(23 May 2022, 10:19 pm)Unber43 wrote I would say X1/62/65 serving Murton doesn't help with passenger numbers especially with it going to every 60 mins soon.I often remember seeing a G1 on the short-lived 61S when the 9 was split.
61 is hard as some journeys there are 5 people, but then there are maybe 20. I don't think running a mix unless they were timetabled right would be good either. 61 used to have a regular Vyking on it.
I suppose I don't know how long it has done this for but the way it goes around Murton may just be inconvenient for people. 61 is basically if you're going to Dalton park & Murton, and 62/X6 aren't in. Or you've just missed a 60. It doesn't help that it goes a loop before going into Park lane which adds unneeded time onto the journey I am pretty sure they could have kept the 15 mins frequency with the 4 buses if it didn't do a loop.
The 61 was born out of a merger of the 151, 152* and 153 (at this time, not a GNE route - pictures indicate it was Michael Franks Coaches), which I think occurred around 2006/2007. If they introduced a 61A that just went the opposite way round Murton, I'd be absolutely fine with that and it'd solve my only gripe with it.
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/404364425043116033/978422823234203668/unknown.png)
*journeys that terminated in Murton only. The ones that went to Peterlee were renumbered to 62. The 154 became the 65 at the same time. The 9 was terribly unreliable so I wonder if that perhaps scared a few people off, but it certainly feels like the 61 was busier before the merger. I remember it being nearly full sometimes leaving Park Lane back when it was Cadets though that was in the school holidays.
For completeness, here's the absolute mess that was Seaham:
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/404364425043116033/978424078140579911/unknown.png)