(21 Jan 2024, 6:05 pm)mb134 wrote The "X38" takes longer between Blyth and Newcastle than the current 308? How would they try and spin that as an express?

It's also slower than your proposed evening all stops 308?

That's with reliability improvements too and an achievable timetable! Both are 67 minutes end to end ex Blyth but the X38 is 61 minutes ex Newcastle as opposed to the current 66 minutes with the 308.

308 only currently gets 40 minutes from Blyth to Billy Mill. That would increase to 44 minutes, helping with any reliability issues and keep the timetable as robust as possible. You know when Whitley Bay seafront is wall to wall with traffic when the sun comes out? Will be unsustainable for GNE & Arriva to keep adding time and resources onto the 308 & 309 due to NTC's anti-motorist attitude and poor traffic management.

If the 308 was to run with revised running times during the day, it would be 72 minutes ex Blyth. Okay, X38 would still only be 5 minutes faster but.....that's with all stops observed between Corner House and Newcastle as it would be too much of a jump to make it a 'hard' express only saving a further 2-3 minutes in the process.