(09 Aug 2021, 10:17 pm)Keeiajs wrote GNE already had the X6 & X5/X35/55 and then they pulled out. Unless they have a route which dulicaptes the 22/23/24 with the same amenities as them they arn't getting Hartlepool back. There just isnt the demand.
I’m not lamenting the loss of GNE services in Hartlepool, just contributing to Ambassador’s post about express services.
As you suggest, GNE’s last services in Hartlepool were never true express services anyway as they were duplicates of Arriva’s stopping services to Peterlee. He X35 was rightly downgraded to a ‘slow’ service number 55 and the X6, although fast from Peterlee to Seaham & Peterlee, it was no quicker to Hartlepool than the existing services.
Newcastle is the main place people would want to travel to but Hartlepool’s sits awkwardly east of the A19 for the X9/10 to be worth diverting and there’s not enough demand for the town to sustain a direct service of its own.
I’d say the only link the town feels like it’s missing is a fast Hartlepool - Seaton Carew - Billingham - North Tees Hospital - Stockton -Teesside Park.
Potential multiple flows from Hartlepool to North Tees Hospital & Teesside Park and from Stockton & Billingham to Seaton Carew for seaside days out.
I posted about a year ago how it’s bizarrely quicker to book 2 Tees Flex journeys, broken in Wynyard, than use the 36 & 37 to get from Hartlepool to North Tees. I think a faster bus to the hospital from Billingham could have potential too.