Go North East

[kez19]

I too speaking as an outsider but have noticed one route thats changed quite alot in short length of time, the X21 service was called Castles Express and is now X-Lines 21 (unsure if it was called anything prior) but in last few years its a service I came familar with.

The other one is well is the Cobalt service?, the 309-310 (new service is 311)? , weren't the buses just branded Cobalt?, but since revamp it now includes the coast to Blyth? (advertising the service to Blyth where before it wasn't much highlighted?)

Also another is the X9/X10 service - bus services to Middlesborough/Dalton Park (another service under the Xlines)

Correct me: Angel 21 stops at Angel of the North but the X21 does not?

 

[NorthOxonian]

I too speaking as an outsider but have noticed one route thats changed quite alot in short length of time, the X21 service was called Castles Express and is now X-Lines 21 (unsure if it was called anything prior) but in last few years its a service I came familar with.

The other one is well is the Cobalt service?, the 309-310 (new service is 311)? , weren't the buses just branded Cobalt?, but since revamp it now includes the coast to Blyth? (advertising the service to Blyth where before it wasn't much highlighted?)

Also another is the X9/X10 service - bus services to Middlesborough/Dalton Park (another service under the Xlines)

Correct me: Angel 21 stops at Angel of the North but the X21 does not?

Yes - the X21 is similar to the 21 but runs non-stop (with one exception) in Gateshead/Birtley, which includes the Angel. It used to be much more distinct, but in recent years a stop in the Gateshead suburbs has been added, and the section between Chester and Durham has changed from non-stop to stopping to compensate for a frequency reduction in the 21.

The X21 was called Pronto before the Castles Express, with some of the front of the bus (around the destination board) painted in the colours of the Italian flag. Certainly one of the more bizarre brands ever seen on the network!

 

[kez19]

Yes - the X21 is similar to the 21 but runs non-stop (with one exception) in Gateshead/Birtley, which includes the Angel. It used to be much more distinct, but in recent years a stop in the Gateshead suburbs has been added, and the section between Chester and Durham has changed from non-stop to stopping to compensate for a frequency reduction in the 21.

The X21 was called Pronto before the Castles Express, with some of the front of the bus (around the destination board) painted in the colours of the Italian flag. Certainly one of the more bizarre brands ever seen on the network!

I never knew that about Pronto (seen the buses on Flickr did wonder)

As for the X21 I never knew I could use that bus, last time I visited I used the 21 as wasn’t sure it did (thanks for that)

At a guess here, I am assuming that Go North East is rebranding its routes, I noticed on Flickr and mentioned that Q3 has went under QuayCity, would the Q1/Q2 not simply go under this rebrand as well? Would seem a bit off if you call one destination but the others not? As is this not what they have done under the Cobalt and Coast - 309/10/11?

Also to add I am assuming the likes of ToonLink/Red Kite are going?, I wonder what the new names will be along with Coaster and Tyne Valley 10

 

[duncombec]

Roger French's blogpost for last week (https://busandtrainuser.com/2021/01/23/week-3-at-pace/) includes this statement:

More upcoming bus branding news, and this week from Go North East “as part of ongoing work to get us in the best place for our long term recovery” there’ll be a “core colour theme” for each area with yellow for Consett, orange for Hexham, blue for North Tyneside, green for Gateshead, purple for Peterlee and red for Sunderland/South Tyneside which will all sit alongside the X-lines brand. Next area for a refresh is Washington with a vibrant pink colour which will appear on Connections 4 (paired with blue) and minibuses in a new ‘Little Pinks’ brand”.

As enthusiasts, most of us are only too keen to complain when a route-branded bus appears on the wrong route. We also know (see Reading, Nottingham) requires either lots of spares, or a generic brand that can be used, which also dilutes the route branding as a whole. With the inevitable changes that will come when the Coronavirus Support Grant (or whatever it's acronym is that we aren't supposed to use without explaining anyway - CBSSG?), it seems an eminently sensible move to reduce the branding down to core areas to enable greater vehicle flexibility, which is one thought I had as to why they have gone down this line.

I've never been to GNE territory, and even a brief visit is unlikely to show whether these brands are known well to "Joe public", or whether they just look for the number or something else entirely. It is very unlikely that any enthusiast in GNE territory will be aware of how similar the new branding is to Transdev (or Southern Vectis for that matter). The mockups somehow remind me of Stagecoach Carlisle's Solos in a way, but I doubt passengers pay much attention to what is on a town service at the other end of the 685!

 

[cnjb8]

Living in Nottingham and being used to TrentBarton and Nottingham City Transport I can tell you branding works if you put the effort in. Unfortunately some operators mix brands and that in most enthusiasts eyes dilutes the success of branding, but when used effectively it makes for a more public transport friendly city. Of course I am not saying Nottingham has no traffic because everyone is using the bus, and you can put some of the said success down to the tram, but in terms of buses it works here.
I admire GNE for trying to unify brands under one design, and I do think it's working. Before it was a mishmash of designs, so must have been very confusing for passengers. GNE look a very up and coming company, and rightfully so, especially with the Voltra buses. I see no reason why branding should fail on the GNE network if it works already and is being simplified so it works even better.

 

[Andyh82]

The branding won’t fail, but I doubt the passengers will notice the difference between branding applied in unique styles, or branding all in a consistent style with the road lines device or whatever they are calling it. That’ll only be noticed by the management and by Stenning.

“Little Pinks” is another boring generic name, that doesn’t have the same local flair as Blaydon Racers or Toonlink did. Both that and the new “Connections 4” look like they’ve been lifted straight from Reading Buses.

I should point out none of these complaints apply to EYMS. The old management ran that in such a traditional manner, that the new livery and new branding is really freshening up the image of the company, the issue with GNE is that they are throwing away local stuff to become a carbon copy of other firms.

 

[kez19]

The branding won’t fail, but I doubt the passengers will notice the difference between branding applied in unique styles, or branding all in a consistent style with the road lines device or whatever they are calling it. That’ll only be noticed by the management and by Stenning.

“Little Pinks” is another boring generic name, that doesn’t have the same local flair as Blaydon Racers or Toonlink did. Both that and the new “Connections 4” look like they’ve been lifted straight from Reading Buses.

I’m guessing little pinks is a spin off from the little coasters (42/42A)? (branding)

Just to add surprised little pinks is not either little minx or little mix lol

Also the colour scheme for connections 4 in the link look like the colour scheme with Go North West - CrossFit link? (on Flickr the previous Mercedes Citaro buses are in the new colour there?)

 

[MotCO]

Prince Bishops!

I said I was an outsider

 

[rg177]

The other one is well is the Cobalt service?, the 309-310 (new service is 311)? , weren't the buses just branded Cobalt?, but since revamp it now includes the coast to Blyth? (advertising the service to Blyth where before it wasn't much highlighted?)

The Coast Road corridor has been through various incarnations over the years. I should know, I live on it!

The Cobalt Clipper, as was, introduced in 2008 as just the 309. It was half hourly, running from Newcastle to Blyth broadly following the Arriva 308 route. It had Scania Omnicities at the time.

The Citylink 58 was introduced at the same time with much fanfare from Heworth to Hadrian Park, via Newcastle. It ran every 10 minutes with then brand-new Citaros.

The "Centurion" 75/76 then handled the bulk of the Haymarket-Coast Road-Coast services, running in two different directions around a large loop of North Shields/Tynemouth/Whitley Bay.

The 309 ended up doing quite well and was increased to every 15 minutes. The 75/76 were also binned off and the Newcastle-North Shields segment replaced by a new 310, joining the Cobalt brand. This somewhat simplified the Newcastle-Coast routes into two, running at a combined 7.5min frequency up the Coast Road. The route ended up getting extra Citaros in 2010 to go with the Omnicities, and subsequently a batch of B9s in 2013/4.

The 311 was only introduced last year (perhaps late 2019 actually). It replaced what was the 58 then the 57, with GNE clearly wanting shot of a route that ran from Heworth (later Wardley and Heworth) all the way to Hadrian Park and had been allocated a weird mix of Citaros, Artic Citaros, Versas then somehow ended going full circle and getting the original Citaros back! That route, having started as every 10 minutes in 2008 was gradually reduced to every 20, then it lost its evening service entirely, then at one point you'd have random gaps in service in the peak so that they could run a '58X' from nearby Cobalt Business Park straight to Newcastle. The only bit of route that it exclusively served from Newcastle was Hadrian Park itself and it became increasingly clear over time that GNE didn't want to run it past Newcastle anymore.

The introduction of the 311 kept all of the routes going down the Coast Road in one place (terminating at Haymarket Bus Station) whereas the 57/58 meant that you'd be picking and choosing between there or various random stops in the City Centre. They were also pretty bad for getting snarled up in peak time traffic on the Tyne Bridge.

And so, we're at the present day. What started off as a 58, 75, 76 and 309 across three different brands eventually boiled down into the "Cobalt & Coast" brand.

The 309, every 20 minutes, Newcastle to Blyth.
The 310, every 20 minutes, Newcastle to N Shields
The 311, every 20 minutes, Newcastle to Hadrian Park.

The B9s were also tarted up and had tables fitted. Combined, that's resulted in 9bph between Newcastle and Battlehill (and still a rather cool 17bph down the Coast Road corridor when you add in Arriva's 306/308)

Due to covid the 311 has disappeared from time to time with the 310 picking up the stops around Hadrian Park (which just involves diverging off the usual route, looping the estate and rejoining where you leave off).

 

[MackTen]

I am not sure it's even accurate to say these changes are simplifying things all that markedly.

Taking Consett as a case study, it's gone from this..

* four long distance branded routes (ToonLink, Red Kite, Coast and Country, Durham Diamond)
* one local network brand (Venture)
* one visiting network brand (Tynedale Links)
* one generic? livery route (X5/15)

....to this....

* four X-Lines, each with their own colour, three in greens because they share an ultimate destination (Newcastle), orange for Durham
* two branded slow long routes (Durham Diamond and Coast and Country)
* the local network (Venture)
* the Tynedale visitor

...and looks to be heading for this.....

* four X-Lines (three shades of green, one orange)
* yellow liveried local services (Little Venturers?)
* an orange liveried rural visitor from the Tynedale area
* a red liveried slow service from Sunderland
* ????? a possibly yellow, possibly purple, slow service from Durham

I struggle to see the simplification here. Still lots of colours, still not massively obvious what differentiates an X-Line from another bus, if or rather when, these sector based liveries come with new buses too.

Worst of all, if considering the target market of X-Lines, shoppers and commuters driving cars or using taxis, in amongst all those changes, unless they're really good at telling their shades of green apart, nominal customers have actually lost their quick and easy way to tell if the Newcastle bound bus in front of them, calls at the Metrocentre or not. Previously, you only needed to find the long standing and well known Red Kite. Easy to spot, since it's eyes were the size of dinner plates, and would stare right into your very soulz judging you fir being a selfish car driver or an affluent purveyor of the Hackney Carriage.

 

[kez19]

The Coast Road corridor has been through various incarnations over the years. I should know, I live on it!

The Cobalt Clipper, as was, introduced in 2008 as just the 309. It was half hourly, running from Newcastle to Blyth broadly following the Arriva 308 route. It had Scania Omnicities at the time.

The Citylink 58 was introduced at the same time with much fanfare from Heworth to Hadrian Park, via Newcastle. It ran every 10 minutes with then brand-new Citaros.

The "Centurion" 75/76 then handled the bulk of the Haymarket-Coast Road-Coast services, running in two different directions around a large loop of North Shields/Tynemouth/Whitley Bay.

The 309 ended up doing quite well and was increased to every 15 minutes. The 75/76 were also binned off and the Newcastle-North Shields segment replaced by a new 310, joining the Cobalt brand. This somewhat simplified the Newcastle-Coast routes into two, running at a combined 7.5min frequency up the Coast Road. The route ended up getting extra Citaros in 2010 to go with the Omnicities, and subsequently a batch of B9s in 2013/4.

The 311 was only introduced last year (perhaps late 2019 actually). It replaced what was the 58 then the 57, with GNE clearly wanting shot of a route that ran from Heworth (later Wardley and Heworth) all the way to Hadrian Park and had been allocated a weird mix of Citaros, Artic Citaros, Versas then somehow ended going full circle and getting the original Citaros back! That route, having started as every 10 minutes in 2008 was gradually reduced to every 20, then it lost its evening service entirely, then at one point you'd have random gaps in service in the peak so that they could run a '58X' from nearby Cobalt Business Park straight to Newcastle. The only bit of route that it exclusively served from Newcastle was Hadrian Park itself and it became increasingly clear over time that GNE didn't want to run it past Newcastle anymore.

The introduction of the 311 kept all of the routes going down the Coast Road in one place (terminating at Haymarket Bus Station) whereas the 57/58 meant that you'd be picking and choosing between there or various random stops in the City Centre. They were also pretty bad for getting snarled up in peak time traffic on the Tyne Bridge.

And so, we're at the present day. What started off as a 58, 75, 76 and 309 across three different brands eventually boiled down into the "Cobalt & Coast" brand.

The 309, every 20 minutes, Newcastle to Blyth.
The 310, every 20 minutes, Newcastle to N Shields
The 311, every 20 minutes, Newcastle to Hadrian Park.

The B9s were also tarted up and had tables fitted. Combined, that's resulted in 9bph between Newcastle and Battlehill (and still a rather cool 17bph down the Coast Road corridor when you add in Arriva's 306/308)

Due to covid the 311 has disappeared from time to time with the 310 picking up the stops around Hadrian Park (which just involves diverging off the usual route, looping the estate and rejoining where you leave off).

Thats the name... Cobalt Clipper! Can someone also correct me I noticed past few years that some of their buses were "ad free" due to the branding ie Red Arrows, I'm guessing that they need advertising so on some buses they have had to take some of it down to put billboards on?

Just to add I did note on Flickr the Fab 56 rebrand CityRider but yet the buses seem to be covered in its updated brand.

Curious here (as an outsider), how far can you go with Go North East from Newcastle? I'm guessing Blyth(?) then down its Durham/Bishop Auckland/Middlesborough?

 

[darloscott]

Thats the name... Cobalt Clipper! Can someone also correct me I noticed past few years that some of their buses were "ad free" due to the branding ie Red Arrows, I'm guessing that they need advertising so on some buses they have had to take some of it down to put billboards on?

Just to add I did note on Flickr the Fab 56 rebrand CityRider but yet the buses seem to be covered in its updated brand.

Curious here (as an outsider), how far can you go with Go North East from Newcastle? I'm guessing Blyth(?) then down its Durham/Bishop Auckland/Middlesborough?

Haltwhistle/Alston (most of the 681 route is further west!) in the west, Blyth in the north (though they run one contract [434] further north but I'm not sure you can get to it with GNE!), Middlesbrough in the south, with a mention for West Auckland also (the X21 extends out there now to give Arriva a test).

 

[kez19]

Haltwhistle in the west, Blyth in the north (though they run one contract [434] further north but I'm not sure you can get to it!), Middlesbrough in the south, with a mention for West Auckland also (the X21 extends out there now to give Arriva a test).

The one to the north is that Cramlington you speak of? (other than Blyth). You mention Haltwhistle, i'm guessing this is after Hexham (just looked on their site to see where it was, thats really far!), not far from Brampton/Carlisle!

EDIT: scrap Cramlington, looks like Ashington is the furthest with GNE - 19/42 services


I remember the first time using the X21 going to Durham but been surprised more recently it has been extended further to West Auckland!

 

[darloscott]

The one to the north is that Cramlington you speak of? (other than Blyth).


I remember the first time using the X21 going to Durham but been surprised more recently it has been extended further to West Auckland!

The 434 which runs between Bedlington, Ashington and Linton.

 

[kez19]

The 434 which runs between Bedlington, Ashington and Linton.

See it now, interesting!

You are right in terms of how would you catch it as it seems on the map the bus stop is in North Blyth!

Just did a quick look getting there lol .... 309 then 19 then 434 (in short) - 2hrs 58min

 

[rg177]

Haltwhistle/Alston (most of the 681 route is further west!) in the west, Blyth in the north (though they run one contract [434] further north but I'm not sure you can get to it with GNE!), Middlesbrough in the south, with a mention for West Auckland also (the X21 extends out there now to give Arriva a test).

The X81 (tacked onto the first/last 681) from Alston to Hexham is a great run though naturally with very little uptake.

It's a nice, if slow, way to do Haltwhistle to Hexham on a summer afternoon!

 

[arbeia]

AD122 Summer service along Hadrians Wall count?

 

[MackTen]

The Cobalt mess coincided with my last journey over that way. I simply resorted to checking route numbers and stops. Sadly an all too frequent occurrence, just try to actively avoid any branding cues, even when standing at the stop.

On a not unrelated note, now that the X44/45 is an X-Line, running in parallel to the relatively recent upgrade of the Stagecoach 39/40, I have just noticed they are using identical vehicles, right down to the same white led display.

Thus, in the semi-gloom of late afternoon, not even darkness, you are back to having to resort to squinting to actually read the route number on your colourless silhouette of a fast approaching bus, and that's the first and typically only chance you will get, presumably because the GNE drivers are so used to not picking anyone up on this stretch of parallel running, certainly not in the Up direction anyway.

In their prior devotion to branding, GNE even used to use coloured route numbers on the LEDs, but I suppose that has been dumped too. Progress, eh.

The future sucks.

 

[kez19]

The Cobalt mess coincided with my last journey over that way. I simply resorted to checking route numbers and stops. Sadly an all too frequent occurrence, just try to actively avoid any branding cues, even when standing at the stop.

On a not unrelated note, now that the X44/45 is an X-Line, running in parallel to the relatively recent upgrade of the Stagecoach 39/40, I have just noticed they are using identical vehicles, right down to the same white led display.

Thus, in the semi-gloom of late afternoon, not even darkness, you are back to having to resort to squinting to actually read the route number on your colourless silhouette of a fast approaching bus, and that's the first and typically only chance you will get, presumably because the GNE drivers are so used to not picking anyone up on this stretch of parallel running, certainly not in the Up direction anyway.

In their prior devotion to branding, GNE even used to use coloured route numbers on the LEDs, but I suppose that has been dumped too. Progress, eh.

The future sucks.

That was the thing I noticed when I first came to Newcastle was the GNE vehicles the numbering was in colour which I hadn’t seen before

 

[MackTen]

That was the thing I noticed when I first came to Newcastle was the GNE vehicles the numbering was in colour which I hadn’t seen before

Not sure when I first noticed it, but the company has, or at least had such a good reputation for being innovative and branding focused, you really weren't surprised they had done it. It was like, wow, that's cool, wonder why noone else has done that, but, well, of course they would, that's such a GNE baller move.

If the primary colour of X-Lines is gold, then it would have been sensible to spec a gold LED display, no? Unless, of course, they kind of already know there's a good chance X-Lines won't last, or worse, they're being cheap and trying to avoid higher costs when it comes to refurb/cascade time.

edit: perhaps they have blown all their lightshow budget on the rather pointless Voltras. I think it's been long enough that the public know there is some kind of association between electricity and light. Made it even worse that they've made it look like an 80s neon sign!

 

[kez19]

Not sure when I first noticed it, but the company has, or at least had such a good reputation for being innovative and branding focused, you really weren't surprised they had done it. It was like, wow, that's cool, wonder why noone else has done that, but, well, of course they would, that's such a GNE baller move.

If the primary colour of X-Lines is gold, then it would have been sensible to spec a gold LED display, no? Unless, of course, they kind of already know there's a good chance X-Lines won't last, or worse, they're being cheap and trying to avoid higher costs when it comes to refurb/cascade time.

I was wondering what XLines actually meant, I’m guessing it’s just express service.

For me when I use their service I always liked the branding it seem to give an idea of what’s in the areas (correct me).

Red Kites (still on buses so far on Flickr), Red Arrows was another.

I like the QuayCity brand but I think they should have refurbished all that fleet at once (the buses they mostly use the Optare single deck?), but it looks weird you have some done and the others not.


The other good thing I have found is when using their services the drivers (I’ll say some as I know opinion there will be different), seem to listen to you or for me (using their app), took their time than feeling rushed

 

[Bristol LHS]

If the primary colour of X-Lines is gold, then it would have been sensible to spec a gold LED display, no? Unless, of course, they kind of already know there's a good chance X-Lines won't last, or worse, they're being cheap and trying to avoid higher costs when it comes to refurb/cascade time.

I think the example you’re referring to is a route served by the ADL E400s; but the Wrightbus X-lines up at Consett have been specc’d with massive dual displays - so you get a London style destination box at the bottom and the number and via points above. My understanding is the design of the E400s doesn’t allow this. But I think the fact they’ve gone for this (plus the bike racks, tables, feet seats etc) don’t suggest an order specc’d on the cheap.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I was wondering what XLines actually meant, I’m guessing it’s just express service.

For me when I use their service I always liked the branding it seem to give an idea of what’s in the areas (correct me).

Red Kites (still on buses so far on Flickr), Red Arrows was another.

I like the QuayCity brand but I think they should have refurbished all that fleet at once (the buses they mostly use the Optare single deck?), but it looks weird you have some done and the others not.


The other good thing I have found is when using their services the drivers (I’ll say some as I know opinion there will be different), seem to listen to you or for me (using their app), took their time than feeling rushed

X-Lines is just a local express network, leaving parallel, slower services to their own brands OR standard Go North East red. If you were to scroll back 30 years, it's almost the return of Expresslink (with many of the same services even)

Instead of the X1 to Washington, the X4/X5

9-87B14

Seen in Newcastle in August 1987 is Go Ahead Northern MCW Metrobus Mk II 3781 (C781OCN)

www.flickr.com

The X30 instead of X30 (?)

1988-02-15 C522 LJR Leyland Olympian-ECW 3522 of Northern, Stanley

Explore John Carter 1962's 69872 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

The X10 instead of X10 (?)

C780OCN

From my bought collection. Go Ahead Northern coach seated MCW Metrobus 3780, C780OCN, seen in Middlesbrough.

www.flickr.com

So almost coming full circle (credit to photographers)

 

[MackTen]

I think X-Lines is being promoted at least as much of a comfortable service (because they're long distance routes) as it is an express (fast and direct), and that it's a nominal cohevise network in terms of fares and interchange.

A notable omission, is any reference to headway. I haven't looked, but I am assuming there have been no improvements there?

GNE still has other long distance non X-Lines routes, such as the CityRider (Newcastle-Suderland), but its doubtful these are being used end to end, given there are usually better alternatives, either other buses, or trains/Metro. Hence why there's no X-Line out to North Tyneside, or along the Tyne Valley Line (Hexham itself excepted), areas which are otherwise heavily served by GNE.

As someone mentioned, I think X-Lines is definitely an attempt by the company to highlight that they are almost as good as a train, on all the trunk routes where they're not competing with a train, or indeed, in the case of Newcastle-Sunderland or Newcastle-South Shields, with a more conventional express run by a competitor.

Although it does theoretically compete with the train at CLS and Durham, I think GNE already know that for those travellers, their decisions have already been made, and the addition of tables, foot rests and high backed seats, aren't going to sway them if they haven't already been swayed.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The opening line on the X Lines page is

X-lines – rapid bus links from Go North East​

Welcome to X-lines, your fast, direct bus links from Go North East to get you to work, to the shops, or off for a nice day out.

That, and the continuation of slower, parallel routes, indicates their intended sales pitch. The bus will never compete with the train/Metro on point to point which is why various routes (most principally Stagecoach X24/X34) have relied not on end to end but serving populous areas outside of the main towns. Certainly, it seems to be the case of improving the standard of comfort, perhaps to maintain what they currently have and to gain car drivers with a higher end product. There is, in addition, the ability to take custom from Arriva on the Hexham to Newcastle corridor and certainly between Bishop and Durham, and Durham to Newcastle. That said, it doesn't take much to market yourselves better than Arriva.

The other long distance services that GNE (like the 27) have don't rely on point to point but a series of discrete, overlapping passenger flows.

The X21 is perhaps better able to compete with the train because of the location of Durham and Chester le Street stations being rather peripheral. People who travel by train aren't going to be attracted by X Lines but then, that probably isn't who they're trying to attract.

 

[route101]

Only GNE route Ive done was X21 from Bishop Auckland to Newcastle. Nice run. Hope to do more routes when we are allowed to travel.

 

[kez19]

Only GNE route Ive done was X21 from Bishop Auckland to Newcastle. Nice run. Hope to do more routes when we are allowed to travel.

I like the X21 if I am honest, cheaper to go by bus than train if I am right?

 

[route101]

I like the X21 if I am honest, cheaper to go by bus than train if I am right?

Cant remember how much it cost, I took the train to Bishop Auckland then got bus.

 

[kez19]

The opening line on the X Lines page is

X-lines – rapid bus links from Go North East​

Welcome to X-lines, your fast, direct bus links from Go North East to get you to work, to the shops, or off for a nice day out.

That, and the continuation of slower, parallel routes, indicates their intended sales pitch. The bus will never compete with the train/Metro on point to point which is why various routes (most principally Stagecoach X24/X34) have relied not on end to end but serving populous areas outside of the main towns. Certainly, it seems to be the case of improving the standard of comfort, perhaps to maintain what they currently have and to gain car drivers with a higher end product. There is, in addition, the ability to take custom from Arriva on the Hexham to Newcastle corridor and certainly between Bishop and Durham, and Durham to Newcastle. That said, it doesn't take much to market yourselves better than Arriva.

The other long distance services that GNE (like the 27) have don't rely on point to point but a series of discrete, overlapping passenger flows.

The X21 is perhaps better able to compete with the train because of the location of Durham and Chester le Street stations being rather peripheral. People who travel by train aren't going to be attracted by X Lines but then, that probably isn't who they're trying to attract.

I'm surprised why they haven't tried venturing further north after Ashington (just finding out on this thread), or even further afield to Carlisle, would it be down to competition? I guess that after Hexham its pretty much a Stagecoach/Arriva corridor and if GNE were to go that way it be too much?

Cant remember how much it cost, I took the train to Bishop Auckland then got bus.

For me when I visited Durham, I went by bus from Newcastle (an hour?), then the following visit I took the train.

 

[NorthOxonian]

I like the X21 if I am honest, cheaper to go by bus than train if I am right?

For Newcastle to Durham it's pretty comparable off-peak (the bus wins but by less than £1). But if you're going to Bishop Auckland the bus is much cheaper and saves you the hassle of going to Darlington.