(01 Jul 2022, 11:41 am)Storx wrote Surely anyone wanting the route from end to end would use the train... which is quicker and a hell of a lot more reliable. 

The point of the route now is Newcastle - Dalton Park / Peterlee and Dalton Park / Peterlee to Stockton / Middlesbrough. 

Taking those out would kill the thing altogether imo. Personally I think the route is fine now. 

Now discussion about lack of bus / train integration and the poor line between the two cities / lack of the quicker trains via Stillington is another debate.

When I'm doing EC to T&W or vice versa, the mode of transport I use depends how many people I'm travelling with and where the end point is in comparison to the nearest bus stop or railway station.

There's so many factors beyond just the duration of the trip.

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(02 Jul 2022, 10:01 am)tvd wrote I'm a few miles from Saltburn station, so for me on a day out up north it'd be an Explorer ticket, an Arriva bus to Middlesbrough then the X10 up to Heworth, then Metro to wherever takes my fancy around Tyne & Wear and Newcastle.  

I guess it's just one of my frustrations that in these modern, fast-paced times, the bus industry locally has done very little to incorporate genuinely express services into its routes.  We're all bus enthusiasts here so will use them anyway, but I'm sure a lot of potential passengers must be put off by certain longer distance routes taking so long and stopping at so many stops.

It's not just GNE- there's nothing quick to get from East Cleveland to Middlesbrough, or from Middlesbrough to Durham, or Middlesbrough to Newcastle, or Darlington to Durham, etc.  Trunk routes where you'd think there'd be at least some effort to work in a fast, direct and reasonable frequent service.

And again, those factors will play a huge part in your journey.

A bus or teesflex to Saltburn is going to cost in addition to any train tickets from Saltburn onwards.
Then there's connection times at Saltburn and Middlesbrough/Thornaby/Darlo and the same back.

The choice of 5 or 6 buses per hour (up until fairly recently) north out of Middlesbrough towards T&W and being included in your initial ticket purchase was a huge positive.

Now... Well there's not that many buses north and they all take an age.
It's not really that much of a positive versus the train anymore.