(03 Jul 2025, 4:38 pm)deanmachine wrote The whole 61 is a mess. It should be at least 3 separate routes. Dawdling all the way from Pennywell to Peterlee in an insane route still that makes no sense. It's absolutely baffling for passengers who use it. 

People scoffing when I tell them it takes an hour and 10 minutes from Park Lane to Peterlee, people in Murton waiting for a bus to Sunderland confused as to why I drive past them twice going in the other direction. People confused on the return journey that it doesn't serve Park Lane and terminates in different places (sometimes that place being Park Lane).

Couldn’t agree more, the 62 (obviously would be a different number now) should be brought back and the 61 reverted to the original route. 
Could easily run the 63 from pennywell and divert the 62A down the 61s current route between grangetown and ryhope St.
Even then, i would personally run the 61 the old route to murton then instead of having it loop then continue to peterlee it could run straight through murton via barnes road. Then have a 61A possibly running through ashbrooke and then doing the loop in murton and returning to Sunderland. It seems there was a lot of ways to go about it and they chose the most awkward…