(01 Jul 2022, 8:22 am)tvd wrote I agree the withdrawal of the X9 during Covid made sense as a temporary measure, but to do so permanently is disappointing when the industry is wanting to get more passengers back to the bus.

Now we have just the hourly and longer journey from Middlesbrough to Newcastle, it certainly makes it less appealing and convenient than it was before.  I'll use it less often, or maybe even break the journey or use Arriva's X12 when that wouldn't have been a consideration before. 

There's always that balance between trying to serve as many passengers as possible, but also make journeys quick and frequent.  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think 'X' express services should go pretty direct routes and not stop or divert all over the place, and they've made a mistake by putting too much onto the X10 route, in my opinion.

I think another key factor in this, is ticketing.

I can't see many travelling uniquely between Newcastle City Centre and either of the town centres on its route. People need to get that 'first and last mile' and for some, a GNE or Explorer ticket or route isn't going to be the best option. Despite it possibly being the case in the recent past. 
As an example, for those living on an ANE route on Teesside and feeding in to Middlesbrough or Stockton - the X12 suddenly becomes more attractive.
If I was working in ANE towers, I'd be looking at how I could make it even more attractive.