(2 hours ago)Andreos1 wrote As myself and others have said many times.
If you have the choice of the two, the mode of transport will depend on where you're wanting to end up.
Haymarket or Northern part of the town - bus.
Central Station or the bottom part of the town - train.
ANE need to adapt to ensure those wanting the bus, can get the bus.
And for those wanting the train, offer a solution to those people.
Quite why they've waited until now to make the changes, baffles me.
If they had been proactive and been ready for the line opening...
Tbf there is no changes they're just cutting the frequency and that's it. Nothing positive about that.
Sadly people in places like Nedderton and Stakeford are suffering as a result as they don't have a train nearby for the benefits of slogging a bus via Bedlington Station where they have a choice and there's huge housing developments in the areas aswell.
The routes need split imo. There's very little in common with them anyway bar Ashington Bus Station so the priority should be on the X21 between Newcastle and Bedlington, the X22 between Bedlington and Stakeford and the X21 between there and Ashington especially with the level of housing building around Choppington running every 20 minutes which is attractive unlike every 30 minutes.
The rest can be covered by something else which is slower ideally joining the 40's so they have a choice if they want. The X9 also joining them for similar reasons.