(08 Jul 2022, 9:41 pm)BusLoverMum wrote The x21 is looking dire. If my fingers are doing the sums correctly, there are all of 2 X21's running between Durham and Newcastle between 9am and 1pm, tomorrow.I went to Newcastle last Saturday and used the X12 both ways from Durham and the X12 had to pick up the slack for the 21 on the way to Newcastle and both the 21 & X21 back to Durham in the evening, honestly some times lately I'd have had to get a train to Durham or Darlington to get home for a reasonable hour.
Now some people might want to sweep that under the carpet as not at all interesting but a 25% hit rate on a supposedly premium service is shockingly poor.
Unsurprisingly, I've never seen the X12 as busy as it has been, recently, on the Durham to Newcastle stretch. A few months ago I wouldn't have been surprised if Arriva had abandoned it for mostly carrying fresh air but that is no longer the case.
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages