(17 Sep 2023, 1:08 pm)L469 YVK wrote 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.

It's too long that imo. This is ignoring operator, as there's obviously operator issues with this and allocating things as, so this is assuming franchising.

1: Orange Line, Every 20 Minutes
X70: Purple Line, NON STOP Newcastle to Wallsend Dene, Every 20 Minutes - Future serve Murton Gap (Dashed Line)
71/72: Pink Line (NT Loop), Every 20 Minutes Each Direction
73: Blue Line, Every 30 Minutes



71/72: Combine Every 10 Minutes through Battle Hill
1/X70: Combine Every 10 Minutes, Whitley Bay to Blyth

There's no need for 6 buses from Blyth to Newcastle doing the same route give or take and you've gave a Cullercoats a quicker route to Newcastle via the current 308 corridor.

Could make a scope for sending the 73 via Wiltshire Drive aswell and pulling the 351 from that corridor via Matthew Bank something like the below and withdraw the 354 in the process.