(13 Jul 2026, 11:20 pm)tyresmoke wrote This is all great but like you say the X10 is only ~30% outside the NEMSA area … which means to continue running it would have to be an NEMSA franchised service - do they necessarily need an express to Teesside that mainly (not entirely but maybe 70% of the market) benefits Tees Valley residents travelling to Newcastle rather than the NEMSA residents that are paying towards it? They could truncate it at Peterlee, save a fair bit of cash and not worry 95% of the NEMSA users. 

This is one of the worries I have.

It's quoted in the franchising scheme assessment that there's approximately 30,000 people commuting between the North East and Tees Valley daily, across all transport modes. Whilst clearly that's different from 30,000 people travelling by bus or train, it does however indicate that there's still a commuter market between the Tees Valley CA and the North East CA.

It's worth noting that they've said in the scheme assessment that it's unlikely to be a one size fits all. So whilst something like the full X10 could be seen as worthwhile to be a franchised cross-boundary service under NEMSA, to use your example, they could also see fit to curtail it at Peterlee and seek a contribution from the Tees Valley CA to continue the service into Middlesbrough. 

Of course, another operator would also be welcome to pick up the gap and request a service permit to run into Peterlee bus station. This may be more appropriate for something like Arriva's 23.