Thornley and Wheatley Hill to Durham are £7 return on the 22. It's a 20 minute journey, including the crawl along Gilesgate. The villages manage to be outside all of the discounted fare zones, including Durham District and are nowhere near the boundary of the East Durham zone. It stings and drivers who don't know the route so well often wince when I ask for a ticket because hardly anyone who doesn't have a concessionary pass bothers with the bus.

(26 Jul 2015, 8:22 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Thornley and Wheatley Hill to Durham are £7 return on the 22. It's a 20 minute journey, including the crawl along Gilesgate. The villages manage to be outside all of the discounted fare zones, including Durham District and are nowhere near the boundary of the East Durham zone. It stings and drivers who don't know the route so well often wince when I ask for a ticket because hardly anyone who doesn't have a concessionary pass bothers with the bus.

Thornley not being in the Durham district boundary has always baffled me, given that the likes of Bowburn, Coxhoe and Kelloe are. Not to mention Bishop, Newcastle and Gateshead!

I wasn't going to mention it, but seeing as everyone else is.

£2.80 on the 4 Houghton to Heworth.
Add a handful of ten pences onto £3 and you have the fare on the 20 to Sunderland from Houghton.

(26 Jul 2015, 8:51 pm)Andreos1 wrote I wasn't going to mention it, but seeing as everyone else is.

£2.80 on the 4 Houghton to Heworth.
Add a handful of ten pences onto £3 and you have the fare on the 20 to Sunderland from Houghton.

Or £4.00 like you've said to Durham which is appalling. Not sure how the hell they come up with these fares as there is no logic in a lot of them!

(26 Jul 2015, 8:54 pm)Tom wrote Or £4.00 like you've said to Durham which is appalling. Not sure how the hell they come up with these fares as there is no logic in a lot of them!

It is more than £4.00 now .

I didn't mention the Durham one, as it has been brought up before.
I thought the two Tyne & Wear ones were interesting - particularly the cheaper of the two covering a greater distance, greater journey time and two buzzfare zones.

(26 Jul 2015, 8:57 pm)Andreos1 wrote It is more than £4.00 now .

I didn't mention the Durham one, as it has been brought up before.
I thought the two Tyne & Wear ones were interesting - particularly the cheaper of the two covering a greater distance, greater journey time and two buzzfare zones.

Yeah they are definitely. £2.80 is very good value. Isn't it £3.20 or £4.10 from Houghton to the Galleries on the X1?

Not sure if it's been mentioned before but someone was charged £4.10(!!) from Lanchester to Consett the other day. Surely can't be right?

(26 Jul 2015, 8:58 pm)Tom wrote Yeah they are definitely. £2.80 is very good value. Isn't it £3.20 or £4.10 from Houghton to the Galleries on the X1?

Not sure if it's been mentioned before but someone was charged £4.10(!!) from Lanchester to Consett the other day. Surely can't be right?

The fare from Houghton - Galleries on the X1 is/was the same as the fare to Newcastle.
I think it is mentioned early on in this thread. Tend not to pay that fare, after having my fingers burned - so no idea what it is these days.

The £2.80 is a bargain fare. Totally agree.
Curious to find out the return fare, coupled with a return to the town on the metro from Heworth, to see how it compares to the day ticket alternatives.

(26 Jul 2015, 9:08 pm)Andreos1 wrote The fare from Houghton - Galleries on the X1 is/was the same as the fare to Newcastle.
I think it is mentioned early on in this thread. Tend not to pay that fare, after having my fingers burned - so no idea what it is these days.

The £2.80 is a bargain fare. Totally agree.
Curious to find out the return fare, coupled with a return to the town on the metro from Heworth, to see how it compares to the day ticket alternatives.

Normally a return fare for a £2.80 single is £4.70.

So £4.70 return + £3.70 metro return is £8.40. So a day ticket would still be cheaper. Not sure how much a return is on the bus though.

(26 Jul 2015, 8:34 pm)aureolin wrote Thornley not being in the Durham district boundary has always baffled me, given that the likes of Bowburn, Coxhoe and Kelloe are. Not to mention Bishop, Newcastle and Gateshead!

It's only been in the past year or so that there's been a reliable bus service to the village. The change to the 22 last October was a good one, as reliability was a big problem when it did a convoluted circuit of Peterlee before carrying on to Hartlepool. It takes something major like the big meet or Christmas festival to make it seriously late, now. A year ago it was common for services to be so late they were abandoned - not much fun on a wet day, stuck at Durham bus station, surrounded by buckets and with an anxious and increasingly angry child (in the days before he cottoned onto his bus love. 45 minutes in a bus station is his idea of a good time, this year). A few years ago, the bus was only hourly - cost me £15 in taxi fare when it didn't turn up was afternoon when I'd had a hospital appointment and needed to get home for school pick up.

I've seen that the use of the service has improved since it became Sapphire branded. I think it's in a catch 22 situation of being expensive because no one uses it and no one uses it because it's expensive. It's not like there's enough in the village to not have to leave for anything. Even people who can ill afford it run cars or club together for the supermarket deals run by taxi firms.

I'm wondering if somebody could clear something up for me; what is the reasoning behind 90 pence Key Card fares being unavailable on the ''Tyne Tees Express'' services?

(28 Jul 2015, 12:34 pm)R852 PRG wrote I'm wondering if somebody could clear something up for me; what is the reasoning behind 90 pence Key Card fares being unavailable on the ''Tyne Tees Express'' services?

They want your money!!! 

(28 Jul 2015, 12:34 pm)R852 PRG wrote I'm wondering if somebody could clear something up for me; what is the reasoning behind 90 pence Key Card fares being unavailable on the ''Tyne Tees Express'' services?

Used to be the case for the old Regionwide tickets too. You would have to have an X10 ticket instead, which was essentially Regionwide+X10.

(28 Jul 2015, 12:39 pm)GX03 SVC wrote They want your money!!! 

Obviously. That is the whole point of a business.

(28 Jul 2015, 7:42 pm)aureolin wrote Used to be the case for the old Regionwide tickets too. You would have to have an X10 ticket instead, which was essentially Regionwide+X10.

Oh I see, thanks Adrian. So this ''Regionwide+X10'' ticket, if you paid for that could you travel on the X10, but if you just had a standard ''Regionwide'' ticket, could you not?

(28 Jul 2015, 7:48 pm)R852 PRG wrote Obviously. That is the whole point of a business.


Oh I see, thanks Adrian. So this ''Regionwide+X10'' ticket, if you paid for that could you travel on the X10, but if you just had a standard ''Regionwide'' ticket, could you not?

Got it in one! 

Not sure when that came in, but it was certainly the case during the latter years of the old multi-trip tickets.

(28 Jul 2015, 7:50 pm)aureolin wrote Got it in one! 

Not sure when that came in, but it was certainly the case during the latter years of the old multi-trip tickets.

I've guessed correctly for once. Next thing you know, I'm on the Chase.

Would this have been when the coaches were on the X10?

(28 Jul 2015, 7:53 pm)R852 PRG wrote I've guessed correctly for once. Next thing you know, I'm on the Chase.

Would this have been when the coaches were on the X10?

The coaches were only in the early days of the X9 - this would have been before the X9 existed I believe.

(28 Jul 2015, 7:56 pm)tyresmoke wrote The coaches were only in the early days of the X9 - this would have been before the X9 existed I believe.

So, the coaches were on the X9 before it even existed? 

(28 Jul 2015, 7:58 pm)R852 PRG wrote So, the coaches were on the X9 before it even existed? 

Yes

I think he means that the ticket was like that before the X9 was introduced?

(28 Jul 2015, 7:58 pm)R852 PRG wrote So, the coaches were on the X9 before it even existed? 

What I meant was the regionwide+X10 ticket would have been before the X9 existed.
Coaches haven't operated X10 for at least as long as I can remember, though maybe in the early years when it was a shared Northern/United service? The pink Premieres/Paragons were the early days of the X9

(28 Jul 2015, 8:00 pm)S813 FVK wrote Cheeky

I think he means that the ticket was like that before the X9 was introduced?

Yeah, just realised I'd read the post wrong. Sorry Scott. 

(28 Jul 2015, 8:00 pm)tyresmoke wrote What I meant was the regionwide+X10 ticket would have been before the X9 existed.
Coaches haven't operated X10 for at least as long as I can remember, though maybe in the early years when it was a shared Northern/United service? The pink Premieres/Paragons were the early days of the X9

Coaches were used on the X10 when it was jointly operated with United along with the X1 (at the time), when Chester ran it.

The duty was something like X1 from Chester to Newcastle, X10 to Middlesboro and back to Newcastle, then X1 back to Chester.

(28 Jul 2015, 8:04 pm)citaro5284 wrote Coaches were used on the X10 when it was jointly operated with United along with the X1 (at the time), when Chester ran it.

The duty was something like X1 from Chester to Newcastle, X10 to Middlesboro and back to Newcastle, then X1 back to Chester.

Thought they might have! That sounds like a decent day mind... Would have been a good 4-5 hours?

(28 Jul 2015, 8:09 pm)tyresmoke wrote Thought they might have! That sounds like a decent day mind... Would have been a good 4-5 hours?

I hear most coaches are fantastic to drive, if I was a driver, I certainly wouldn't object to a nice drive like that in a Volvo B10M coach! 

(28 Jul 2015, 8:10 pm)R852 PRG wrote I hear most coaches are fantastic to drive, if I was a driver, I certainly wouldn't object to a nice drive like that in a Volvo B10M coach! 

Think it would have been Leyland Tigers in those days!

(28 Jul 2015, 8:04 pm)citaro5284 wrote Coaches were used on the X10 when it was jointly operated with United along with the X1 (at the time), when Chester ran it.

The duty was something like X1 from Chester to Newcastle, X10 to Middlesboro and back to Newcastle, then X1 back to Chester.

Don't forget the Metrobuses that Chester used.

Uprated engines and coach seating on the Cxxx OCn examples.

(28 Jul 2015, 8:13 pm)Andreos1 wrote Don't forget the Metrobuses that Chester used.

Uprated engines and coach seating on the Cxxx OCn examples.

Ooh aye. Superliner branded Metrobuses rings a bell!

(28 Jul 2015, 8:27 pm)aureolin wrote Ooh aye. Superliner branded Metrobuses rings a bell!

There was the Express Link livery prior to that.
If I remember right, there was a blue variation of it too. Sure a VR or two were painted into that livery.

edit: http://bcv.robsly.com/jpt906t.html
Pics of a VR in both Express Link and the Blue variation, which was prior to de-reg.

It turns out the £2.80 fare from Houghton - Heworth on the 4, isn't unique.

It is £2.80 single from both the Galleries and Albany to Heworth.

£3.90 return by all accounts from Heworth, to the three places mentioned (and presumably to the points in-between).

Quick question, can you the Day Rover on the ticket between Sunderland Newcastle on the Northern trains?

According to the nexus website, yes