Was around the old folks earlier on and my Mam (bless her) was on about how the x1 flies along the Washington Highway.
She has mentioned it a few times recently, but it got me thinking about how the Gemini's whizz along and are still pushed for time, compared to the Metrobuses, Olympians or Spectra's - when they were on the x5 (that didn't really need to hammer along the highway).

Back when the x5 operated and the x1 ran with the Merc's, the service was limited stop for more or less the entire journey - since the x1 is only limited between Shiney Row and Gateshead now, is this a contributing factor in the services reliability (timing) issues and drivers needing to push the buses to the limit whenever possible.
The Fencehouses x3 was pretty much the same once it became a stopping service, compared to the limited stop x94.

I have had a quick look at the timetables (on phone so hard to compare/contrast) and there doesn't seem that much difference in scheduled journey times on the x1 - despite the extra stops.
Obviously in the past, the lack of scheduled stopping points will have also helped make up time.

Unless a local bus between Houghton and Washington via Newbottle is reintroduced, affording the x1 to have the luxury of being limited stop again, maybe it is time the x1 had a bit more slack in the timetable.