(23 Sep 2014, 8:10 pm)Dan wrote See - I'd argue that, around Peterlee, the services perform somewhat decently. cbma06 may be able to provide a greater insight in regards to what he sees...
Granted, fare-paying passengers are few and far between, and Concessionary Pass holders make up the majority of the passengers, but I definitely think Peterlee is the place to go to see services 23/24 performing at their best.
There may be a lack of connections, but I think that the connections they do have in Peterlee suffice to provide a decent enough service, and that's due to the fact that they serve a few of the little villages.
Just had a quick little test on Flickr... Typed in 'arriva north east service 23 sunderland' and 'arriva north east service 24 sunderland' and categorised by 'Most Recent' - the photos speak for themselves, and certainly backs up what I've said about the loadings in and out of Sunderland.
I know the 24 is quite busy leaving Durham/Peterlee, yes.
What I mean is town services. So maybe one to Houghton via South Hetton, and another to Horden?