(21 Apr 2023, 9:50 pm)DeltaMan wrote To cut a long story short, they're were too clever by half and effectively removed two buses an hour from the peak AM timetable (what would be the 602) and we're surprised buses were overloaded by the time they left Ryton, which ended up with the 11X running.
When GNE took over the routes, they kept the 602 and 604 numbers, but changed the X66 to the X12, so that was clever....
The bendys were in use on the 10B long before the Arriva takeover, that was when this service was High Spen/Rockwood Hill to Newcastle (via Scotswood Road).
Not long after the Arriva switch, the number used for short workings via Scotswood Road into Newcastle was turned into 604, again using bendies on certain journeys.
When the 604 turned into the 11, bendies were again used on peak time AM journeys, however they started on the main road at Low Prudhoe, rather than the interchange . Subsequently the journeys were renumbered 11A, when the main 11 service went to Blackhall Mill, using Citaro bendies.
Once the X66 Streetlites arrived, various journeys were operated on other routes prior to going onto the X66 later in the day, including a 12 (Winlaton to Newcastle), M6 (Lanchester to MetroCentre), even an X30/Q3/Q3 at one point.
Regards