade though, there's many routes that will be higher priority X66/X67 for one.