(10 hours ago)morritt89 wrote I live in the North of Sunderland and used the X36 a fair bit. It saved a trek to Southwick Green to get the 56 and was also quicker (or at least seemed quicker) than the 56 to Newcastle.
The issue, in my opinion, is that the estates that it went through (Carley Hill, Withereack, Redhouse and Downhill) were dominated by Stagecoach. I think if Stagecoach ran the X36 or an alternative Newcastle express via Sunderland North Estates (or even reinstate lost links with the 7 via Newcastle Road) it would be more successful.
To be honest, I think the £££, where you could make it work is serving Nissan, at peak times to/from Newcastle since it's against the Sunderland peak, even working with them - https://www.google.com/maps/@54.9226066,...?entry=ttu, ie. could that be a bus stop?
If you can get it down to 25-30 minutes, it's nearly half the time of the 56 and I'm sure there's plenty of people coming from Stagecoach (or Arriva) areas who'd appreciate the faster link rather than sitting on the 56 around the doors.
Similar to how the X24A works with Doxford Park.