(29 Dec 2014, 8:57 pm)aureolin wrote X6 - Peterlee - A19 - Wingate - Station Town - Deaf Hill - The Trimdons - Fishburn - Sedgefield - A1 - A167 - Darlington
Arriva's 21 service takes 1h 23m to do a similar route, but it also serves west of the A1, i.e. Ferryhill, Newton Aycliffe, and Aycliffe Village, via the A167. I reckon serving the A1 and running a strictly limited stop service between Peterlee and Darlington, and you could get it done in an hour. If the X6 links with the X7 between Sunderland and Peterlee, then through-fares could also be made available.
Not many people travel the full 21 route, it is very much a hop on / hop off service and often when I get on the 21 there are next to no-one on it on a morning with a few jumping off in Tesco and sometimes some in Sedgefield, also a few people in the Fishburn and Sedgefield tend to travel to Newton Aycliffe for the big Tesco because before the big Sainsburys opened in Sedgefield, Newton Aycliffe was the nearest town with a big supermarket so to miss Newton Aycliffe out would be a mistake also Arriva serve the Trimdon's, Fishburn and Sedgefield combined 30 minute frequency on the 21/21A so some fare paying customers who travel between Sedgefield and Peterlee would rather use the more frequent service than the hourly service. Also the 21 doesn't run near Ferryhill.