(07 Jun 2023, 5:58 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Just had a quick play on Google Maps
Riverside to West Auckland: 35 miles
Darlington to Stanhope: 27 miles
Stockton to Easington: 19 miles
Ashington to Alnwick: 23 miles
Hexham to Alston: 23 miles
Belmont to Barnard Castle: 27 miles
We essentially do the Riverside to West Auckland dead run quite regularly (well, Tindale to Costco!) and it's not too bad really, it's just a lot of Motorway. Although, in a bus that's limited to 40mph I imagine it could be a bit torturous!
Arriva Ashington used to have a bus that ran dead from Ashington to Belford on a weekday (the odd X18 journey that went to Alnwick High Sch). That was a 90 minute dead journey and a fair few miles before it started even taking any money.
The reason Ashington ran it (rather than Alnwick) was it was actually an X14 car, as it went dead to Longframlington for just after 9am after dropping off at the High Sch in Alnwick at about 08:30.