But the whole point I'm making here is that the current level of passenger numbers is not sufficient to justify an express service from Sunderland to Peterlee - it's clear that Arriva are wanting to take patronage from Go North East by offering a very similar service, and boils down to competition between the two companies not being to benefit to customers, and rather to get back at the other operator for introducing a competing route elsewhere in the region.Yes, you do kind of have to view the passenger numbers from Sunderland, but if the 21/X21 is marketed as a through service like the 21/31 & 21A/31A used to be you will have people travelling from further than Peterlee using the service.
Monitoring the loadings in and out of Sunderland is the only way to determine what the passenger numbers will be like on the X21, as in reality, the only thing that should happen is that further passenger numbers are taken from services 23/24, to boost loadings on the X21...
The X21 may take some passengers from the 23/24 (well 22/23 from next month) but the people of Wheatley Hill have been wanting a service to Sunderland again, everytime I've used the 24 not many people have done the full route. Passenger numbers and passenger trends will likely to change when the 22 starts going to Sunderland instead of the 24 and the 21/31 used to carry a decent amount of passengers between Wheatley Hill and Sunderland in the past.