(29 Oct 2023, 9:14 pm)Aaron21 wrote All of them may be connected but remember. Ashington to Whitley Bay has the 57/57A being the only bus route to serve station other than Regent Centre
They also serve South Gosforth (X7/8) and Haymarket (all relevant services), both of which are arguably better stations to serve than Northumberland Park which requires an additional change of Metro train if you're wanting to get to the airport for example. Regardless, they're trying to paint a Metro connection as a new thing when it has literally existed with bus services for years.
Come to think of it, I don't really understand the selling point of the change to the Metro at Northumberland Park because for lots of people it's borderline useless. If you're wanting to go south, then you'll stay on the train until Central where you have both Metro lines to choose from. If you're wanting the coast, then majority of places already have bus services which in a few cases will be quicker and cheaper than getting a train and Metro? For example from Seaton Delaval, there's a 57/A every 30 minutes which takes about 20 minutes, will the train/Metro combination be quicker than that when including the waiting time? Same with Blyth depending on where you are.