(8 hours ago)Malarkey wrote I'd also pull Throckley as it's over bussed and I would also after West Road (Denton Burn) have it turn left onto Silver Lonnen then onto the A167 Stamfordham Road and coming into Newcastle the same way the X47 etc come in rather than going up the West Road operating Non-Stop.
Alternatively have it turn right and go along Denton Road/Scotswood Road so that you could then observe stops at Central Station opening up better connectivity for people travelling into Newcastle City Centre.
Aye agreed with that, I'd probably say the Scotswood Road way though for like you said you get Central Station but more importantly you miss Cowgate which is a pain in the arse.
(7 hours ago)Arlo400H wrote I hope that when franchising comes in they’ll consider pulling the Throckley and Heddon off of the 685 and possibly extending the X82 to Heddon. Would lose the Heddon/Throckley-Horsley link though, can imagine a good few of the 8 residents of Horsley complaining about that unfortunately.
Personally i'd just rejoin the 685 at Heddon rather than skipping it outright. There's no real need for an outright express from Hexham, the train exists for that. It's not that much of a diversion tbh.