Arriva North East

[800001]

Yes - all 28 E200MMCs on order for the North East are the 11.8m 6 cylinder model, already used in the area by Stagecoach.

Ah that's good. Sounding promising then for Darlington. Customers will be in for a shock when they go from a Pulsar to new busses.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Arriva has posted their Easter travel times, with a standard Sunday service for Good Friday and Easter Monday in the North East.

North East
Good Friday 3 April
Sunday service
Saturday 4 April
Normal service
Sunday 5 April
Normal service
Easter Monday 6 April
Sunday service

Bank holidays

Plan your bank holiday activities and get there by bus. Check back here for details of our bank holiday bus timetables for your area.

www.arrivabus.co.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Mar 2026 ==

E400 MMC 7599 has moved from Northumbria back down to Teesside.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Mar 2026 ==

E400 MMC 7578 has moved from Northumbria to Redcar and Pulsar 2 1491 has moved from Northumbria to Stockton.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Mar 2026 ==

E400 7507 has been stripped for parts.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Mar 2026 ==

E400 MMC 7598 has received its Whitby Park & Ride vinyls.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Pulsar 2 1456 has transferred up to Northumberland.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Mar 2026 ==

E400 7502 has been withdrawn.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Mar 2026 ==

E400 MMC 7599 has received its Whitby Park & Ride vinyls.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Streetlite 1604 has returned to Darlington.

 

[DunsBus]

7577 at Kelso on Saturday evening last (11th April) after running the 1558 X16 from Newcastle. During the week the X16 terminates at Wooler.

 

[LkmtvMetatarsl]

I travelled on the X22 from Stockton to Peterlee last week and enjoyed the journey. I get the impression it was a longer route in the past and I understand it ran to/from Darlington until recently. Did it ever run north of Peterlee?

 

[NorthOxonian]

I travelled on the X22 from Stockton to Peterlee last week and enjoyed the journey. I get the impression it was a longer route in the past and I understand it ran to/from Darlington until recently. Did it ever run north of Peterlee?

At least in recent times, the service to/from Darlington was a separate (but similar) X21 route - it originally ran between Sunderland and Darlington (via Peterlee, Sedgefield, and Newton Aycliffe) before being cut back to just Peterlee and Darlington, I believe during Covid. The X21 was fully scrapped in 2023, though to compensate the frequency of the X22 was enhanced on the northern section between Sedgefield and Peterlee. But the connection between Sedgefield and Newton Aycliffe has been totally lost - there's not really any obvious alternative (a tendered service runs to Ferryhill, where you can connect for a 7). I seem to recall a consultation a few months back which proposed changing the X22 to run that way, so it's clearly something that is being considered (and Sedgefield to Stockton would still have the X12 service in that case, though one or two villages would lose out because the X12 by-passes them).

I don't believe the X22 ever ran north of Peterlee, at least, not in its current form within the last decade or so. That said, it did used to extend more consistently south of Stockton to Middlesbrough. But unlike Sedgefield to Newton Aycliffe, that corridor does have plenty of alternatives.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I travelled on the X22 from Stockton to Peterlee last week and enjoyed the journey. I get the impression it was a longer route in the past and I understand it ran to/from Darlington until recently. Did it ever run north of Peterlee?

Depends how far back in time you wish to go.

It was historically the 214 Sunderland to Middlesbrough which disappeared at deregulation, but was then brought back in the 1990s. There was also the 213 Sunderland to Darlington, paralleling it between Sunderland and Sedgefield which always existed from ye olden days until Arriva took over and they then became 21A and 21 respectively.

Then the big changes. I think they were part of the Peterlee to Sunderland corridor that was then merged into the 22/23/24 routes, with the routes losing their Sunderland to Peterlee leg. Much later, Arriva then cut the X21 to Darlington entirely, doubling the X22 but only as far as Stockton, and then trimming it further so it no longer reaches Middlesbrough.

I think that's probably it but with many other changes that I'll have forgotten. It's now a half hourly 22 between Peterlee and Sunderland but historically it was a 20 min headway with another cross Durham route being a Bishop Auckland to Coxhoe to Peterlee to Sunderland route.

 

[Jimmi]

Depends how far back in time you wish to go.

It was historically the 214 Sunderland to Middlesbrough which disappeared at deregulation, but was then brought back in the 1990s. There was also the 213 Sunderland to Darlington, paralleling it between Sunderland and Sedgefield which always existed from ye olden days until Arriva took over and they then became 21A and 21 respectively.

Then the big changes. I think they were part of the Peterlee to Sunderland corridor that was then merged into the 22/23/24 routes, with the routes losing their Sunderland to Peterlee leg. Much later, Arriva then cut the X21 to Darlington entirely, doubling the X22 but only as far as Stockton, and then trimming it further so it no longer reaches Middlesbrough.

I think that's probably it but with many other changes that I'll have forgotten. It's now a half hourly 22 between Peterlee and Sunderland but historically it was a 20 min headway with another cross Durham route being a Bishop Auckland to Coxhoe to Peterlee to Sunderland route.

The routes around Peterlee & East Durham have been messed around with a lot in recent years by various operators making it difficult to keep track, think 21/21A stopped running between Peterlee & Sunderland in October 2012, Arriva introduced the X21 between Peterlee & Sunderland in October 2014 running as a through connection from service 21, initially running direct via the A19 between Little Thorpe & Ryhope - a few months later the 21/21A were renumbered as X21/X22 when Arriva finally seemed to realise you didn't need to have different route numbers for split reg services and seemingly for a future 'MAX' upgrade which never materialised, X21 later was rerouted to serve Seaham Town Centre, can't remember when the Peterlee to Sunderland portion of the X21 was dropped.

 

[NorthOxonian]

The routes around Peterlee & East Durham have been messed around with a lot in recent years by various operators making it difficult to keep track, think 21/21A stopped running between Peterlee & Sunderland in October 2012, Arriva introduced the X21 between Peterlee & Sunderland in October 2014 running as a through connection from service 21, initially running direct via the A19 between Little Thorpe & Ryhope - a few months later the 21/21A were renumbered as X21/X22 when Arriva finally seemed to realise you didn't need to have different route numbers for split reg services and seemingly for a future 'MAX' upgrade which never materialised, X21 later was rerouted to serve Seaham Town Centre, can't remember when the Peterlee to Sunderland portion of the X21 was dropped.

What were journey times like on the X21?

My experience with the current Peterlee to Sunderland corridor is that the (Go North East) X6 is almost invariably at capacity - probably because it uses Optare Solos for some reason - and other routes seem to carry largely fresh air. The Arriva 22 is noticeably slower (though admittedly it does provide useful links for Easington Village/Colliery) and I haven't really noticed it ever being all that busy. If Arriva had a route with a journey time of around 40-45 mins, I think they could pick up some of the trade on what feels like a reasonably sized flow.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

What were journey times like on the X21?

My experience with the current Peterlee to Sunderland corridor is that the (Go North East) X6 is almost invariably at capacity - probably because it uses Optare Solos for some reason - and other routes seem to carry largely fresh air. The Arriva 22 is noticeably slower (though admittedly it does provide useful links for Easington Village/Colliery) and I haven't really noticed it ever being all that busy. If Arriva had a route with a journey time of around 40-45 mins, I think they could pick up some of the trade on what feels like a reasonably sized flow.

IIRC, the old direct route from Peterlee to Sunderland took about 35 mins. That was before Dalton Park was built, and before they decided to divert it into Easington Colliery - it ran direct via Easington, Cold Heseldon and New Seaham.

 

[Jimmi]

IIRC, the old direct route from Peterlee to Sunderland took about 35 mins. That was before Dalton Park was built, and before they decided to divert it into Easington Colliery - it ran direct via Easington, Cold Heseldon and New Seaham.

Old timetables I have at least suggests a 30 minute journey on the 213 back in 1992, (or 33 if we count 3 minutes to get from Park Lane Bus Station to Central Bus Station), my timetables from 2010 also gave the 31/31A (split reg from 21/21A at Peterlee) to take 30 mins. Think the 22 used to take 35 minutes before they sent all journeys via Easington Colliery which was the same route the 31/31A did prior but additionally running into Dalton Park.

Don't have any of the more recent timetables to hand but think X21 was around 25 minutes when it was direct via the A19 and around 35 minutes when it was rerouted via Seaham.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The excellent Timetable World has a timetable for the buses from 2000.

Timetable World

timetableworld.com

Looks like it was 30 minutes flat from Peterlee to Park Lane on the 231. I’d completely forgotten that the 229/230 used to go direct via Horden rather than going into Peterlee.

So different now.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Looks like Driver Trainer Wright Commander 9992 has transferred to Northumberland.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Looks like it was 30 minutes flat from Peterlee to Park Lane on the 231. I’d completely forgotten that the 229/230 used to go direct via Horden rather than going into Peterlee.

Take it you mean the 213? The 231 was Hartlepool to Newcastle?

230 was Hartlepool to Sunderland and it was much quicker omitting Peterlee. It was jointly operated by Arriva and Go North East (and the 229 was an infrequent variation?). A slight bit of trivia was it was historically operated by United/Northern, then it was Tees as Hartlepool depot was transferred but when that closed in 1995, it went to Peterlee and back to United!

Go North East had the Fast Cats service from Sunderland to Hartlepool via Houghton, Easington Lane and Peterlee so hardly that fast, end to end!!

 

[YorkRailFan]

E400 7505 has been removed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Apr 2026 ==

Service changes in Northumberland and Tyne & Wear from 10th May:

We’ll be making changes to a number of services across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear from Sunday 10 May 2026.

These changes follow ongoing reviews of punctuality and reliability. Please check the latest timetables online or on the Arriva app before you travel.

Service 1 – Blyth to Ashington and Widdrington
Service will be revised due to ongoing traffic delays in the Bebside area. The service will no longer operate beyond Ashington Bus Station from Blyth. This means buses will terminate at Ashington.

Passengers travelling between Ashington and Widdrington will need to use Service X22, which will now cover this section of the route. This change is being made to improve overall reliability and reduce delays caused by congestion.

Service 2 – Blyth to Morpeth and Kirkhill
A revised timetable will be introduced due to increased delays in the Bebside area. The section between Morpeth and Kirkhill will be reduced to an hourly service at peak times.

Some peak-time journeys will no longer run straight through between Blyth and Kirkhill, meaning a change of bus may be required at Morpeth Bus Station.

To help improve reliability in Morpeth, buses will no longer run via Bridge Street and will instead operate via Manchester Street between the bus station and Kirkhill.

Service 35 – Morpeth to Ashington and Newbiggin
Service will be revised to improve performance and punctuality. It will no longer operate through Newbiggin as Service X21 during the main part of the day, instead, it will run as a clockwise loop via the A189 and Woodhorn before returning to Morpeth.

A revised timetable will increase frequency, with buses running up to every 15 minutes Monday to Friday and up to every 20 minutes on Saturdays. These changes are designed to improve reliability across the route.

Service 43 – Newcastle to Cramlington and Morpeth
On schooldays only, journeys that currently start or end at Bedlington Front Street will be revised to terminate at Cramlington Shops. This is a minor change, and no other parts of the route will be affected.

Services 57 and 57A – Ashington to Whitley Bay and Cramlington
Minor timetable changes will be introduced to improve reliability throughout the day.

In Ashington Bus Station, both services will now depart from Stand A. These changes are intended to help services run more consistently on time.

Service X14 – Newcastle to Morpeth and Thropton
A new weekday morning journey will be introduced. This service will depart Thropton at 09:04 and Rothbury at 09:11, connecting with the existing 09:27 departure from Longframlington towards Newcastle.

Service X20 – Newcastle to Ashington and Alnwick
New peak-time journeys will be introduced on weekdays.

A morning journey will depart Ashington at 07:05 and arrive in Newcastle at approximately 08:00.
An afternoon return journey will depart Newcastle at 17:14, operating on schooldays only.
These journeys are designed to better match peak commuter demand.

Service X21 – Newcastle to Ashington and Newbiggin
Frequency will be reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30 minutes Monday to Friday. This adjustment reflects current passenger demand and supports a more reliable timetable.

The service will no longer be linked with Service 35, although it will continue to operate an anticlockwise loop within Newbiggin as before.

Service X22 – Newcastle to Ashington and Widdrington
Service will be reduced to every 30 minutes Monday to Friday, with a revised timetable introduced.

The route will be extended beyond Ashington to serve Wansbeck Hospital and Widdrington, replacing Service 1 in this section.

This extension will provide new direct evening and Sunday journeys to Newcastle for passengers in Lynemouth and Ellington, improving connectivity in the area.

Journeys towards Newcastle will now depart from Stand B in Ashington Bus Station.

Check the updated timetable before travelling, as journey times may have changed.

Service Changes in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear May 2026

Northumberland and Tyne and Wear service changes from Sunday 10 May 2026.

www.arrivabus.co.uk

 

[aswilliamsuk]

E400 7505 has been removed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Apr 2026 ==

Service changes in Northumberland and Tyne & Wear from 10th May:

Service Changes in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear May 2026

Northumberland and Tyne and Wear service changes from Sunday 10 May 2026.

www.arrivabus.co.uk

I can't help but feel the X21/X22 reductions are a direct result of the new rail service.

 

[Megafuss]

I can't help but feel the X21/X22 reductions are a direct result of the new rail service.

Yep, funny what happens when train fare is the same as the bus fare.

However, it's good to see the restoration of the old X33 link beyond Ashington towards Tynemouth etc

 

[Teapot42]

Depends how far back in time you wish to go.

It was historically the 214 Sunderland to Middlesbrough which disappeared at deregulation, but was then brought back in the 1990s. There was also the 213 Sunderland to Darlington, paralleling it between Sunderland and Sedgefield which always existed from ye olden days until Arriva took over and they then became 21A and 21 respectively.

I can't recall the numbers or what ran when, but I have a memory from the late 80s / early 90s that there were buses from Sunderland to Darlington, Middlesborough, Stockton and Bishop Auckland in the 21x range that ran via Easington Village and Peterlee.

Easington must have lost more buses than most other similarly-sized communities since that time. As well as those we had the 230 and I believe 1 152 an hour to Sunderland, the 231 and X5 to Newcastle, the 230, 231 and 243 to Hartlepool, the X40 to Durham and the 237/8 local services around Peterlee.

I think the only thing 'better' now than then is that they've got 2x hourly to Durham, while previously we only had the (express in name only) X40 once an hour. The Newcastle bus gets almost to the Village then jumps on the A19 - it would take very little time to run via the Green but they decided not to for some reason. There are quite a few places now that are much harder to get to, and evening and especially Sunday services are very limited.

 

[NorthOxonian]

I can't help but feel the X21/X22 reductions are a direct result of the new rail service.

Yes - though interestingly the X20 gets a (very slight) boost - along with improvements to the Blyth X30 I get the sense Arriva are focusing more on competing where the bus can be unique (such as direct journeys to the centre of Blyth, or a faster Ashington link via North Seaton) rather than just trundling them down the same old roads and expecting the same custom. The X21 and X22 cuts will make some local journeys annoying - in particular that means Ashington to (West) Bedlington loses 2 buses per hour and there is a comensurate loss between there and Newcastle... it's not the end of the world but the Red Lion/Market Place end of Bedlington isn't particularly close to the railway line so I did think the X22 (serving mostly non rail served areas) might escape cuts.

Hopefully the changes will at least increase service reliability. I did raise an eyebrow when I saw the increased frequency on the 35 (precisely because that service has been a bit patchy, both in my experience and from media reports), but it's a busy link that justifies it, and maintains the same frequency as before between Ashington and Newbiggin due to the lost X21.

However, it's good to see the restoration of the old X33 link beyond Ashington towards Tynemouth etc

I imagine that area will prefer a second (albeit quite slow) service to Newcastle per hour to having the current Blyth connection - I can't say I've ever noticed the northern side of the 1 being particularly busy but the passengers I have seen on it have rarely travelled across Ashington.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I can't help but feel the X21/X22 reductions are a direct result of the new rail service.

As I said in December 2024.....

People obsess about the end to end nature of bus services when the reality is that travelling patterns are more complex with key flows having a series of overlapping journeys overlaid onto them. So for the X22, there is relatively little actual duplication so abstraction will be limited. The X21 is more of an issue as when Bedlington station opens as there is much more likelihood of losing passengers to the train service. I could foresee the X21 dropping to half hourly in time.

There is, of course, the impact of the other stations such as Newsham, Bebside and Seaton Delaval. The impact from these will be lessened simply because of the links to Cramlington and Blyth that the train cannot provide; the X7 serving Seaton Delaval might be affected most for people travelling to Newcastle though so that one might take a hit.

So it was always likely that there would be a reduction...as always happens with rail reopenings. Glad I was wrong about the X7 though.

Yep, funny what happens when train fare is the same as the bus fare.

However, it's good to see the restoration of the old X33 link beyond Ashington towards Tynemouth etc

Do you mean Lynemouth rather than Tynemouth?

I can't recall the numbers or what ran when, but I have a memory from the late 80s / early 90s that there were buses from Sunderland to Darlington, Middlesborough, Stockton and Bishop Auckland in the 21x range that ran via Easington Village and Peterlee.

Easington must have lost more buses than most other similarly-sized communities since that time. As well as those we had the 230 and I believe 1 152 an hour to Sunderland, the 231 and X5 to Newcastle, the 230, 231 and 243 to Hartlepool, the X40 to Durham and the 237/8 local services around Peterlee.

I think the only thing 'better' now than then is that they've got 2x hourly to Durham, while previously we only had the (express in name only) X40 once an hour. The Newcastle bus gets almost to the Village then jumps on the A19 - it would take very little time to run via the Green but they decided not to for some reason. There are quite a few places now that are much harder to get to, and evening and especially Sunday services are very limited.

With deregulation, the United East Durham services were recast so...

• 212 Sunderland to Stockton (via Peterlee and Elwick) was extended to Darlington (replacing the 229) but I think it was again reduced by c.1989 to Stockton; it was later deregistered and then tendered (operated by OK, then various iterations) and I think eventually becoming the 211 with Jayline but Peterlee to Middlesbrough
• 213 Sunderland to Darlington - this is what became the 21/X21 as already mentioned
• 215 Sunderland to Bishop Auckland via Trimdon, Coxhoe, Spennymoor
• X40 Durham to Easington Village via Peterlee (note: this was done in early 1986 replacing the 239/240) and it was quick with Durham to Peterlee in 30 mins
• 241/2 Durham to Hartlepool via Peterlee
• 230 Hartlepool to Sunderland via Horden (joint with Northern)
• 231 Hartlepool to Newcastle via Peterlee and Chester le Street (joint with Northern)
• X5 Hartlepool to Newcastle via Peterlee, Easington, Houghton and Washington (joint with Northern)
• There were various local routes at various times like a different 239, a 246 to Wingate, and various minibus services like 237/8 and the P series

What's happened in the meantime was the closure of Peterlee depot (Arriva) and Murton (Northern), the collapse of local industry, and the general ebbing away of the lifeblood of the area, reflected in a fall in the population in Horden, Peterlee and Easington over the last 30 years.

 

[Teapot42]

With deregulation, the United East Durham services were recast so...

• 212 Sunderland to Stockton (via Peterlee and Elwick) was extended to Darlington (replacing the 229) but I think it was again reduced by c.1989 to Stockton; it was later deregistered and then tendered (operated by OK, then various iterations) and I think eventually becoming the 211 with Jayline but Peterlee to Middlesbrough
• 213 Sunderland to Darlington - this is what became the 21/X21 as already mentioned
• 215 Sunderland to Bishop Auckland via Trimdon, Coxhoe, Spennymoor
• X40 Durham to Easington Village via Peterlee (note: this was done in early 1986 replacing the 239/240) and it was quick with Durham to Peterlee in 30 mins
• 241/2 Durham to Hartlepool via Peterlee
• 230 Hartlepool to Sunderland via Horden (joint with Northern)
• 231 Hartlepool to Newcastle via Peterlee and Chester le Street (joint with Northern)
• X5 Hartlepool to Newcastle via Peterlee, Easington, Houghton and Washington (joint with Northern)
• There were various local routes at various times like a different 239, a 246 to Wingate, and various minibus services like 237/8 and the P series

What's happened in the meantime was the closure of Peterlee depot (Arriva) and Murton (Northern), the collapse of local industry, and the general ebbing away of the lifeblood of the area, reflected in a fall in the population in Horden, Peterlee and Easington over the last 30 years.

I don't know if this has already been posted, but it features some pre-deregulation timetables for these services. The 212/3/4/5 look fairly familar from then to what I recall.

While the X40 was quick to Durham, it was very slow before Peterlee. It started going down from the Village, via Oak Road to the colliery, then through Horden. It took longer to get to Peterlee than from there to Durham. Indeed, the current 22 is probably faster from Easington to Durham, although the recently curtailed 65 was faster still. I don't know at what point the direct Easington to Durham service was cut - I don't remember it - but I'd imagine it was a lot better. It always felt odd that Easington - where the local council was based - didn't have a direct bus to the County town.

Wasn't there a time when either the 241 or 242 didn't serve Peterlee, but actually ran Durham to Hartlepool via Wingate? 241 I think... I believe that's where the 243 came in, as the bus ran Easington to Durham as the X40, Durham to Hartlepool as the 241 and then Hartlepool to Easington as the 243. That would have been early to mid 90's at a guess - I left for uni in 94 and for good (other than occasional visits) in 97, but I travelled daily on the X40 to 6th form in Durham from 92 to 94. I have a feeling the 242 was extended to Easington in the evenings and on Sundays, meaning if we stayed back for any reason it was a very long trip home.

I can't recall the dates of this, but there was a time when Peterlee ran 'breadvans' around the estates, with the longer distance services sticking to the main roads. I don't think this lasted long, and longer distance services ended up being diverted with the inevitable increase in journey times. An early understanding of bus workings came when I realised that if I saw a minibus on the X40 going the opposite way in the morning then I needed to make sure I got the evening return from North Road rather than Millburngate if I wanted a seat!

There were other oddities such as the short lived 23X which ran as per the 230 from Hartlepool to Easington Village then up to the A19 to Ryhope. For a time where was also a summer X98 or X99 - can't remember - which was something random like Metrocentre to Whitby which was somehow routed via Easington.

I can't quickly find anywhere that shows population over a longer period, but Easington has been pretty stable for the last 25 years and indeed projections are showing a small rise. If anything, the council policies of bringing in people no-one else wants would surely mean more demand for buses - being such a deprived area, car ownership is low - but I guess also travelling patterns will be different. Most low paid jobs will be focused on Peterlee and days out and shopping trips will be massively different to what they were 30+ years ago.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I don't know if this has already been posted, but it features some pre-deregulation timetables for these services. The 212/3/4/5 look fairly familar from then to what I recall.

Those are from 1979. There were some substantial cuts c.1980/1 so the 217 Darlington to Sunderland via Coxhoe was split to be 217 Darlington to Coxhoe (hourly) with a two hourly connecting service 218 Coxhoe to Sunderland - saving 1 vehicle. 212 Sunderland to Middlesbrough was truncated to Stockton (save for a couple of peak hour journeys) so again saving a vehicle. The 215 was also cut back to Sunderland - Peterlee (Pennine Drive).

While the X40 was quick to Durham, it was very slow before Peterlee. It started going down from the Village, via Oak Road to the colliery, then through Horden. It took longer to get to Peterlee than from there to Durham. Indeed, the current 22 is probably faster from Easington to Durham, although the recently curtailed 65 was faster still. I don't know at what point the direct Easington to Durham service was cut - I don't remember it - but I'd imagine it was a lot better. It always felt odd that Easington - where the local council was based - didn't have a direct bus to the County town.

The X40 was 27 mins Durham to Peterlee but can't recall how long it took for the latter part. Might've been about the same?

Wasn't there a time when either the 241 or 242 didn't serve Peterlee, but actually ran Durham to Hartlepool via Wingate? 241 I think... I believe that's where the 243 came in, as the bus ran Easington to Durham as the X40, Durham to Hartlepool as the 241 and then Hartlepool to Easington as the 243. That would have been early to mid 90's at a guess - I left for uni in 94 and for good (other than occasional visits) in 97, but I travelled daily on the X40 to 6th form in Durham from 92 to 94. I have a feeling the 242 was extended to Easington in the evenings and on Sundays, meaning if we stayed back for any reason it was a very long trip home.

I don't think so - the 241/2 always served Peterlee AFAIK. There was a 238 from Hartlepool to Peterlee via Castle Eden (which became the 246 at one point??) and yes, the 243 did appear at one point.

There were other oddities such as the short lived 23X which ran as per the 230 from Hartlepool to Easington Village then up to the A19 to Ryhope. For a time where was also a summer X98 or X99 - can't remember - which was something random like Metrocentre to Whitby which was somehow routed via Easington.

There was indeed the 23X which I think only lasted a year or so. I think that was c.1987 when there were a few of these experiments (like the X70 to replace the 722)

I can't recall the dates of this, but there was a time when Peterlee ran 'breadvans' around the estates, with the longer distance services sticking to the main roads. I don't think this lasted long, and longer distance services ended up being diverted with the inevitable increase in journey times. An early understanding of bus workings came when I realised that if I saw a minibus on the X40 going the opposite way in the morning then I needed to make sure I got the evening return from North Road rather than Millburngate if I wanted a seat!

The Peterlee Panthers and the minibuses were introduced in Oct 1986 with D reg Mercs, with the local services (P1/P2) replacing bits of the former 239/240 and 246 (the old one). I think there was a later change with the 239 introduced (at the expense of something else) from Easington Village to somewhere like Sedgefield and/or Billingham, and that was also operated with Merc minis.

I can't quickly find anywhere that shows population over a longer period, but Easington has been pretty stable for the last 25 years and indeed projections are showing a small rise. If anything, the council policies of bringing in people no-one else wants would surely mean more demand for buses - being such a deprived area, car ownership is low - but I guess also travelling patterns will be different. Most low paid jobs will be focused on Peterlee and days out and shopping trips will be massively different to what they were 30+ years ago.

The population of the Village has actually increased since 2001 census by about 10%. However, for Easington Colliery, the population fell by nearly 10% between 2001 and 2021, with similar falls in Peterlee and Horden (>10%) and Blackhall and in actual terms, those numbers are larger. Also, being a deprived area seldom means an increase in bus usage - if you don't have money, or don't have a job, you don't tend to travel.

 

[Jimmi]

I don't know if this has already been posted, but it features some pre-deregulation timetables for these services. The 212/3/4/5 look fairly familar from then to what I recall.

While the X40 was quick to Durham, it was very slow before Peterlee. It started going down from the Village, via Oak Road to the colliery, then through Horden. It took longer to get to Peterlee than from there to Durham. Indeed, the current 22 is probably faster from Easington to Durham, although the recently curtailed 65 was faster still. I don't know at what point the direct Easington to Durham service was cut - I don't remember it - but I'd imagine it was a lot better. It always felt odd that Easington - where the local council was based - didn't have a direct bus to the County town.

Wasn't there a time when either the 241 or 242 didn't serve Peterlee, but actually ran Durham to Hartlepool via Wingate? 241 I think... I believe that's where the 243 came in, as the bus ran Easington to Durham as the X40, Durham to Hartlepool as the 241 and then Hartlepool to Easington as the 243. That would have been early to mid 90's at a guess - I left for uni in 94 and for good (other than occasional visits) in 97, but I travelled daily on the X40 to 6th form in Durham from 92 to 94. I have a feeling the 242 was extended to Easington in the evenings and on Sundays, meaning if we stayed back for any reason it was a very long trip home.

I can't recall the dates of this, but there was a time when Peterlee ran 'breadvans' around the estates, with the longer distance services sticking to the main roads. I don't think this lasted long, and longer distance services ended up being diverted with the inevitable increase in journey times. An early understanding of bus workings came when I realised that if I saw a minibus on the X40 going the opposite way in the morning then I needed to make sure I got the evening return from North Road rather than Millburngate if I wanted a seat!

There were other oddities such as the short lived 23X which ran as per the 230 from Hartlepool to Easington Village then up to the A19 to Ryhope. For a time where was also a summer X98 or X99 - can't remember - which was something random like Metrocentre to Whitby which was somehow routed via Easington.

I can't quickly find anywhere that shows population over a longer period, but Easington has been pretty stable for the last 25 years and indeed projections are showing a small rise. If anything, the council policies of bringing in people no-one else wants would surely mean more demand for buses - being such a deprived area, car ownership is low - but I guess also travelling patterns will be different. Most low paid jobs will be focused on Peterlee and days out and shopping trips will be massively different to what they were 30+ years ago.

The last alternative route from Easington to Durham was Go North East service 208 which was the current 208 route from Peterlee to Easington via Horden then South Hetton, Easington Lane then High/Low Pittington - the link was severed a while back in a network recast which saw some of the East Durham 'IndiGo' services being merged as the 62/62A with the link to Durham only now surviving on school days as service X62 (some routes reverted to previous form after GNE intended to withdraw the 62/62A with the replacement services being tendered by Durham County Council): https://share.google/htDEoXUDlSxITIiBO

 

[YorkRailFan]

Pulsar 2 1405 has been withdrawn.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Pulsar 2 1456 has transferred from Northumberland to Tees Valley.

 

[darloscott]

Redcar’s 1429 is also withdrawn having suffered engine failure.

 

[stevieinselby]

Redcar’s 1429 is also withdrawn having suffered engine failure.

Still tracking as of right now https://bustimes.org/vehicles/anum-ane-1429 – not that that guarantees it's the right vehicle, of course!

 

[800001]

Any idea when the new fleet starts to arrive at Darlington depot?

 

[darloscott]

Still tracking as of right now https://bustimes.org/vehicles/anum-ane-1429 – not that that guarantees it's the right vehicle, of course!

1386 is currently out there tracking as 1429!