I think it's ludicrous that Go North East could even consider withdrawing the X3 service. The X3 is the only bus service that can get to Newcastle in (almost) the same time as the Metro. Takes 15-20 minutes longer I guess, but that's nothing in comparison to the 56 service.
I frequently choose the X3 over Metro to cut down my waiting time at Park Lane down while I wait for a bus to go home.

I was led to believe that it was only dropped from the "Red Arrows" brand to supply the buses needed for the increased frequency of the "Silver Arrows" services... I know many drivers from Deptford on a somewhat personal level, and those that I speak to who regularly drive the X3 haven't mentioned anything about the withdrawal of the service and/or the service being dropped from the "Red Arrows" brand due to a lack of passengers using it. In fact, if I remember rightly, when the Renowns were first transferred to Deptford, a driver who randomly started talking to me (probably saw me taking a picture before getting on) upon boarding the bus, said that they would be used quite a lot on the service because there aren't enough Citaros to meet the PVR of the route and they'd prefer to keep it all as one vehicle class - which has been demonstrated in the past few months by the Renowns! I could imagine the reason why these Renowns haven't been branded for the service is because the service doesn't hold the PVR minimum requirement - as needed as a recent rule when branding services.

Many people have complained about that connection, but it isn't a connection I've ever tried to use. In my experience of using the X3 service though, it tends to run on-time if the driver has the pedal to the metal on the dual carriageways!