(10 Aug 2023, 5:50 am)L469 YVK wrote Been thinking about the 434.....but could this not be merged into the X20 post ABTRL if numbers drop off between Ashington & Newcastle?I’m all for railway reopenings and I hope the ABT does well but I’m still wondering whether people who live on the estates in Ashington / Blyth will want to catch a bus or walk to the station and have a further wait for a train. Also they will be dropped at Central or have to change at Northumberland Park Metro which again takes time. The other thing is cost - will the new NECA tickets cover the railway and will there be ‘Transfares’ (by the way a single Transfare to Haymarket on bus /Metro is considerably more a return bus fare for us) onto the Metro. If the new tickets can be used will they also be valid on the Morpeth train service or even or even Berwick and Alnmouth? It will be an interesting time!
I recently travelled on the reopened Okehampton line in Devon which was very well used but didn’t have a good bus service to Exeter previously. At certain times of the day they had connecting minibuses to certain other towns which seemed to be used.