(08 May 2013, 1:31 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote Could be a hoax, I seen it bazza's Facebook Group and thought that is interesting, and copied and pasted it over onto here, Only other thing is GNE are planning a big reveal of the service and have asked for it to be taken down hence why you can't see it.

I very much doubt VOSA would acquiesce to any such request otherwise nothing would be posted there until press releases were released by the bus companies themselves. Are there any other examples of when information has been taken down from VOSA in preparation of a 'big reveal'? - I can't think of any.

(08 May 2013, 1:31 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote I can see how it can be a hoax, as it is quite a long route, and surely with it being an Airport Shuttle Service you'd expect it to be alot quicker, considering by looks of it it'll be going via Hebburn/Jarrow/Boldon Asda and Cowgate. With Stops at Heworth/Gateshead/Newcastle. Looks to me if true GNE are trying to provide competition with the Metro. Plus is no way if the metro takes 45 minutes from Sunderland to the Airport, that GNE would able to compete as there service would take possibly double the time the Metro does.

There's another clue to the validity of the service when you consider where it has been posted; which company it's operated by; and who would benefit most by a service which operates through Jarrow and Hebburn to any destination.

(08 May 2013, 1:31 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote Surely you'd have it be more Direct and have it Stop at the Major Stops, not minor ones like Jarrow.

(08 May 2013, 1:31 pm)Andreos1 wrote Personally speaking, if I lived in Sunderland and had just got off a flight (whether it was during the day or at night), the last thing I would want to do, would be jumping on a bus and having a tour of Newcastle's suburbs and South Tyneside before rocking up at Park Lane 2 hours later, to then have to make some sort of change to get home...

I couldn't agree more with these two statements. Why would anyone from Sunderland or South Tyneside use this service when a taxi (or even the Metro) would prove to the quicker, more convenient option. A direct service departing from Park Lane, diverting to pick up passengers at the Galleries, then going to straight via the A1231, A1 and A696 would make more sense than the service suggested here. Even if a lot of passengers were travelling from Jarrow or Boldon to the Airport, then one must consider how GNE have came across this information in the first place? - If it was a Nexus-funded venture, then surely they'd be promoting the benefits of travelling by Metro since, ultimately, it's cheaper for them to do this rather than go through the process of tendering.