(24 Jul 2022, 4:40 pm)Storx wrote Yeah it makes sense the X24, mind it'll be interesting to see if it survives the Covid cuts when they come to Sunderland as I don't believe Stagecoach have done there's yet.
That's your choice though, you can't just run buses for people who dislike the Metro for whatever reason, there's alternatives like the 56 but it's not really sensible. 99% of people will use the Metro and anyone commuting from Sunderland through to Newcastle will very likely have a good enough wage to get a Network One pass and would value the extra time in bed than saving a small amount of money.
There's no demand for Sunderland Centre to Newcastle Express services sadly. It's the same reason the X6/X7 Middlesbrough services died a slow death as everyone uses the train and other people (Peterlee) are covered by the X9 now X10.
To be fair the metro is quite costly, £4.00 for a single between Newcastle and sunderland then almost £6.00 for a day ticket. Obviously that might not be a lot to everyone but personally i think it is.