Remmember when service 1 stood alone and 5's were coupled to 35 and 36Sadly yes! The 5/5A was always late and sometimes never turned up, it became so bad at one point I started getting the Scarlet Band 16 instead.
Thankfully the 5/5A is much better now, but still does run late sometimes.
The 1 does seem better too since the timetable changes and no longer using Enviro 400s.
The X1 has been okay when I've used it but I have seen it arrive in Bishop Auckland Bus Station and Darlington a few minutes a few times and I think the Streetlite's will cause problems on this service.