(17 Jun 2016, 6:38 pm)Adrian wrote [ -> ]Whoever takes over, it just needs someone with some fresh ideas...
Id like to see an entire strategy change for Stagecoach.
They've barely changed a thing since taking over the various corporations in the north east. Minor tweaks here and there but they've not moved with how the industry has changed.
GNE and Arriva have changed their product to suit what the bus market now is - a commercial product. Their brands made their routes ultra-visable to potential new customers. Stagecoach, however, generally still operate plain vehicles which look anonymous to the general public.
It's also a shame how Stagecoach have continued to operate each depot as its own territory with very little crossing of boundaries. A strategy change earlier on could have seen Stagecoach operating into County Durham and beyond by now. It could be argued integrating the Darlington operation into a wider cross-tees valley network could have saved that depot. Similarly I've always thought a Stagecoach Sunderland-Hartlepool via Peterlee could have worked before the GNE X7 came along as they already have established customer bases in each terminus who surely have needs to travel south/north respectively.
Anyone got a list of the different destination variations in use in Sunderland e.g. including the short City Centre-Prospect journeys etc?
(11 Jun 2016, 7:55 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote [ -> ]39707 and 39708 will more likely be staying I believe.
With the MAN E200s being 11.2m, There just about half way between a integral E200 and a MAN ALX300, Aswell with the Nexus requirements now Euro 4 ( used to be Euro 5 I believe ) requirement on Evenings and Sundays, These MAN E200s fit everything required. A bit of a happy medium.
And capacity should be more than adequate for the daytime X20s.
That is incorrect about the length, these buses are short wheelbase and much shorter than the MAN E200 on Teesside.
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(18 Jun 2016, 2:49 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote [ -> ]Anyone got a list of the different destination variations in use in Sunderland e.g. including the short City Centre-Prospect journeys etc?
Last time an official list was produced was when bright tec displays were used. Nothing was produced since Hanover deric became standard.
If you really need it give me a week to sort you one out.
No short journeys operate between city centre and the prospect. Only strange shorts I can think of are a 3 on the morning from Wheatshef to Hylton Castle and the two service 5s that operate City Centre to Wavingdon.
(18 Jun 2016, 7:35 pm)mrnut85 wrote [ -> ]That is incorrect about the length, these buses are short wheelbase and much shorter than the MAN E200 on Teesside.
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It isn't, There are longer than the integral E200s which are 10.8M and shorter than the MAN E300s which are 12M and in some cases 12.8M* ( * Though non of these are found in the NE )
If there as short as you say they are, Then they'll be shorter than Integral E200s which, Is not true.
Looking at the MAN Chassis Sheet, Ive just corrected myself, Its actually 11.5Ms which is still longer than a Integral
http://www.corporate.man.eu/man/media/en...sis_de.pdf
Its in the low entry chassis bit of the PDF which is towards the end.
(18 Jun 2016, 7:43 pm)Deleted wrote [ -> ]Last time an official list was produced was when bright tec displays were used. Nothing was produced since Hanover deric became standard.
If you really need it give me a week to sort you one out.
No short journeys operate between city centre and the prospect. Only strange shorts I can think of are a 3 on the morning from Wheatshef to Hylton Castle and the two service 5s that operate City Centre to Wavingdon.
Cheers - if its not a load of work it would be good if you could send me one
No idea where I got the thing about CC-Prospect, was meaning the various short/variant early morning runs like the ones you mention and e.g. evening run offs to unusual terminal points like the 18s finishing at Seaburn etc.
Is there a copy of the old list available anywhere from the bright tec days?
(18 Jun 2016, 8:06 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote [ -> ]It isn't, There are longer than the integral E200s which are 10.8M and shorter than the MAN E300s which are 12M and in some cases 12.8M* ( * Though non of these are found in the NE )
If there as short as you say they are, Then they'll be shorter than Integral E200s which, Is not true.
Looking at the MAN Chassis Sheet, Ive just corrected myself, Its actually 11.5Ms which is still longer than a Integral http://www.corporate.man.eu/man/media/en...sis_de.pdf
Its in the low entry chassis bit of the PDF which is towards the end.
Sorry to dissapoint you but these ARE shorter than the 11.5m buses at Hartlepool. The batch the Busways received are 10.8 thus only seating 38 rather than the 43 that Hartlepool have
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(18 Jun 2016, 9:37 am)James101 wrote [ -> ]Id like to see an entire strategy change for Stagecoach.
They've barely changed a thing since taking over the various corporations in the north east. Minor tweaks here and there but they've not moved with how the industry has changed.
GNE and Arriva have changed their product to suit what the bus market now is - a commercial product. Their brands made their routes ultra-visable to potential new customers. Stagecoach, however, generally still operate plain vehicles which look anonymous to the general public.
It's also a shame how Stagecoach have continued to operate each depot as its own territory with very little crossing of boundaries. A strategy change earlier on could have seen Stagecoach operating into County Durham and beyond by now. It could be argued integrating the Darlington operation into a wider cross-tees valley network could have saved that depot. Similarly I've always thought a Stagecoach Sunderland-Hartlepool via Peterlee could have worked before the GNE X7 came along as they already have established customer bases in each terminus who surely have needs to travel south/north respectively.
The X7 doesn't serve Hartlepool but ANE's 23 does the Sunderland-Peterlee-Hartlepool run, as does GNE's X35, albeit less directly on the Sunderland-Peterlee section.
(18 Jun 2016, 8:30 pm)mrnut85 wrote [ -> ]Sorry to dissapoint you but these ARE shorter than the 11.5m buses at Hartlepool. The batch the Busways received are 10.8 thus only seating 38 rather than the 43 that Hartlepool have
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Ah, Never knew that. Apologies.
(16 Jun 2016, 1:50 pm)cbma06 wrote [ -> ]The 18/19 only runs on a very short section of Hylton road, passengers might board the 18/19 on that section to areas where service 20 doesn't serve (Pallion, southwick, seaburn etc......
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The 18/19 are a very sorry shadow of their former selves these days. The withdrawal of the evening and Sunday journeys in June 2002 marked the start of the rot, and there have been frequent changes to their routes since then. The recent changes appear to me to be a last throw of the dice. I'll be very surprised if the 18/19 lasts much longer - with the exception of certain sections (such as Roker Park Road), pretty much all of the route is covered by other services.
(18 Jun 2016, 8:45 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]The X7 doesn't serve Hartlepool but ANE's 23 does the Sunderland-Peterlee-Hartlepool run, as does GNE's X35, albeit less directly on the Sunderland-Peterlee section.
Ah yes, though on saying that, the X7 itself could have been a good route for Stagecoach to have themselves with dual depot operation.
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(18 Jun 2016, 9:48 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote [ -> ]Ah, Never knew that. Apologies.
It quite easy to tell if you look at pictures of the offside. The short ones have a half size window after the emergency door but the longer ones have a full size window.
(19 Jun 2016, 12:31 am)James101 wrote [ -> ]Ah yes, though on saying that, the X7 itself could have been a good route for Stagecoach to have themselves with dual depot operation.
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Wouldn't go down well with the union's due to the quite large pay differance between Sunderland and Stockton though.
(19 Jun 2016, 12:08 am)DunsBus wrote [ -> ]The 18/19 are a very sorry shadow of their former selves these days. The withdrawal of the evening and Sunday journeys in June 2002 marked the start of the rot, and there have been frequent changes to their routes since then. The recent changes appear to me to be a last throw of the dice. I'll be very surprised if the 18/19 lasts much longer - with the exception of certain sections (such as Roker Park Road), pretty much all of the route is covered by other services.
I thought they would of been dropped to hourly with the latest changes due to the lack of passengers, i get the first 18 on a morning from Springwell (7:03am) to the Queen Alexandrea Bridge on a morning and the most I've seen on is 5 passengers. Stagecoach look to be adamant to get the 18 and 19 correct.. bit like GNE and North Sunderland haha
I do wonder how long before we see anymore changes to it.... we have to remember Stagecoach ran the last 18/19 for over 10 years which out any massive changes so it could be a while before anymore changes come up for it.
I hope they don't withdraw it though, it provides decent amount of links around the city.... still think it was a stupid idea to withdraw it from the top of Grindon where it terminated....
The driver was talking to a old women on the 18 earlier and he mentioned that all of the NE should see big changes to the network in the coming year so they can save money.
Nothing confirmed but thought i would share on here.
(20 Jun 2016, 10:43 am)Michael wrote [ -> ]The driver was talking to a old women on the 18 earlier and he mentioned that all of the NE should see big changes to the network in the coming year so they can save money.
Nothing confirmed but thought i would share on here.
Hartlepool need to change the 1 to avoid confusion
(20 Jun 2016, 4:38 pm)Kuyoyo wrote [ -> ]What confusion?
Precisely what I was thinking. As far as I can see, the only possible 'confusion' is that some terminate at Seaton Carew and some go through to Middlesbrough but even then, that's can be resolved by reading the front of the bus.
(20 Jun 2016, 4:40 pm)S813 FVK wrote [ -> ]Precisely what I was thinking. As far as I can see, the only possible 'confusion' is that some terminate at Seaton Carew and some go through to Middlesbrough but even then, that's can be resolved by reading the front of the bus.
Hartlepool's network hasn't really changed for the last 8 years (apart from the withdrawal of the evening services) so the locals are used to it now.
(20 Jun 2016, 4:33 pm)biglugs@yahoo.com wrote [ -> ]Hartlepool need to change the 1 to avoid confusion
I used to live on Elizabbeth Way, so on the terminal loop. While I was never 'confused' by the service pattern, I found it annoying.
(20 Jun 2016, 4:55 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]I used to live on Elizabbeth Way, so on the terminal loop. While I was never 'confused' by the service pattern, I found it annoying.
The ones that ternamate at seaton carew should be renumbered back to 1A or the 2
(20 Jun 2016, 5:05 pm)biglugs@yahoo.com wrote [ -> ]The ones that ternamate at seaton carew should be renumbered back to 1A or the 2
What I found annoying was the uneven frequency from my stop - eg departures at 05 15 35 45. If a journey was dropped to rectify timekeeping it could be 30 mins+ waiting; unless I walked further away to another stop.
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39702 must be working for Slatyford. I saw it on the 71 about half an hour ago
It still had Stagecoach in South shields on it though.
(21 Jun 2016, 7:18 pm)neilwatson wrote [ -> ]39702 must be working for Slatyford. I saw it on the 71 about half an hour ago
It still had Stagecoach in South shields on it though.
39702-05 have been Slatyford buses for almost a year now.
(21 Jun 2016, 7:18 pm)neilwatson wrote [ -> ]39702 must be working for Slatyford. I saw it on the 71 about half an hour ago
It still had Stagecoach in South shields on it though.
Been working for Slatyford for ages now, Transferred with 39703,39704 and 39705 after the 19 E200s entered service at Shields last year.
EDIT we must've replied at the same time.
First of the new enviro 400MMCs have been delivered to the Wheatsheaf.
(22 Jun 2016, 9:25 am)Deleted wrote [ -> ]First of the new enviro 400MMCs have been delivered to the Wheatsheaf.
Thanks for the update, do you know if they'll be branded for the 62/63 or just Stagecoach livery?
Not sure yet as just been delivered so never been near them yet.
(22 Jun 2016, 9:25 am)Deleted wrote [ -> ]First of the new enviro 400MMCs have been delivered to the Wheatsheaf.
Was just thinking when they would be delivered, As the last for Manchester are entering service.
(22 Jun 2016, 9:25 am)Deleted wrote [ -> ]First of the new enviro 400MMCs have been delivered to the Wheatsheaf.
Very good, any idea when they will see service?