(10 Sep 2014, 8:52 pm)Dan wrote As someone who lives on the Tyne and Wear Metro line, I can't say I'd be 'lost' without it either.
Buses run earlier and later than the first and last Metros (at least from Sunderland to Stadium of Light, when travelling to Gateshead or Newcastle); as such, I can't say that the Metro is better in that respect.
I'd suggest that if the Metro system was not around, services such as the X3 would be more successful as they wouldn't be directly competing with a service which could deliver a similar journey within half the time.
For me, the Metro is nothing more than a convenience to provide faster journey times between Point A and Point B.
Thats the point, the Metro when reliable can deliver you from A to B far quicker than the bus can in virtually all circumstances hence the route you suggested above struggled for passenger numbers(although tbh don't think GNE helped themselves but that is another topic). To use the route above, if there was no metro journey, the journey times by bus will no doubt increase in particular during peak times with heavier loadings and more traffic on the roads so for a lot of passengers no metro means a greater inconvenience than without it, despite its faults it has.
Northern may benefit with increased passengers numbers but exactly how many can use them with Sunderland and Heworth being the only stops and its hardly frequent and nor do they have enough stock to even think about coping with extra demand.
The bus industry will benefit more but with much increased traffic on the roads, then no doubt buses will get delayed thus journey times will take much longer(and that is before you count in they will take longer to start off with) and who will enjoy getting squashed on a busy single Decker.
So in that respect, I am glad the Metro is getting invested rather than letting it decline and eventually fail as Nexus puts it and whilst the moaners on FB won't realise it, if there was no Metro, people in general will honestly find getting from and to work a lot more difficult indeed.