(29 Jun 2022, 7:07 pm)Andreos1 wrote Where would the demand for those routes come from? Apart from the nighttime economy in Newcastle, they wouldn't pass by any major employers who have a 24hr operation - like Nissan or Amazon.
It's telling that those sites are all near main roads (to aid distribution of goods) and it's also telling that public transport operators don't use the same road networks to help aid the workforce.

If there's a nighttime network that's going to work, operators need to think outside the box and maybe even offer something which is different to the daytime network.

Whilst a Seaham - Sunderland via Ryhope Road works during the day - a variation of that route in peaks or on a night would offer so much more.
60X: A morning and evening peak version of the 60 via the A19 and Doxford International in to Sunderland. 
60N: Night time version via Nissan and Follingsby to Newcastle would offer so much more than what we see now and would could play a part in making a 24hr network successful.

Couple that with say a 27X and 27N between Shields and Newcastle via Monkton Business Park and/or Boldon Business Park, Nissan and/or Amazon and you've instantly opened up a network that has the potential to work during the day, peaks and night.

Maybe it’s time GNE (and other operators) were a bit bold with ideas and recognise that while a bus that work during the day, May not be the bus that works during evenings and weekends (and maybe more importantly overnight) so how about trying something a bit different?

A 65 that maybe didn’t go around all the estates in Murton or a Seaham to Sunderland bus sort of along the line of the X6 along the coast, enabling quicker journey times for leisure travellers or commuters on night shifts. That sort of market perhaps don’t need services that literally stop outside their front door, so a short walk wouldn’t be out the way but for many at the moments there not direct services and it’s connections and lengthy waits at bus stations.