(08 Nov 2022, 1:41 pm)BusLoverMum wrote The effect of moving the x21 to Riverside is becoming quite apparent. 2 mornings in a row there have been breakdowns, resulting in no bus at all running the entire route from West Auckland. These are the busy morning services used by school kids and students, too, putting more pressure on the shorts and other services.Even without breakdowns, the X21 has been an absolute nightmare of late, whilst the schedule now saves resources, it comes at the cost of reliability with since the timetable change there's been roadworks in Bishop Auckland and Coundon Gate on top of the works on the A1 which is proving troublesome across the board, with all this in mind the X21 doesn't stand a chance of being reliable with the West Auckland to Coundon Gate stretch frequently being omitted to get back onto schedule.
Feel for the people in those areas as the Arriva 6 is argubly worse, always find it running in twos separated by a large gap, fortnight back I was in Spennymoor and there was an 80 minute gap in departures on the 6 towards Durham, sods law I was looking the other way when an X21 came through (this was also the day tracking was down so I had no idea what was happening so just had to stand there and wait), I gave up waiting 5 mins before two appeared which I saw as I headed home sick of life on the 8.