(16 May 2025, 9:17 pm)Storx wrote Not sure I agree on the 95 personally, as it's coming to a cost of the Malvern Gardens area going down to hourly, which is useless for anyone. 

Personally I wish they'd just create an express from Whickham doing the 1 loop and then running to Newcastle direct via the X30/X71 (or whatever bus goes down there now) route through Dunston.

Means then you could slow down the 1 and send it via Malvern Gardens, while the 96 goes via Lobley Hill so the estates there can have a decent service and for the express you could have
X30/X31/X70/X71/X72 - Every 15 Minutes via Gateshead and Lobley Hill, 2 to Stanley and 2 to Consett as now
X32 - Withdrawn
X73 - Renumbered 7 since it's nothing to do with the expresses and is much closer to the 6 route instead. 

Means all the main towns around there get, at least, 30 minute services, excluding the 7 (could maybe increase the frequency?) to the places where they actually want to be rather than lots of hourly services going different routes causing confusion. Heck you could even up the 301 to every 15 minutes from Gateshead to Whitley Bay and then merge the 96 into it and have to 30 minute services doing the respective 96/301 routes.

(Jokingly you could also send the E400's to Riverside since they don't need low height buses anymore)

On a serious note, there is a way that the X30/X31/X32 & X70/X71/X73 can be cleaned up and reduce low height requirement to only x4 vehicles.

I did have a previous idea including the X45, but I think that's better left alone as throwing in any interworking patterns involving the MetroCentre during normal Monday to Saturday timetables (with the exception of the X73) is a recipe for disaster.

Basically

• X32 with proposed route change omitting Lobley Hill Estate, is renumbered to service X30 and increased to two buses per hour.
  
• Current X30 renumbered to X31, serving the current X30 route with no frequency or route change.
  
• PVR unchanged for X30/X31/X70/X71/X73 - Still x12
  
• Still remote reliefs (or use of bait room) in Stanley from X30/X73, but these replace the current X30/X31/X32 remote reliefs. Reliefs as a whole more predictable with X30/X70 and X31/X71 boards which legally allow reliefs in Consett.
  

Frequencies would be

• X70 / X71 Consett and Burnopfield to Sunniside and Newcastle - x2 buses per hour with modest headway
  
• X70 / X73 Dipton to Newcastle - x2 buses per hour with modest headway
  
• X30/X31 Stanley to Sunnside and Newcastle - x3 buses per hour running approximately every 20 minutes
  
• X30/X70 Sunniside, Lobley Hill, Team Valley North and Gateahead - x3 buses per hour running approximately every 20 minutes
  
• X31/X71 Sunniside, Whickham, Dunston and Newcastle - x2 buses per hour running approximately every 30 minutes
  
• X30/X71/X70/X71 Sunniside to Newcastle - x5 buses per hour running approximately every 10-15 minutes
  

Only main caveat would be the fast link from Stanley to Whickham and Sunniside being reduced to hourly, although Whickham is still served by the 6 from Stanley.

As for vehicle changes, would be a straight swap of 6356-63 (to Consett) and 6344-51 (to Riverside). This would mean that Riverside would have x12 E400MMC for use on both the X10 & X21 and if any additional VOR where 6377 is already deployed / unavailable, then E400MMC is taken from X21 with a B9TL or something else standing in on the X21.

Consett would still have x8 E400MMC which should at least cover most bases including some of the Sunday interworkings.