(05 Oct 2025, 9:40 pm)Storx wrote imo, if you wanted to do that sort of stuff I'd just resurrect the 43/44 and Diamond in full personally. They used to be absolutely packed whenever I used them to the Metrocentre and are much superior to the 50 versions which have come after imo with stuff like the X72/X73 just not existing, at all, especially since the Metrocentre locals which replaced them were binned off.IMO, with all the changes and upscaling of frequencies, GNE aren't really behind where they were in terms of PVR before 2015 and 2021.
There also should be an X97 (or whatever number) doing a Whickham express looping around the 301 loop so the X30/X31/X70/X71 can all go via Gateshead where people might want to be, not via Whickham where people don't want to be and I'd have it running every 20 minutes aswell, and really push it.
From that you could resurrect the 97 and terminate it short at Gateshead interworking with the 96 every 15 minutes since the 43/44/X97 would be creating the Newcastle links in Whickham instead, creating less duplication which there is right now. Could even maybe make them into a loop possibly with the 96/97 running through the Metrocentre opening new links.
It's all pretty much PVR neutral last time I checked, all this stuff, even possibly less if you binned off the X32 - maybe could do an hourly proper express from Newcastle to Stanley running direct after Lobley Hill via the A184/Redheugh Bridge.
Personally I'd rather have a 30 minute service which takes 10 minutes longer than an hourly service which is completely useless for most people.
Now GNE's current MD whilst not keeping everyone happy, did simplify things in Northumberland & Tyneside. If GNE did the same in Derwentside and really pushed with with simple, easy to use and useful services, it could actually be quite a profitable network with growth.
Like in Bedlington for instance, there was one service stopping on Glebe Bank and the other stopping on the Front Street running at completely different frequencies. And Blyth and the myriad of different 'X' and 'EX' variations. Other than some tweaks (some actually very useful) and a loss of the 50's when Jesmond closed, there hasn't been much change to Arriva's network since 2012 when things were simplified.