(15 Sep 2020, 8:22 am)big mac wrote There should be a short service serving Old Durham Road as it's much the same issue as the 21 on Durham Road at the moment.
You've got a corridor that is too reliant on a long route subject to potentially loads of different delays along the way.
On Durham Road it's a bit better than before now that more 21s are Newcastle to Chester only, and you've got the X21 supplementing it for people are traveling further.
Old Durham Road and the 56 should follow a similar model, perhaps more like the "old days" when they had a high frequency Newcastle to Springwell Estate route. Although this seems to be something GNE just do not do nowadays.
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Yeah I agree. My idea was for the 51 / 52 to be the main Sheriff Hill buses though and then them to go onto the serve areas of Washington and Birtley on routes which aren't so profitable (Harlow Green) or have a pretty poor service really (Washington) by removing the locals and giving them a service they just don't have currently. Should make the route profitable in the sense that the Sheriff Hill will per say top up the rest of the route and make the whole thing profitable and with a more frequent service and better buses it might come attractive throughout especially in the East Birtley and Washington areas which let's be fair have a pretty poor service.
Then you'd have the X56 going express for places like Concord and Sunderland instead of them sitting on a bus which stops at every bus stop up the hill and feels like a right chore and also gives a slightly quicker service on the 25 south of Chester Le Street since it's not going around Birtley and Gateshead anymore. Wins for everyone even known there's a frequency reduction on the 56 but just make it X-Lines and that'll hide that not to mention it does the last link in the X-Lines network which doesn't exist Sunderland -> Newcastle.
(15 Sep 2020, 9:32 am)Andreos1 wrote I agree about your comments on Washington, however the purpose of the X1 is to provide more than just a bus from Hetton to Newcastle. It's the sort out route which is core to the current GNE operating model in that it crosses through several hubs and sees a significant number of people (I do think it could be more) who do commute towards Tyneside.
However, I don't think Wrekenton forms one of those hubs. Granted some will use it to change buses, but I reckon others will use a formal interchange facility which provides better facilities and a roof.
The problem with the X1 as it stands, is that it's used as a local service in the coalfields. If you're in Easington Lane and needing to get to the shops in Hetton, punters will get the X1 or 55. If the 55 isn't reaching its potential financially in this section, then the X1 could be one reason why.
For those commuting further afield from the coalfields, there's very little incentive to use the X1 as it stands due to the cost and journey times.
Add the fact that it's just as quick to get a metro from Newcastle and a 4 to the Galleries as it is to get an X1 all the way, confirms that the northern portion isn't the fastest either - despite the bus priority measures coming out of Newcastle and up Old Durham Road.
I like your suggestion about using Eighton Banks. I don't think the residents would though. They complained bitterly when it went that way for a short period in the past.
Yeah understand that then makes sense, maybe one way to possibly speed it up is to have the local service ie the 55 try to be pushed a bit more to try and get people who do local journeys on there. Possibly even change the 55 around a bit and have a route Houghton to Peterlee (every 30 mins) extended to Wingate every hour. Then a second service from South Hetton to Sunderland also every 30 minutes with a core service of every 15 minutes through the centre between Hetton and Houghton to try and promote local journeys on the more frequent 55 and 55A (or whatever number) so the X1 can be more express and not stop as much for those wanting to go all the way through to Newcastle or wherever. It's still 7 buses an hour just trying to push people onto the opposite service rather than the X1 being the main local service.
Try and train people to think of the sense of right the 55 is the frequent service to Houghton and also to Sunderland, the X1 is the service for Washington and Newcastle rather than the 55 is the bus to Sunderland and the X1 is the service for everywhere else.