(12 May 2013, 7:40 am)Andreos1 wrote Many a time in the not too distant past, I joined the mad dash from the metro at Heworth up the stairs and onto the last 194 (which was timed to leave seconds after the metro departed).
Even though it didnt go any further South than Newbottle, it was always busy on a weekend (along the entire route), not so much during the week - mainly as you say, because it saved people money.
It was the same with the X1, but GNE have stopped the late bus from Newcastle too - which I firmly believe had more to do with staffing levels (possibly driving hours) and the urge to reduce costs seen in the minimal staffing levels on a night from Washington depot.
Without looking at the bigger picture and like the 194, passenger numbers on the late X1 (particularly on a weekend) were high enough to justify the service.
However high passenger numbers were and ticket prices are, if you look at revenue breakdown, this will be low - the amount of passengers using some sort of day ticket was high and if that day ticket has been used a number of times over the day, then the revenue value of each passenger is diminished, particularly over longer journeys. Add that to an empty bus coming from Easington Lane towards Newcastle and it is possible to see why it was axed.
The costing will be very low, when i've seen/or been on the Arriva M2/M3 or Nexus W5/W6 there has been i'd say no than 4 or 5 passengers on each journey in the evening. The good thing is regarding Arriva you can use a GNE Purple Day Pass for example on the service, so that passengers don't have pay extra fare.
As for other depots such as Washington/Chester le Street
During the week Mon-Sat there is always someone dotting about, but on a Sunday it's the complete opposite, at Washington they don't close the shutters as there is simply too many buses in the depot and is rather overcrowed, there has been times when i've went past Washington Depot there has been buses parked on the main road outside the Depot, they seriously need a bigger depot.
What Happened with a Depot Share between Washington/Chester le Street