(05 Mar 2022, 1:10 pm)ASX_Terranova wrote 5xx is South Tyneside isnt it?Yeah. You beat me to my edits
.Added a little bit more to the original post.
Much preferred that system to be honest.
Clear clarity even beyond the first digit with punters tending to know that the second digit indicated a particular route or direction between at least two common, key points - 721, 722, 723, 724 etc rather than the 20 and 21 heading off in total opposite directions and having no common route other than North Road.
Not sure the 22 is used now, but the current 23 is a legacy of the 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 that served Durham Road and were classed as local services in southern Gateshead. They had nothing to do with the current set up, where the 25 has absolutely nothing to do with the 26 or 27. But has some similarlity at one or two different points with the 28, 28a and 29.
The pattern was the same with the 18x series between Sunderland, Washington and/or Tyneside. There were clear variations between the likes of the 183, 184, 185, X85, 186, 187, 188 and 189 - but people knew that there were connections.