(25 Apr 2021, 7:36 am)Storx wrote Yeah some fair points mind honestly I can't many short hop journeys but tbh there isn't really any on any railway lines. Who wants to go to Blyth regardless ?. Mind I think there might be some shuttle for Britishvolt from Bebside. Not sure if it's ever planned but having through trains to the Metro Centre and beyond could be a popular move in the future potentially (think it's standalone at first though).

Tbf on the journeys tho I can imagine it being cars that it might pick more than just bus users. I know around here (Seaton Valley) that's there's a fair few who'll drive down to Northumberland Park or one of the other Metro stations along that stretch and dump their cars and Metro into town and they'll be the sort of users who'll move as much as existing bus users.

With location admit some of them aren't ideal like but Prudhoe on the Hexham line and that can pick up over a 100k users a year and I think Haltwhistle has something like 70k for a town of 4.5k people. 

Obviously I can't comment on the X21 but the X7 is absolutely horrific in mornings used to be anything from 35 mins to 55 mins. Got to the stage where I'd bus / metro to avoid it in the end which isn't cheap but was worth it.

Not sure where I read about the fares, want to say SENRUG but could be wrong.

Aye, in fairness most of my comments have been in relation to folk dumping the bus for the train. I do imagine they are aiming for car drivers which, as I think you pointed out, could be smart for folk from Newbiggin, Ellington etc driving only to Bebside - but I wonder how many people would be willing to pay for a car and a train on top (let's face it, in a part of the world that isn't flush with cash). 

To me, and I'm sure there is rationale to the contrary, the idea of a Metro extension was always more attractive.