North East Buses

(02 Sep 2015, 2:03 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]According to the nexus website, yes

Cheers, i didn't even think about checking the sites...

(02 Sep 2015, 1:54 pm)Michael wrote [ -> ]Quick question, can you the Day Rover on the ticket between Sunderland Newcastle on the Northern trains?

Day rover is valid on Northern rail between Blaydon and Sunderland. The Explorer is only valid between Newcastle and Sunderland.

(02 Sep 2015, 2:07 pm)aureolin wrote [ -> ]Day rover is valid on Northern rail between Blaydon and Sunderland. The Explorer is only valid between Newcastle and Sunderland.

Cheers, its just for when i enroll on the day.... i have my route etc planned but couldn't remember if day rovers was valid on the Northern trains between Sunderland Blaydon... getting a day rover because i won't get my network one pass until later that day or the day after... need my new student card........


Its annoying as out.

(02 Sep 2015, 2:07 pm)aureolin wrote [ -> ]Day rover is valid on Northern rail between Blaydon and Sunderland. The Explorer is only valid between Newcastle and Sunderland.

Northern Rail customer services told me that the Day Rover is valid Newcastle to Sunderland and the Explorer Blaydon and Sunderland. The conductor on the train we used confirmed what NR said.

EDIT: Sorry, just re-read the email and it states that both tickets are valid Sunderland-Blaydon. 

I think that they use Newcastle-Sunderland just for clarity.

I have been using Day Rover very long time to get to Metrocentre to Sunderland and back every time. It can be confusing when it says Newcastle to Sunderland.

Also Explorer ticket go's beyond Tyne and Wear boarders/Newcastle to Sunderland Line. e.g to Carlisle or Alnwick or Nunthorpe.

Also you can check via Northern Rail Network Map to where the zone are.

(02 Sep 2015, 3:34 pm)Panasonic44 wrote [ -> ]I have been using Day Rover very long time to get to Metrocentre to Sunderland and back every time. It can be confusing when it says Newcastle to Sunderland.



Also Explorer ticket go's beyond Tyne and Wear boarders/Newcastle to Sunderland Line. e.g to Carlisle or Alnwick or Nunthorpe.



Also you can check via Northern Rail Network Map to where the zone are.

The Explorer doesn't get you on the train to Berwick/Nunthorpe etc only between Blaydon and Sunderland.

(02 Sep 2015, 3:34 pm)Panasonic44 wrote [ -> ]I have been using Day Rover very long time to get to Metrocentre to Sunderland and back every time. It can be confusing when it says Newcastle to Sunderland.

Also Explorer ticket go's beyond Tyne and Wear boarders/Newcastle to Sunderland Line. e.g to Carlisle or Alnwick or Nunthorpe.

Also you can check via Northern Rail Network Map to where the zone are.

That would surprise me, given that an adult advance single for the same journey costs more than a North East Explorer ticket..!

Would be really handy if it was valid though - would save having to trek across on the 685.

North East Explorer
Day Rover

As it states at the very bottom of the page, Blaydon - Sunderland rail line. Not all Northern Rail or other rail operators' services.

(02 Sep 2015, 4:05 pm)GX03 SVC wrote [ -> ]North East Explorer
Day Rover

As it states at the very bottom of the page, Blaydon - Sunderland rail line. Not all Northern Rail or other rail operators' services.

I wasn't aware you could travel to Jedburgh on an Explorer like?

(02 Sep 2015, 3:34 pm)Panasonic44 wrote [ -> ]I have been using Day Rover very long time to get to Metrocentre to Sunderland and back every time. It can be confusing when it says Newcastle to Sunderland.

Also Explorer ticket go's beyond Tyne and Wear boarders/Newcastle to Sunderland Line. e.g to Carlisle or Alnwick or Nunthorpe.

Also you can check via Northern Rail Network Map to where the zone are.

I'm sure the explorer is only valid on bus routes by companies that subscribe to it and not on rail lines beyond the Newcastle to Sunderland line, which tends to allow network day tickets and such for historical reasons, as much as anything (that bit of rail route has been slightly redundant since the Metro was extended to Sunderland)

This page confirms that, in fact
http://www.networkonetickets.co.uk/ticke...er-tickets

Ticket is NOT valid:

• ON TRAINS (except Newcastle to Sunderland)
  
• NATIONAL EXPRESS COACHES
  
• ON PRE-BOOKED COACH TOURS
  
• WEARDALE MOTOR SERVICE X21
  
• HADRIAN’S WALL SERVICE
  
• MOORBUS SERVICES X60/X61
  
• CITY SIGHTSEEING TOURS
  

So, I can use my explorer on the arriva bus that connects my co Durham village with Durham and Sunderland. And connections to Darlo, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough etc as well as anywhere through Tyne and Wear and Further north. I can get on a connecting GNE bus with it. If I want to catch the scarlet band bus that passes through my village, between Hartlepool and Durham, it's not valid and I'd need to by a different ticket.

(02 Sep 2015, 7:36 pm)MurdnunoC wrote [ -> ]I wasn't aware you could travel to Jedburgh on an Explorer like?

In theory, you could travel from Scarborough to Berwick on one, though that would be an achy arse day and you'd probably need to stay overnight before you could get home again, particularly if you insisted on sticking as close to the coast as possible.

I don't know if any of the subscribing bus companies have services to Jedburgh, mind. There is a daily shopping bus (131) from Jedburgh to Newcastle, then back again a few hours later. Onlly a 100 minute journey, which isn't at all bad. Not possible with an explorer, mind.

ETA http://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/fi...0713_0.pdf

(02 Sep 2015, 10:21 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]I'm sure the explorer is only valid on bus routes by companies that subscribe to it and not on rail lines beyond the Newcastle to Sunderland line, which tends to allow network day tickets and such for historical reasons, as much as anything (that bit of rail route has been slightly redundant since the Metro was extended to Sunderland)

This page confirms that, in fact
http://www.networkonetickets.co.uk/ticke...er-tickets



So, I can use my explorer on the arriva bus that connects my co Durham village with Durham and Sunderland. And connections to Darlo, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough etc as well as anywhere through Tyne and Wear and Further north. I can get on a connecting GNE bus with it. If I want to catch the scarlet band bus that passes through my village, between Hartlepool and Durham, it's not valid and I'd need to by a different ticket.

Think that page needs updating, the X60 hasn't ran since autumn 2011 and X61 finished at Easter 2012 and they weren't Moorsbus services. Also doesn't GNE now accept Explorer tickets on the Hadrian's Wall service AD122?

I may be wrong but I think Scarlet Band accept Explorer tickets on services supported by Durham County Council but I don't think they issue them on their buses. I am not 100% if this is the case or not.

I'd need them to issue them (because the arriva app doesn't) - and then they're not worth catching to travel beyond Durham because they take more than twice as long to get there in the first place. They don't even save time trying to meet the X12 to Boro in Coxhoe - they just miss it most of the time.

I might cheekily ask if I can get on with one next time we're stranded in Durham with no sign of the 22, mind.

ETA I've promised big'un a trip on the 58 before he goes back to school. I bloody hate Enviro 200s! Must dose up on painkillers before we set off.

Yes Scarlet Band accept Explorers on their DCC contracted services but not on anything run commercially.

Ooh, the 58 is on the list, too. That's good to know.

From November Weardale will not issue or accept Explorers on the 101 Bishop Auckland to Stanhope route and they've never been valid on X21 Stanhope to Newcastle, but I believe the situation will then be the same as with Scarlet Band, that they're accepted (but not issued) on Council supported services. I believe the withdrawal is because they receive insufficient revenue return through a complicated system.

Explorer tickets are indeed valid on Blaydon-Sunderland Northern Rail services, as I found out yesterday. I boarded at Metro Centre and the guard was sure that they were Newcastle-Sunderland only, and tried to make me pay a full adult return fare to NUNTHORPE! I said that the Network One site says at the very bottom that they're valid. He went off to check after he checked all of the other passengers tickets, after a few minutes waiting, he came out of the cab and gave a thumbs up...

Arriva North East. Hartlepool to Coxhoe on the 57A:

£5.50 single
£7.00 return

That's the price to pay to be stuck on a battered Solo for the best part of 40 minutes.

(09 Sep 2015, 12:03 pm)aureolin wrote [ -> ]Arriva North East. Hartlepool to Coxhoe on the 57A:

£5.50 single
£7.00 return

That's the price to pay to be stuck on a battered Solo for the best part of 40 minutes.

Newbiggin to Newcastle on the X21 (X20 & X22 from Ashington) is only £5.10 single/£7.00 return! 

I've got to say, how many people don't know that there is DaySavers and Returns..? Having a Single £5+ makes money......

(23 Sep 2015, 5:02 pm)GX03 SVC wrote [ -> ]Newbiggin to Newcastle on the X21 (X20 & X22 from Ashington) is only £5.10 single/£7.00 return! 

I've got to say, how many people don't know that there is DaySavers and Returns..? Having a Single £5+ makes money......

Returns won't go above £7 with that being the daysaver price, so singles do seem to depend more on distance. Returns to Durham and Sunderland are both £7 from here, but there's over a pound difference between the single ticket prices.

(23 Sep 2015, 6:27 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]Returns won't go above £7 with that being the daysaver price, so singles do seem to depend more on distance. Returns to Durham and Sunderland are both £7 from here, but there's over a pound difference between the single ticket prices.

The DaySaver is £7.70 but they have a limit anyway bit like the Teen Card with it only going up to £1.

(02 Sep 2015, 10:28 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]In theory, you could travel from Scarborough to Berwick on one, though that would be an achy arse day and you'd probably need to stay overnight before you could get home again, particularly if you insisted on sticking as close to the coast as possible.

I don't know if any of the subscribing bus companies have services to Jedburgh, mind. There is a daily shopping bus (131) from Jedburgh to Newcastle, then back again a few hours later. Onlly a 100 minute journey, which isn't at all bad. Not possible with an explorer, mind.

ETA http://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/fi...0713_0.pdf

Done 131 many times, someone tried to board with an explorer and was refused, good bus though, just make sure you don't end up on a Van Hool Ailze because they are awful

(23 Sep 2015, 6:30 pm)DanPicken wrote [ -> ]The DaySaver is £7.70 but they have a limit anyway bit like the Teen Card with it only going up to £1.

There is a Durham county saver for £7, which IIRC is valid to Sunderland. You only get cheap teen travel here if you're lucky enough to live in one of the (somewhat arbitrary, as previously discussed) saver zones.

(23 Sep 2015, 7:07 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]There is a Durham county saver for £7, which IIRC is valid to Sunderland. You only get cheap teen travel here if you're lucky enough to live in one of the (somewhat arbitrary, as previously discussed) saver zones.

I was on about the Triple ticket one.

North Seaton to Ashington is £2.20!

(23 Sep 2015, 7:15 pm)DanPicken wrote [ -> ]I was on about the Triple ticket one.

Aye, there's so many areas and zones it can be easy to talk at cross purposes. The triple ticket here, for example, is probably different to the one you're talking about and covers Peterlee, Hartlepool and Sunderland and is quite cheap compared with the daysavers. The Arriva day tickets available to me are the Durham County for £7 or the All zones (in theory, Scarborough to Berwick, like the Explorer) for £7.70. The point is, though, that even though the sub 20 minute each way return journey to Durham costs £7, Arriva couldn't charge more for the 65 minute each way return to Sunderland because that would make it cost more than the Durham County ticket which extends into Sunderland. Single tickets can keep on increasing in line with distance, though, to reflect cost, as they're still cheaper than the cheapest day ticket. The services in question can't be cheap for Arriva to run, either. I've never been on an Arriva bus to Sunderland (or Hartlepool, for that matter) that was particularly full. Travelling from where we live to Sunderland and back, even by a more direct route, is a good gallon of petrol's worth, so bus prices that far are quite competitive.

One question and one point/piece of info to share.

GNE - when presenting a kids key card in T&W during peaks and getting off in Co Durham, does the driver select the fare for a single or does the machine do the work?

ANE - there has been posts about the new contract with East Durham College. Not sure if it has been mentioned previously (don't recall it), but in the EDHC prospectus posted through the door today, I saw the following -
[attachment=7188]

(23 Sep 2015, 9:21 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]One question and one point/piece of info to share.

GNE - when presenting a kids key card in T&W during peaks and getting off in Co Durham, does the driver select the fare for a single or does the machine do the work?

ANE - there has been posts about the new contract with East Durham College. Not sure if it has been mentioned previously (don't recall it), but in the EDHC prospectus posted through the door today, I saw the following -

Yup we accept many college passes now at Arriva. We have New College Durham, East Durham College, Bishop Auckland College, Stockton Riverside College, Middlesbrough College and Redcar College in the south of the region at least, all travel for free. It's been causing quite a few capacity issues this year... it is surprising where some of them live though... I had an EDC one in Ingleby Barwick the other week, that's a trek and a half!

(24 Sep 2015, 2:31 pm)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]Yup we accept many college passes now at Arriva. We have New College Durham, East Durham College, Bishop Auckland College, Stockton Riverside College, Middlesbrough College and Redcar College in the south of the region at least, all travel for free. It's been causing quite a few capacity issues this year... it is surprising where some of them live though... I had an EDC one in Ingleby Barwick the other week, that's a trek and a half!

In areas where there is an element of competition, have you noticed if it has had an impact on the other operator?

Just the other day, I had been using the bus to the office and then jumping on another bus, to head off elsewhere after work.

I had debated getting an explorer, giving me some flexibility, but in the end plumped for a 2zone Buzzfare.

Anyway, apart from there being issues with the 21 and their blinds (and late running) and an Omni that had an engine that could cook a turkey from frozen in minutes - will save those stories for another day, the main observation of my trip, was at a stop on the outskirts of Durham.

It was an all stopper one, that had the expresses calling at it too.
After a wait for a bus, that took an age to arrive, I boarded a 21 and headed off.
What I had noticed during the wait, was the 7 people (who had just finished work for the day) who all let an X12 pass.
Being in Arriva country, that did surprise me.
Heck, there was even a punter who headed off and walked towards Durham out of sheer boredom and frustration.

What got me most of all, was the fact that out of all of the 7 waiting, each and everyone of us, must have had a ticket of some type issued by GNE - despite all heading south, into Durham and deeper into (as I said above) Arriva country.

Thinking of the various permutations and their ultimate destination, I wonder how many are loyal to GNE (and why) and how many don't have a choice on operators between Durham and home.
If they are loyal to GNE and there is the choice of two operators for their trip, is this based on price?

It has to be said, only 3 of the 7 got on the 21. So goodness knows where the other 4 were going. I can only assume they were waiting for an X21 and have a GNE ticket, rather than an ANE one.