Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - May 2017

[ne14ne1]

Took me three goes to get payg to work.  Need to tell the driver that you are using payg, then your destination or fare.  They then select the fare/destination, using the page that has boxes with +-  on.  Once instructed to, put your card on the reader and driver presses issue.

I know when drivers were unsure with the old machines, I had to say enter my single/return fair as normal, then when the grey box appears I can scan it and it'll say CSC DETECTED, then press issue twice.

Are the new ones pretty similar?

[Dan]

Just noticed that all the refurbed mercs appear to be having manual ramps installed while down in Blackburn. Are GNE still carrying this out in the fleet or is it only the refurbs that are getting them done?

Yes - any of the Mercedes Citaros which haven't had manual ramps fitted locally by Go North East will have them fitted as part of the refurbishment work at Bus & Coach World, Blackburn.

Go North East are still carrying these conversions out locally on other buses, but the next lot aren't likely to be done until July, now.

Are the NSAs up and running on the refurbished mercs out on the Blaydon Racer 12s and Citylink57s?

Yes - they're working on 12/12A, 27 and 57. Should be working on the Nexus-secured 32A service from Wednesday, all being well.

How are the New Ticket machines performing?

I heard from someone the other day that some of the drivers at Percy Main are dreading them being installed there and some just don't understand them from the training.
Is it this week that Percy Main get them? I suppose it is all just practice, but if you are not a techy/gadget type person you may struggle for a while.

Largely positive feedback. The main gripes from a driver perspective tend to be with the placement of various ticket options and the majority think the new machines are really easy to use. After using them for a while, it'll become second nature.

They take longer to scan GNE passes for me.

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They are slightly slower than the old machines (it's only a difference of about a second) but probably faster overall; as the scanners on the old machines weren't quite as robust, and the pass had to be positioned in an exact place on the machine otherwise it would take a hissy-fit.

[Jamie M]

Yes - any of the Mercedes Citaros which haven't had manual ramps fitted locally by Go North East will have them fitted as part of the refurbishment work at Bus & Coach World, Blackburn.

Go North East are still carrying these conversions out locally on other buses, but the next lot aren't likely to be done until July, now.



Yes - they're working on 12/12A, 27 and 57. Should be working on the Nexus-secured 32A service from Wednesday, all being well.



Largely positive feedback. The main gripes from a driver perspective tend to be with the placement of various ticket options and the majority think the new machines are really easy to use. After using them for a while, it'll become second nature.



They are slightly slower than the old machines (it's only a difference of about a second) but probably faster overall; as the scanners on the old machines weren't quite as robust, and the pass had to be positioned in an exact place on the machine otherwise it would take a hissy-fit.

A long second for me then!
They are better though, everybody was waiting 8-10 seconds on 6013's when it wasn't happy.

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[Michael]

What will be used on the NEXUS contract services 8 and 32A?

[Ds1197]

What will be used on the NEXUS contract services 8 and 32A?

The 32A is allocated a 49 branded Streetlite

[Michael]

The 32A is allocated a 49 branded Streetlite

I totally forgot they already run the 32A...

[Michael]

Yes - they're working on 12/12A, 27 and 57. Should be working on the Nexus-secured 32A service from Wednesday, all being well.

When did the 27 gain stop announcements?


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How many Citaro's can get refurbished at once at Blackburn because i didn't realise how many Citaro's were down Blackburn at the same time.

[Dan]

When did the 27 gain stop announcements?

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How many Citaro's can get refurbished at once at Blackburn because i didn't realise how many Citaro's were down Blackburn at the same time.

The Next Stop Announcements were enabled on services 12/12A, 27 and 57 when the first Mercedes Citaro received "Blaydon Racer" branding. 5320 will be the first example to return as a Crusader (its place on the Citylink57 taken by the former Blaydon Racers branded examples), so it'll probably be a while before anyone gets to hear the announcements on service 27 (though they'll work if any of the 49 Streetlites are allocated - for whatever reason!)

Our enthusiast friends in Corbridge aren't allowed to shout at me for the lack of announcements on the TEN, though! There's good reason for them not being done yet!

Eight Mercs are away for refurbishment at a time - and at the moment, they're being turned around one per week, returned to Go North East every Friday with the next Merc being taken down. Hopefully it'll speed up to two per week again soon, as it should only really be taking four weeks to complete all of the work.

[Michael]

The Next Stop Announcements were enabled on services 12/12A, 27 and 57 when the first Mercedes Citaro received "Blaydon Racer" branding. 5320 will be the first example to return as a Crusader (its place on the Citylink57 taken by the former Blaydon Racers branded examples), so it'll probably be a while before anyone gets to hear the announcements on service 27 (though they'll work if any of the 49 Streetlites are allocated - for whatever reason!)

Our enthusiast friends in Corbridge aren't allowed to shout at me for the lack of announcements on the TEN, though! There's good reason for them not being done yet!

Eight Mercs are away for refurbishment at a time - and at the moment, they're being turned around one per week, returned to Go North East every Friday with the next Merc being taken down. Hopefully it'll speed up to two per week again soon, as it should only really be taking four weeks to complete all of the work.

Thanks for the updates.

Is that a hint that new buses are coming for the TEN or changes?


Seems a lot to go down to Blackburn at once, hopefully it goes to 2 a week again.


Will the 39 and 238 gain the stop announcements from the Venture?

[GuyParkRoyal]

713 is at Chester le Street again parked next to the ready for service NX coaches this afternoon.

[S813 FVK]

Is that a hint that new buses are coming for the TEN or changes?

Wouldn't have anything to do with this 'Tyne Valley Ten' that is attached to the new 10/10A/10B timetable?

[Michael]

Wouldn't have anything to do with this 'Tyne Valley Ten' that is attached to the new 10/10A/10B timetable?

Could be but that would be daft just to wait to put new NSA's on the service because they've added "Tyne Valley" to the brand, that could of just been added before they did the repaints.

Unless the TEN services are down for changes alongside the new brand launched, still reckon it'll get new buses though.

[Venturego]

Wouldn't have anything to do with this 'Tyne Valley Ten' that is attached to the new 10/10A/10B timetable?

Hopefully the current buses on the TEN could cascade to Stanley for 6,X30 & X70, with NSA, WiFi, USB/Power sockets etc... and a decent re-brand, suitable for these services. - Omnicities need retrimming and Omnidekkas are complete shambles with worn seats, leaking windows, rattles etc..., although performance on some not bad.

I don't think the B9s would look good in Black /Toonlink. I'd Prefer to see possibly Red or Silver and relaunch "(West Durham)"Swift or "Magpie" (Newcastle tenuous link)" executed in the style of Red Kite. Think it could look really great, yet also be a strong mature brand to market.  - Know I've mentioned this before!

[Jamie M]

Hopefully the current buses on the TEN could cascade to Stanley for 6,X30 & X70, with NSA, WiFi, USB/Power sockets etc... and a decent re-brand, suitable for these services. - Omnicities need retrimming and Omnidekkas are complete shambles with worn seats, leaking windows, rattles etc..., although performance on some not bad.

I don't think the B9s would look good in Black /Toonlink. I'd Prefer to see possibly Red or Silver and relaunch "(West Durham)"Swift or "Magpie" (Newcastle tenuous link)" executed in the style of Red Kite. Think it could look really great, yet also be a strong mature brand to market.  - Know I've mentioned this before!

I think the omnicities will stay on the 6/X70/X71/X30/X31. Since they're all the same allocation now, it would make no sense to immediately break that link by introducing deckers which can't go on service X30.

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[Dan]

9097 has entered service at Riverside Depot.

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[NK53 TKT]

9097 has entered service at Riverside Depot.

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On what?

[Dan]

On what?

On the X25 shuttle bus service which is in operation between Monday and Friday this week. Bit more suitable than a Solo or MPD:
http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/news/x...may-241484

Should transfer to Hexham from Saturday, to see use on the X81/185/681 group of services.

Go North East: 9097 / BT66TZM by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

[Rockstar666]

7098 on training duties seen today in Middlesborough bus station

[L469 YVK]

A serious question here? Given that the current 310 layover in Shields is only 3 minutes, with Norham Road crossover being demolished for a rebuild, will an extra bus get added to the PVR? Is there a possibility that the 309/310 could end up going standalone for most journeys to prevent disruption knocking off each service?

[Jamie M]

A serious question here? Given that the current 310 layover in Shields is only 3 minutes, with Norham Road crossover being demolished for a rebuild, will an extra bus get added to the PVR? Is there a possibility that the 309/310 could end up going standalone for most journeys to prevent disruption knocking off each service?

Maybe 6084 can swap over with some TEN reconfiguration, same spec, same batch n' all.

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