(19 May 2021, 7:54 pm)Adrian wrote I hadn't noticed the unreliability issues that you talk of, but given that Go North East are one of the most transparent operators as far as breakdowns etc are concerned, I managed to source some numbers from their Twitter feed.

Between 1st April - today, there have been a combined 34 breakdowns reported on the 10/10A/10B. 

• Service 10 = 12
  
• Service 10A = 13
  
• Service 10B = 9
  

Total = 34

As a comparison, I checked for the combined 26/27, given the similar frequency and vehicle age. There have been a combined 33 breakdowns reported over the same period.

• Service 26 = 9
  
• Service 27 = 24
  

Total = 33

If you compare that to newer buses in the fleet over the same period, then the difference level of service those passengers are receiving is staggering. The 21 had a total of 4 breakdowns and the X1 also had a total of 4 breakdowns.

I had noticed 26/27 more than 10/10A/10B.

It does look like we're back to a small number of routes suffering the most breakdowns.

The 6 & 12 seem to feature quite a lot on twitter as well - the 6 being affected on the Stanley journeys leaves a 2 hour gap of course!