If we on about Go North East messing about with routes to kill them off it goes back to at least the early 00s. The 231 for example had nothing wrong with it. Then got renumbered 21A then eventually scrapped replaced again by 231 only this time going to Sunderland instead of Newcastle. The X5 had worked fine for decades but then that got cut back until it was eventually scrapped in 2006 with the 231 and some of the X5 becoming the X35. It at least was a stable service getting the fast cuts name and worked for 10 years until the current management got their hands on it and decided to start messing about although at first it improved the service even if it was renumbered to the X5. Then they re numbered it again to the 55 changing the route slightly then cutting parts of it until it they eventually axed it.