Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2013
Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2013
After yet another regular Waggonway breakdown I stuck my concerns into GNE about the reliability of the service whilst DAF's remain in service.
Received a very nice reply, usual customer service schtick but added on
'We are monitoring this service as we have incurred an above average number of correspondence from passengers using this service. There are plans to update the vehicles on this service but I cannot confirm vehicle type or dates for this change. We do realise there is an issue and we are working hard to resolve this'
Added was a voucher for £2 off a Buzzfare...jeez, all out generosity
(28 Feb 2013, 7:24 pm)Adam Malarkey Fatfield bridge isn't the only problem, there is also the road bridge at the bottom of Barnwell that 2A/2C/M1 go under after Fatfield Bridge.
GNE could quite easily re-route the M1 so that it goes down the Motorway like the X1 and have it come off at it current diversion and have it go along the riverside and back onto its normal route at the opposite end of the bridge.
Plus there wouldn't be major loss with re-route as the 2A/2C can cover the Bottom of Barnwell and the 3 stops leading to Fatfield Bridge, Plus the service operates every 10 minutes. On top of that No-one really gets on or off at those stops mentioned anyways.
So with that being said Buying double deckers for the M1 would be welcomed by myself as a regular user of the service. I remember about 2 years ago there was talk of putting bendies on the service but that was scrapped due road layouts in Houghton le Spring and Concord.
(28 Feb 2013, 7:24 pm)Adam Malarkey Fatfield bridge isn't the only problem, there is also the road bridge at the bottom of Barnwell that 2A/2C/M1 go under after Fatfield Bridge.
GNE could quite easily re-route the M1 so that it goes down the Motorway like the X1 and have it come off at it current diversion and have it go along the riverside and back onto its normal route at the opposite end of the bridge.
Plus there wouldn't be major loss with re-route as the 2A/2C can cover the Bottom of Barnwell and the 3 stops leading to Fatfield Bridge, Plus the service operates every 10 minutes. On top of that No-one really gets on or off at those stops mentioned anyways.
So with that being said Buying double deckers for the M1 would be welcomed by myself as a regular user of the service. I remember about 2 years ago there was talk of putting bendies on the service but that was scrapped due road layouts in Houghton le Spring and Concord.
(01 Mar 2013, 4:10 pm)Rob Surely regular commuters should be given benefits? After all, they are the individual’s paying for the network. These are the people making multiple journeys, who will usually buy day/week/month/year zone tickets or route tickets. They do not want the hassle of finding the correct change each day to buy single tickets. These regular commuters benefit greatly from such ticketing, opposed to those of who travel more occasional. Regular travel should be encouraged; lower fares for those who travel frequently is principally a reward.
(01 Mar 2013, 4:10 pm)Rob Surely regular commuters should be given benefits? After all, they are the individual’s paying for the network. These are the people making multiple journeys, who will usually buy day/week/month/year zone tickets or route tickets. They do not want the hassle of finding the correct change each day to buy single tickets. These regular commuters benefit greatly from such ticketing, opposed to those of who travel more occasional. Regular travel should be encouraged; lower fares for those who travel frequently is principally a reward.
[/quote]After all, GNE is not a local friendly go happy bus company but part of a massive international PLC. The aim is to make as much money as possible[quote]
Exactly! - Go North East are good at marketing (branded routes etc...) but recently these have been messed about with (with exception of few flagships Angel, Ten....) High Fares when compared to other regions, Lack of integration with other operators, Metro & local trains. Confusing to visitors to have branded buses on incorrect route! Maybe we should hear what benefits Nexus Quality contracts would bring to passengers. Thoughts?!
Quote:Exactly! - Go North East are good at marketing (branded routes etc...) but recently these have been messed about with (with exception of few flagships Angel, Ten....) High Fares when compared to other regions, Lack of integration with other operators, Metro & local trains. Confusing to visitors to have branded buses on incorrect route! Maybe we should hear what benefits Nexus Quality contracts would bring to passengers. Thoughts?!
After all, GNE is not a local friendly go happy bus company but part of a massive international PLC. The aim is to make as much money as possible
Quote:Exactly! - Go North East are good at marketing (branded routes etc...) but recently these have been messed about with (with exception of few flagships Angel, Ten....) High Fares when compared to other regions, Lack of integration with other operators, Metro & local trains. Confusing to visitors to have branded buses on incorrect route! Maybe we should hear what benefits Nexus Quality contracts would bring to passengers. Thoughts?!
I'll be taking a trip to Newcastle tomorrow. Amongst other things, I'll be taking a trip on one of the new B9's on the TEN between Eldon Square and MetroCentre, not sure on direction yet but it will include a connection with X88 either to/from Southwick - probably for the last time before this month's changes!
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the typical X88 allocation is on a Saturday at the moment? Are Saturday trips still operated by Washington? I think I've seen a photo of a B7 on one of the Saturday workings but I'm not sure if this is the norm. Cheers!
(01 Mar 2013, 10:21 pm)Brandon I'll be taking a trip to Newcastle tomorrow. Amongst other things, I'll be taking a trip on one of the new B9's on the TEN between Eldon Square and MetroCentre, not sure on direction yet but it will include a connection with X88 either to/from Southwick - probably for the last time before this month's changes!
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the typical X88 allocation is on a Saturday at the moment? Are Saturday trips still operated by Washington? I think I've seen a photo of a B7 on one of the Saturday workings but I'm not sure if this is the norm. Cheers!
(01 Mar 2013, 10:21 pm)Brandon I'll be taking a trip to Newcastle tomorrow. Amongst other things, I'll be taking a trip on one of the new B9's on the TEN between Eldon Square and MetroCentre, not sure on direction yet but it will include a connection with X88 either to/from Southwick - probably for the last time before this month's changes!
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the typical X88 allocation is on a Saturday at the moment? Are Saturday trips still operated by Washington? I think I've seen a photo of a B7 on one of the Saturday workings but I'm not sure if this is the norm. Cheers!
(01 Mar 2013, 10:24 pm)Daniel(01 Mar 2013, 10:21 pm)Brandon I'll be taking a trip to Newcastle tomorrow. Amongst other things, I'll be taking a trip on one of the new B9's on the TEN between Eldon Square and MetroCentre, not sure on direction yet but it will include a connection with X88 either to/from Southwick - probably for the last time before this month's changes!
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the typical X88 allocation is on a Saturday at the moment? Are Saturday trips still operated by Washington? I think I've seen a photo of a B7 on one of the Saturday workings but I'm not sure if this is the norm. Cheers!
Saturdays are operated by Washington. Typical vehicle used is a Northern President.
Sundays are operated by Deptford. Typical vehicle used is a Silver Arrows Citaro.
(01 Mar 2013, 10:24 pm)Daniel(01 Mar 2013, 10:21 pm)Brandon I'll be taking a trip to Newcastle tomorrow. Amongst other things, I'll be taking a trip on one of the new B9's on the TEN between Eldon Square and MetroCentre, not sure on direction yet but it will include a connection with X88 either to/from Southwick - probably for the last time before this month's changes!
I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the typical X88 allocation is on a Saturday at the moment? Are Saturday trips still operated by Washington? I think I've seen a photo of a B7 on one of the Saturday workings but I'm not sure if this is the norm. Cheers!
Saturdays are operated by Washington. Typical vehicle used is a Northern President.
Sundays are operated by Deptford. Typical vehicle used is a Silver Arrows Citaro.
Well quite a successful trip for me today.
X88 was on time at Southwick at 11:30. I couldn't believe my luck when Red Arrows 3943 turned up! I've never been on one of the former Tyne Tees vehicles so I was over the moon! 3943 seemed in good shape operating on normal roads, but did struggle climbing up the A1231 towards the A1 from Washington. A1 was mighty packed with traffic, and got to MetroCentre almost 10 minutes late. Dan suggested I get a photo of 3943 once I arrived, but sadly my phone battery died on the route
As my bus was arriving into MetroCentre, another bus enthusiast did manage to get a photo though!
I can sort of see why GNE are curtailing the X88 at Concord - it was quite quiet on the Sunderland end of the route, but a load got on at Concord and Galleries and it was full by the time we left Washington. What I would have liked is for the X88 timetable to include connections with 56 at Concord to/from Southwick and Sunderland. Although not ideal changing buses, I'd still be prepared to do it and I think having the connecting times laid out would be grand.
I ended up waiting from 12:30 until 12:50 for a TEN B9 to Eldon Square - plenty of Red Kites and Diamonds came swinging by! It was 6082 that turned up, on a 10 from Hexham. I love the smell that new buses have - and 6082 certainly didn't disappoint - marvellous vehicle!
Trip was quite good too, but I don't think I've ever sat at traffic lights for longer than I ever had when we were waiting to turn right off Redheugh Bridge! Managed to get some errands done around Newcastle, and got the 15:03 metro back to Sunderland. I was thinking of getting off at Seaburn because I would have been able to connect on to the 99, but I decided to stop on till Park Lane to get the 36.
On the 36 back home, there was a customer notice entitled "Service Changes Consultation".
When it was my stop to get off, I tried to read what it said. Go North East would like their views on proposed changes to 26, 36, 99 - I think 9 and X3 were mentioned too but it was a lot to take in. There will be questionnaires handed out to households on the routes. It said if you haven't received one by 22 March, then get in touch with Customer Services. There was a driver who was sitting in the side-ways seats opposite the driver - and it was the first that he had heard of any proposals, so I think they're being kept under wraps for now.
I'm not sure if there are any site members who live on these routes - but I do and when I get mine I'll scan it in and post up here like Liam did with the Prudhoe and West Wylam changes. I can sort of see why GNE don't seem to do the online questionnaires anymore. They must get a lot of time-wasters on there who will just muck them around. There has been online consultations in the past where they've asked the opinion about putting larger or new buses on a route to increase capacity - but you'll get the daft percent of people putting "strongly disagree" - just to be awkward!
Definitely! If you use the services then get in touch because you have as much right to a consultation as someone who lives on the route. I'll post it straight up here anyway as soon as I get mine
I'm intrigued too. I was actually talking to another member on here last week passing back and forth possible ideas for these services, and I was wondering about the possibility of diverting X3 through Downhill, Red House and Southwick replacing the 36, and increase the 9 to every 20 minutes through East Boldon to sort of compensate for re-routing of X3. The X3 diversion would only add two minutes in each direction but would definitely give the route a massive boost and saves on five Versas, six including the spare one! Most likely an outlandish idea, but I'm really interested to see the consultation anyway and see what's proposed
(02 Mar 2013, 6:02 pm)Brandon Definitely! If you use the services then get in touch because you have as much right to a consultation as someone who lives on the route. I'll post it straight up here anyway as soon as I get mine
I'm intrigued too. I was actually talking to another member on here last week passing back and forth possible ideas for these services, and I was wondering about the possibility of diverting X3 through Downhill, Red House and Southwick replacing the 36, and increase the 9 to every 20 minutes through East Boldon to sort of compensate for re-routing of X3. The X3 diversion would only add two minutes in each direction but would definitely give the route a massive boost and saves on five Versas, six including the spare one! Most likely an outlandish idea, but I'm really interested to see the consultation anyway and see what's proposed
(02 Mar 2013, 6:02 pm)Brandon Definitely! If you use the services then get in touch because you have as much right to a consultation as someone who lives on the route. I'll post it straight up here anyway as soon as I get mine
I'm intrigued too. I was actually talking to another member on here last week passing back and forth possible ideas for these services, and I was wondering about the possibility of diverting X3 through Downhill, Red House and Southwick replacing the 36, and increase the 9 to every 20 minutes through East Boldon to sort of compensate for re-routing of X3. The X3 diversion would only add two minutes in each direction but would definitely give the route a massive boost and saves on five Versas, six including the spare one! Most likely an outlandish idea, but I'm really interested to see the consultation anyway and see what's proposed
That was me taking the photo, Brandon! ;-)
Had some nasty swing on it too, as it sped around the roundabout having arrived approximately 15 minutes late...
Regarding the changes - yes, I saw that poster on the Renown I was on en-route to Newcastle this morning, when I also took a picture of the leaflet. I wanted to get a photo of that too, but the X3 very surprisingly filled up and even had a few standees!
(02 Mar 2013, 6:58 pm)idiot(02 Mar 2013, 6:02 pm)Brandon Definitely! If you use the services then get in touch because you have as much right to a consultation as someone who lives on the route. I'll post it straight up here anyway as soon as I get mine
I'm intrigued too. I was actually talking to another member on here last week passing back and forth possible ideas for these services, and I was wondering about the possibility of diverting X3 through Downhill, Red House and Southwick replacing the 36, and increase the 9 to every 20 minutes through East Boldon to sort of compensate for re-routing of X3. The X3 diversion would only add two minutes in each direction but would definitely give the route a massive boost and saves on five Versas, six including the spare one! Most likely an outlandish idea, but I'm really interested to see the consultation anyway and see what's proposed
That young man sounds good. As long as it goes through Marley Pots and not Witherwack. Although would it not be to much competition on the 56?
(02 Mar 2013, 6:58 pm)idiot(02 Mar 2013, 6:02 pm)Brandon Definitely! If you use the services then get in touch because you have as much right to a consultation as someone who lives on the route. I'll post it straight up here anyway as soon as I get mine
I'm intrigued too. I was actually talking to another member on here last week passing back and forth possible ideas for these services, and I was wondering about the possibility of diverting X3 through Downhill, Red House and Southwick replacing the 36, and increase the 9 to every 20 minutes through East Boldon to sort of compensate for re-routing of X3. The X3 diversion would only add two minutes in each direction but would definitely give the route a massive boost and saves on five Versas, six including the spare one! Most likely an outlandish idea, but I'm really interested to see the consultation anyway and see what's proposed
That young man sounds good. As long as it goes through Marley Pots and not Witherwack. Although would it not be to much competition on the 56?