(08 Jan 2014, 12:29 pm)fozzovmurton Would you expand on that thought fella, I personally think GNE should ditch branding completely

(08 Jan 2014, 4:15 pm)Greg in Weardale The branding is the one thing which makes GNE special and stand out from the others - they need to do something to stand out as their services are deteriorating (dare I mention X3 again!!!). The one good thing about the Sunderland changes is that the X36 is going to be branded - the rest of the new routes are going to boring almost plain red, even more drab now the "northern" name seems to have been dropped, another negative move. Most branding is well designed and well-liked by everyone I know, enthusiasts and ordinary passengers alike. I think ALL routes/groups of routes should be branded, with say one spare branded vehicle for each five to cover routine maintenance, with a few red vehicles - in a more exciting Northern (or if you must, GNE) general livery - to cover other
VOR. Then much more effort should be made to avoid branded buses on the wrong routes. If all buses were going to be the dull red livery, you might as well have the depressing Nexus red and grey with their Quality Contract - although I hate that concept, I'm sure Nexus wouldn't have "designed" the new X3 timetable .

(08 Jan 2014, 12:26 pm)fozzovmurton Sounds like the Popular Front For The Liberation of Cornwall Estate in Murton...Lost the 65 and the movement went to shit lmfao

(08 Jan 2014, 5:21 pm)andreos1 It must be noted the FPP are the political arm of the FPF (Fencehouses Popular Front), with the FPF being more militant.

A truce has been organised, giving bus company employees living in the village, immunity from attack, after one wedgie too many.
One driver who did not want to be named, had to have his Calvin Kleins surgically removed at Sunderland Royal Hospital before Christmas.
He had to get a taxi, with there not being a bus there from the village.
Drivers are reported to be fed up of the wedgies and having to sneak to/from work under the cover of darkness (and a taxi ride home/to work).

The local mothers group have organised a fund raising day, which involves a street performance in the village on shrove tuesday.
Teaming up with a prominant modern art legend, they are currently practicing the performance under the working title of 'useless tossers'.

Not to be outdone, local residents are also performing a monthly act in line with the lunar cycle.
Passing buses will be treated to homeowners standing in their front rooms - baring their bottoms.

We have sympathisers across the region, including TB from the Harlow Green/Allerdene area, who will continue to plague the GNE fb page like a bad cough.

Our Peterlee representative will continue to dominate and disrupt the GNE twitter feed, complaining as much as he can about the x9, x10, x35 and any other bus he fancies.

Comrades from Chopwell will also complain on a regular basis about the 47.

In the meantime, our Russian operative who goes under the nickname 'meerkat man' will continue with their covert work, liking anything and everything on the GNE fb page, in order to gain access to GNE Towers.

Local operatives will continue to pose as regular passengers, causing as much disruption as possible, such as:

* Passengers posing as OAP's will feign ignorance with the new ticket machines.

* Passengers will regularly press the bell, when having no intention of getting off.

* Metro newspapers will be littered around the bus

* Passengers wanting a relaxing ride and a nap, will be stopped from doing so, by the omni-present empty Fanta bottle, which we will leave to rattle around the bus floor.

As the FPF spokesperson, I often appear on radio and TV, although my voice is dubbed over and voiced by an actor, due to political restrictions.
I appeared on BBC Radio Bournmoor just this morning on the Angie and Jimmy show.

Dear Daniel Graham,

A few months ago we wrote to you, inviting you to take part in Go North East’s first Passenger Panel Survey. We were delighted by the level of interest and would like to thank everyone who took the time to tell us about tickets purchased and reasons for doing so. The survey flagged a number of areas for development, which Go North East is currently considering.

We’d now like to invite you to take part in the second survey, which is about the ‘on-board experience’. We’d like to know what on-board features are important to you and to understand what areas you think Go North East should be investing in. By taking part, you will influence decisions about the bus fleet.

The survey is short – it will only take 5 minutes to complete – and, to thank you for your time, you will be entered into a prize draw to win Amazon vouchers worth £50 on completion of the survey.

To take part in the survey, please click here

Participation is, of course, voluntary and it is also possible to opt out of the Passenger Panel at any time, using the link at the bottom of this email.

All information you provide when completing Passenger Panel Surveys will be confidential and Go North East will not know that you are a Panel member. This is because we work to the Market Research Society Code of Conduct, an industry framework which ensures that your responses are kept confidential and that your anonymity is protected.

Best wishes,

Bluegrass Research on behalf of Go North East

Bluegrass Research Limited

(08 Jan 2014, 5:59 pm)Dan Some interesting questions in this one in regards to the effectiveness of branding and new features such as Wi-Fi, Next Stop Announcements etc.

Will be interesting to see what action, if anything, will be taken as a result of the ticketing/pricing survey.

(08 Jan 2014, 5:59 pm)Dan Some interesting questions in this one in regards to the effectiveness of branding and new features such as Wi-Fi, Next Stop Announcements etc.

Will be interesting to see what action, if anything, will be taken as a result of the ticketing/pricing survey.

(08 Jan 2014, 1:14 am)Kuyoyo All the 27X does is give parts of Hebburn back their direct links to Gateshead and Newcastle that they lost when the 27 went to every 10 minutes and the 27A was dropped. The only way it is an express is the fact it omits Gateshead interchange to save time (notice that the 27X gets 6 minutes to do Newcastle-Gateshead High Street where those service operating via the Interchange get 10 minutes).

(08 Jan 2014, 6:13 pm)Michael I didn't get on‌e =(

(08 Jan 2014, 6:17 pm)Dan Did you get the last one about the ticketing?
Can't remember when or how I signed up to it - just know they're relatively short surveys which no doubt do help Go North East, so it can count as my "good deed of the day" when I do fill them out!

(08 Jan 2014, 6:19 pm)Adam Malarkey Just out of Curiosity, How many of the FAB56 B9's have now Entered Service at Deptford, As I'll be in Sunderland Tomorrow and again Next Tuesday.

(08 Jan 2014, 5:21 pm)andreos1 It must be noted the FPP are the political arm of the FPF (Fencehouses Popular Front), with the FPF being more militant.

A truce has been organised, giving bus company employees living in the village, immunity from attack, after one wedgie too many.
One driver who did not want to be named, had to have his Calvin Kleins surgically removed at Sunderland Royal Hospital before Christmas.
He had to get a taxi, with there not being a bus there from the village.
Drivers are reported to be fed up of the wedgies and having to sneak to/from work under the cover of darkness (and a taxi ride home/to work).

The local mothers group have organised a fund raising day, which involves a street performance in the village on shrove tuesday.
Teaming up with a prominant modern art legend, they are currently practicing the performance under the working title of 'useless tossers'.

Not to be outdone, local residents are also performing a monthly act in line with the lunar cycle.
Passing buses will be treated to homeowners standing in their front rooms - baring their bottoms.

We have sympathisers across the region, including TB from the Harlow Green/Allerdene area, who will continue to plague the GNE fb page like a bad cough.

Our Peterlee representative will continue to dominate and disrupt the GNE twitter feed, complaining as much as he can about the x9, x10, x35 and any other bus he fancies.

Comrades from Chopwell will also complain on a regular basis about the 47.

In the meantime, our Russian operative who goes under the nickname 'meerkat man' will continue with their covert work, liking anything and everything on the GNE fb page, in order to gain access to GNE Towers.

Local operatives will continue to pose as regular passengers, causing as much disruption as possible, such as:

* Passengers posing as OAP's will feign ignorance with the new ticket machines.

* Passengers will regularly press the bell, when having no intention of getting off.

* Metro newspapers will be littered around the bus

* Passengers wanting a relaxing ride and a nap, will be stopped from doing so, by the omni-present empty Fanta bottle, which we will leave to rattle around the bus floor.

As the FPF spokesperson, I often appear on radio and TV, although my voice is dubbed over and voiced by an actor, due to political restrictions.
I appeared on BBC Radio Bournmoor just this morning on the Angie and Jimmy show.

(08 Jan 2014, 12:25 pm)speedwheels22 Think gne r getting lazy and sum of the brands r going down hill

(08 Jan 2014, 6:21 pm)Michael No =(, i thought i would of got them because iv'e signed up for their news letter etc, that was ages and ages ago.

(08 Jan 2014, 6:48 pm)gtomlinson We all had to opt in or out of them when we signed up through work. All of us got them this morning.

I'm orchestrating a mass 'get rid of those 2 middle aged chavs from Metro Radio on the Angel' campaign

Alas...GNE seem intent on asking me about bright upholstery and CCTV

(08 Jan 2014, 6:22 pm)Michael Their was 4 out the other day, not sure how many out now.

(08 Jan 2014, 6:49 pm)Dan Should be six as of today.