Just thought about this. Some posters have mentioned about having an X39 doing the 309 route from Blyth to Cobalt, then only calling at Silverlink & Willington Square before Newcastle. Now....the big issue is that demand could fluctuate between Cobalt & Newcastle outside of the peak times. Now a fast service to the Cobalt would be a huge welcome by all accounts, it's just working out how it would be managed outside of the peak times to ensure the route can remain profitable. So I've come up with the following.........

https://maps.app.goo.gl/rUipZ9HiUqMY1Br56 (note that Silver Fox Way and Quicksilver Way would be served rather than The Silverlink North

Route would be all stops between Blyth and East Benton Rise, then completely non-stop to Newcastle (maybe additionally serving the Corner House and Cradlewell depending on timekeeping?).

I haven't worked out how to deal with the other parts of the Coast Road network yet but.....the 351 would still serve a purpose to some extent although would no longer need to serve Holystone Park.

The main driver behind the above idea is not only a faster alternative to the 308 & 309......but also targeting the "high car use" areas with a half-decent offering rather than a completely random hourly service.