Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
And as for “no local person will use the train”, that’s just not the case. I did for many years, a few other regular faces on my commute did, and a good number of coworkers made the switch when they were told they could.
Whenever I've been on the MetroCentre shuttle there's been a handful of people on it. The 100 and the selection of Go-Ahead buses into Newcastle have all been full.
It really depends where you're going and where you've come from. If you're heading to the main shopping in Newcastle city centre then the bus beats the train, because you don't get the trek across the station and then up Grainger Street. If you're heading to the Central Station area then the train wins, although truthfully the Go-Ahead 10/45/46/47 aren't much slower. If you're changing off Metro to get to the MetroCentre then the easiest interchange is at Gateshead on to the X66.
I agree that Northern- and it should be Northern, really- should do more to promote the fact that their £2.80 off-peak return Newcastle-MetroCentre is really very good value, it's about a pound cheaper than the equivalent tickets on Go-Ahead and Stagecoach. I do use the train- I have a Metro season ticket, no buses- for that very reason. Although the evening service is poor enough to discourage use.