Interesting debate this. My view on Hebburn is that you’ve got swathes of new housing being built but all are designed for car users and most are indeed car users, so the increase in population isn’t really an increase in bus users and when those people do commute they’d prefer to stand on a metro to Newcastle for 13 minutes (by which time the 27 is still in Hebburn on it’s torturous route through Luke’s Lane)

The likes of Hebburn in particular is that it’s moving away from being a place of employment and industry to essentially a commuter town so people aren’t looking to make local journeys (outside concessionary pass holders) but more point to point

On the earlier point of the 721, it didn’t really compete Durham Rd wise as it served Elizabethville and Barley Mow which the the 23 sort of replaced but didn’t. Birtley used to have an excellent local network with the original 23 going up into Sanders Gardens and Birtley East school (now a taxi bus service) alongside the 184 and direct links to Sunderland (777) and South Shields (551) and more regular services to Ouston and direct services to Stanley (709/728) again Birtley is seeing that shift to commuter town status