(22 Jun 2014, 4:53 pm)ifm001 Took a lot of thinking back this. Serviceb X97 ended up being operated by the 2 alexander dash dennis darts which were bought brand new and went straight onto that service. Registrations N670 VUP and N671 VUP which were later sold to GNE. The N reg would have come out approx 1995 so the services would have operated from 1994 roughly. Whicj sounds about right as I worked in Sunderland 1992 to 1995 travelling through seaburn everyday seeing them.

(22 Jun 2014, 4:53 pm)ifm001 Took a lot of thinking back this. Serviceb X97 ended up being operated by the 2 alexander dash dennis darts which were bought brand new and went straight onto that service. Registrations N670 VUP and N671 VUP which were later sold to GNE. The N reg would have come out approx 1995 so the services would have operated from 1994 roughly. Whicj sounds about right as I worked in Sunderland 1992 to 1995 travelling through seaburn everyday seeing them.

(22 Jun 2014, 6:08 pm)Andreos Constantopolous It will have been around that period, Redby introduced a service in competition to the 194 between Newcastle/Heworth and Penshaw.
They used a two door National and it ceased running when Wear Buses ran a Metrorider spoiler in front of it - ontop of the Lynxes or whatever was running the 194 at the time.

(22 Jun 2014, 6:28 pm)cbma06 Redby service 13, It was the Wearside bus company brand service, with Wear Buses putting a metrorider 194 in duplication in front of Redby service 13. (Houghton Church to heworth)

(23 Jun 2014, 6:43 am)Andreos Constantopolous Saw the two have a race up Gladstone Tce in Penshaw once - up towards the tunnel.
The National had dropped off at the bottom of the hill, opposite the garage and the Metrorider overtook it (despite the 13 moving off).
The two continued like this (with the Metrorider on the wrong side of the road) for a short while.
Fortunately there were no parked cars like there are now and there was nowt coming down the hill.

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(22 Jun 2014, 6:24 pm)cbma06 Im not saying that your wrong though, just that I cant remember of the service from Seaburn prior of the service coming from Silksworth.

Redby started X97 11th April 1995.

(23 Jun 2014, 7:26 am)ifm001 It eas def before that date as I finished working in sunderland in 1995 so the seaburn service must have been introduced year or so before then. And then altered to go to silksworth instead as the seaburn route didn't carry many between seaburn and cleadon/boldon

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(23 Jun 2014, 7:26 am)AdamY That must have been a sight to behold. I suppose it shows, albeit in a dangerous light, how seriously certain drivers took competition back in 1990s.

For the sake of comparison, here are the timetables for both services 13 and 194 taken from the 'S3' Washington Bus Guide back in January 1994.

(23 Jun 2014, 9:54 am)Andreos Constantopolous Yup, those are the two routes.
The 13 ran not far behind the 638 (always nice getting that a mention) on a small section from Penshaw to Fatfield heading north.

When the 13 ended, GNE introduced the 191 between Penshaw Monument/Herrington Park (before Herrington Park was a park) and Newcastle.

Competition can be a good thing when passengers are put first - not sure it is the case when operators are simply marking their territory.

The only Stagecoach/Busways route over that way was the 33.
Maybe it is time they came back and opened the market up a bit more?

(23 Jun 2014, 10:01 am)AdamY What I found odd about the 194 timetable(s) is that two depart from Heworth at xx06. So on the way to Houghton, there are three buses (two 194s and one 13) operating within minutes of each other competing for passengers on route. Talk about over saturation.

(23 Jun 2014, 8:48 am)AdamY I don't know whether service X97 started before April 1995, but there was no such service in May 1994. It could, of course, have been introduced in the interim period but it means that the service between Seaburn and Newcastle lasted a matter of months before it was radically altered.



It certainly didn't go to Seaburn in 1995 as this map, dated October 1995, shows service X97 operating between Silksworth and Newcastle.

(23 Jun 2014, 10:12 am)Andreos Constantopolous Yup, one will have been a normal allocation and the other the spoiler Metrorider (which was usually empty).

(23 Jun 2014, 8:48 am)AdamY I don't know whether service X97 started before April 1995, but there was no such service in May 1994. It could, of course, have been introduced in the interim period but it means that the service between Seaburn and Newcastle lasted a matter of months before it was radically altered.



It certainly didn't go to Seaburn in 1995 as this map, dated October 1995, shows service X97 operating between Silksworth and Newcastle.

(23 Jun 2014, 9:54 am)Andreos Constantopolous Yup, those are the two routes.
The 13 ran not far behind the 638 (always nice getting that a mention) on a small section from Penshaw to Fatfield heading north.

When the 13 ended, GNE introduced the 191 between Penshaw Monument/Herrington Park (before Herrington Park was a park) and Newcastle.

Competition can be a good thing when passengers are put first - not sure it is the case when operators are simply marking their territory.

The only Stagecoach/Busways route over that way was the 33.
Maybe it is time they came back and opened the market up a bit more?

(23 Jun 2014, 2:34 pm)Acky81 Wow this guide is a blast from the past. Have u got the Sunderland South one

(22 Jun 2014, 6:24 pm)cbma06 Im not saying that your wrong though, just that I cant remember of the service from Seaburn prior of the service coming from Silksworth.

Redby started X97 11th April 1995.

(24 Jun 2014, 12:55 pm)Coastliner700 I can only remember the X97 from Silksworth into Newcastle; initially it used Leyland Lynx MKII and N670 VUP & N671 VUP were Volvo B6

(24 Jun 2014, 1:06 pm)cbma06 Picture of N670VUP on X97:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmightycat/6044963577/in/photolist-adb24X-ade4Pu-adb29k-5WsJAq-5Wb2j2-5YB4FK-9FDu3Z-5WsP53-adb2dR-adb2hM-ksNXwq-5WsZa3-5Wiosu-6fCD9e-5We6dg-ahuYoK-6jL8KC-5WfyK5-adbfdR-adb2vF-8bqme9-ade53Y-5WtAps-adbfxF-ade5oU-ade57W-fWCgC1-7ji8UY-9TR8W5-a6dBeV-5WsiRJ-5We57A-h49ybK-adbfin-eccpZu-dzfVG8-9FDtPM-5Wrwcy-888Qxb-9FGpuQ-5WnkZa-bAg3LS-5Wcfbc-j1PFiB-7RVg6t-dziTss-a6gsBj-aJLj5Z-5Wrweo-aJLjwv

copyright to John Law.

says picture taken on August 2011, 6 years after the service started in 1995.

(24 Jun 2014, 1:08 pm)Andreos Constantopolous 16 years

You can tell it is pulling out of the old Eldon Sq Bus Station by the angle of the vehicle - obviously both Redby and the bus station had gone by 2011.