"Why oh why when we get these train vs plane comparisons does everybody assume that everybody is going from city to city centre - now that the EXT service has gone NCL-BRS is connecting the North East and the South West."
Agreed, and furthermore I'm struggling using my maths to get a Newc city centre to BRS city centre by air to be anywhere near 5 hours anyway.
The population of the N-East is fairly widely distributed, and for a large proportion, their business day can start from somewhere easier to get to the airport than city centre locations in NCL, Durham or Darlo.
I've even used the NCL-BRS to do a day trip to Swansea - there's no way to do that on the train or drive.