North East Buses

For August 2021

Looks like Redcar are short on buses again 1536 has been doing it's rounds on the x3.

Curious if anyone's around or if it's a ticket machine issue but is 1801 really on the X18 heading up towards Berwick right now (12pm). Just seen it on bustimes.

Not a journey I'd like to do if so.

(04 Aug 2021, 7:03 pm)Ryland wrote [ -> ]Looks like Redcar are short on buses again 1536 has been doing it's rounds on the x3.

1535 on the X3 today. There was another on the 62 yesterday, but didn't get id.

(09 Aug 2021, 12:18 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Curious if anyone's around or if it's a ticket machine issue but is 1801 really on the X18 heading up towards Berwick right now (12pm). Just seen it on bustimes.

Not a journey I'd like to do if so.

Seen it on the X21 at about 16:30 heading to Newbiggin tracking as itself so it obviously has been on the X18, Bustimes.org sugges it got taken off the X18 at 15:23 at Morpeth and got put on the 16:30 X21 off town then finished after that. 1800 & 2812 been on X21/X22/35 today. Ashington clearly need investment and ASAP, and by Investment I mean new buses not second hand crap like the 58 reg E400s at  Jesmond which pretty much all sound knackered.

(09 Aug 2021, 9:47 pm)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]Seen it on the X21 at about 16:30 heading to Newbiggin tracking as itself so it obviously has been on the X18, Bustimes.org sugges it got taken off the X18 at 15:23 at Morpeth and got put on the 16:30 X21 off town then finished after that. 1800 & 2812 been on X21/X22/35 today. Ashington clearly need investment and ASAP, and by Investment I mean new buses not second hand crap like the 58 reg E400s at  Jesmond which pretty much all sound knackered.

Thought it was a tracking error, horrid allocation that but it says something when 15 year old Darts which shouldn't be in service are doing routes that should be ran by deckers and they're relying on 8 minibuses to get through service when they need 4. Very bad day for Ashington today can't disagree with needing investment - be interesting to see what would have happened if the X21/X22 was back to normal service which is rumoured as they would've had nothing to run it today.

Blyth had some rather dubious allocations today aswell a Pulsar on the half hourly 308 at 17:15 being the worst, imagine that being rather cosy.

(09 Aug 2021, 10:32 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Thought it was a tracking error, horrid allocation that but it says something when 15 year old Darts which shouldn't be in service are doing routes that should be ran by deckers and they're relying on 8 minibuses to get through service when they need 4. Very bad day for Ashington today can't disagree with needing investment - be interesting to see what would have happened if the X21/X22 was back to normal service which is rumoured as they would've had nothing to run it today.

Blyth had some rather dubious allocations today aswell a Pulsar on the half hourly 308 at 17:15 being the worst, imagine that being rather cosy.

Can confirm 1801 worked X18F today until 7532 replaced it. 1800/1 should now be parked up out of use. 

Ashington currently have 4659/7486 awaiting engines - sure the Jesmond engine rebuild team will have them both flying soon... 

In terms of the X21/22 returning to normal service, they would have been fine given there's currently 4 buses on peak extras that would be taken into the normal running boards. The 35 being half hourly would likely also be fine, realistically that would need a PVR of 4 but there is a way of getting it done with 3 buses with a bit of creative routing.

(09 Aug 2021, 10:40 pm)mb134 wrote [ -> ]Can confirm 1801 worked X18F today until 7532 replaced it. 1800/1 should now be parked up out of use. 

Ashington currently have 4659/7486 awaiting engines - sure the Jesmond engine rebuild team will have them both flying soon... 

In terms of the X21/22 returning to normal service, they would have been fine given there's currently 4 buses on peak extras that would be taken into the normal running boards. The 35 being half hourly would likely also be fine, realistically that would need a PVR of 4 but there is a way of getting it done with 3 buses with a bit of creative routing.

Ah didn't realise there was a few peak boards running around so makes sense there then, haven't looked into what runs what tbf. No doubt they'll break again after a few weeks like everything else that's flogged up North which aren't fit for purpose.

Had a feeling 1800/1801 had been 'withdrawn' though, shame they always seemed to be more reliable than the Solo's even given their age.

(09 Aug 2021, 11:08 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Ah didn't realise there was a few peak boards running around so makes sense there then, haven't looked into what runs what tbf. No doubt they'll break again after a few weeks like everything else that's flogged up North which aren't fit for purpose.

Had a feeling 1800/1801 had been 'withdrawn' though, shame they always seemed to be more reliable than the Solo's even given their age.

1800 was at Ashington 'Bus Station' at around 17.20 yesterday with an X22

(09 Aug 2021, 11:08 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Ah didn't realise there was a few peak boards running around so makes sense there then, haven't looked into what runs what tbf. 

At the moment there are 14 boards for the 35/X21/22, with 3 additional peak boards (X21X/Y/Z). There is also the X30/scholars board. (18 total)

If the X21/22 goes back to normal, then that will require 15 buses. This, as well as an X14 board, will also accomodate the two X30 trips and the school runs they have. The 35 on a half hourly basis will need 4 vehicles, though I have a feeling they can and will make it 3 so that the PVR across the depot stays the same as it is now. (Would be 18 total, or 19 if the 35 requires 4).

(10 Aug 2021, 8:57 am)mb134 wrote [ -> ]At the moment there are 14 boards for the 35/X21/22, with 3 additional peak boards (X21X/Y/Z). There is also the X30/scholars board. (18 total)

If the X21/22 goes back to normal, then that will require 15 buses. This, as well as an X14 board, will also accomodate the two X30 trips and the school runs they have. The 35 on a half hourly basis will need 4 vehicles, though I have a feeling they can and will make it 3 so that the PVR across the depot stays the same as it is now. (Would be 18 total, or 19 if the 35 requires 4).

Ah thanks for that, knew about the X30/scholars board but didn't realise there was the other 3 aswell.

(11 Aug 2021, 9:44 am)Storx wrote [ -> ]Ah thanks for that, knew about the X30/scholars board but didn't realise there was the other 3 aswell.

They only got added a couple of months ago. There's a 35, X21, and X22 board essentially. 

The 35 one does:
0601 to Morpeth
0644 to Newbiggin
0732 to Morpeth
0839 to Ashington
1614 to Woodhorn
1724 to Newbiggin

The X21 one:
0618 to Newbiggin
0701 to Newcastle
1630 to Newbiggin

The X22 one:
0755 to Newcastle
1700 to Ashington

1572 on the 62 as well as 1560

Redcar keeping streetlite close to home today
1560, 1568, 1572 on the 62
1573 one the 63

Whilst the x3 and x4 were a mix of centros temsa , pulsar and streetlite

Not odd or rare but arriva running a pulsar on their busiest X7 duty, nearly fully seated at Blyth already, ridiculous, shouldn't be allowed, worst part is is that the driver has kept the tape on the front abd an X11,with no queue was already on layover at Blyth at the same time which had less than a handful of passengers waiting for it so it could have been swapped what an utter joke arriva is

(08 Sep 2021, 7:10 am)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]Not odd or rare but arriva running a pulsar on their busiest X7 duty, nearly fully seated at Blyth already, ridiculous, shouldn't be allowed, worst part is is that the driver has kept the tape on the front abd an X11,with no queue was already on layover at Blyth at the same time which had less than a handful of passengers waiting for it so it could have been swapped what an utter joke arriva is

The X7 badly needs to be took out of this new X7/X8/X9 imo rota but it's a bit of a problem doing so without increasing the PVR. Then just allocate all the Pulsars to the 1 / 2 / X8 / X9 which are quieter. There's quite often a Pulsar on the 5pm runs aswell lately (tonight being one).

(08 Sep 2021, 7:02 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]The X7 badly needs to be took out of this new X7/X8/X9 imo rota but it's a bit of a problem doing so without increasing the PVR. Then just allocate all the Pulsars to the 1 / 2 / X8 / X9 which are quieter. There's quite often a Pulsar on the 5pm runs aswell lately (tonight being one).

The X7 run I was on about was the morning school time journey with 1505 on which 4 students were refused due to being full, arriva done no favours to the new passengers that would have started at the school the X7 serves in deleval should really look at bringing back the school duplicates between Blyth and deleval (obviously attempting to use a decker). But as a whole I agree that the X7 is in need of deckers as it does seem to be busy as a whole at peak times and does often seem to get fully/close to fully seated during peak times on a pulsar and deffinately seems busier than the X8/9 from what I've observed, busiest I've seem an X8 is half, give or take abit, of the seated capacity on a pulsar, it would best be X9/8 interworking and X7 being stand alone with deckers.

(08 Sep 2021, 7:40 pm)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]The X7 run I was on about was the morning school time journey with 1505 on which 4 students were refused due to being full, arriva done no favours to the new passengers that would have started at the school the X7 serves in deleval should really look at bringing back the school duplicates between Blyth and deleval (obviously attempting to use a decker). But as a whole I agree that the X7 is in need of deckers as it does seem to be busy as a whole at peak times and does often seem to get fully/close to fully seated during peak times on a pulsar and deffinately seems busier than the X8/9 from what I've observed, busiest I've seem an X8 is half, give or take abit, of the seated capacity on a pulsar, it would best be X9/8 interworking and X7 being stand alone with deckers.

Ah that one, in fairness the school should be providing a bus for it, I know there used to be a bus through years ago but it doesn't seem to run anymore but agreed ideally there shouldn't be singles on there. Agreed with the interworking, problem is you'd need 5 buses for the X7 unless you bring back the dark days of the 363/364 which every driver wanted to avoid as it ran constantly late.

(08 Sep 2021, 8:35 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Ah that one, in fairness the school should be providing a bus for it, I know there used to be a bus through years ago but it doesn't seem to run anymore but agreed ideally there shouldn't be singles on there. Agreed with the interworking, problem is you'd need 5 buses for the X7 unless you bring back the dark days of the 363/364 which every driver wanted to avoid as it ran constantly late.

Arriva between dupes stopping & the summer arriva constantly used pulsars loads on the school run, it's a regular pulsar board for some stupid reason and already there's no change at the start of this academic year, as I've said there should be 2 buses between Blyth & deleval on the school run in the morning and vice versa in the afternoon. Also what would the joint PVR of the X8/9 be If they interworked.

(08 Sep 2021, 9:21 pm)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]Arriva between dupes stopping & the summer arriva constantly used pulsars loads on the school run, it's a regular pulsar board for some stupid reason and already there's no change at the start of this academic year, as I've said there should be 2 buses between Blyth & deleval on the school run in the morning and vice versa in the afternoon. Also what would the joint PVR of the X8/9 be If they interworked.

Aye I kind of get why because of it's timings as it avoids the X7 Newcastle peaks I guess which they usually priortise at least in the morning anyway before all the swapping starts. They do need to do something for Astley though.

I'm guessing 10 for the X8/X9 like the old X7/X8 used to be the X8 is a bit awkward as it takes 76 minutes so if you shaved a few minutes off there somewhere and moved Amersham Drive and made the X7 go the long way into Blyth over the X9 you could possibly push it down to 9 but it'd be tight.

The X7 with a PVR of 5 would have a 17 minute overtime at each end aswell which is too much but it's too tight only having 2 minutes otherwise.

1409 this afternoon providing the busy school journey on the X7, absolutely shambolic on arriva's hands. All schools with arriva routes should duplicate them with a school bus or arriva will have their kids squashed like cattle on a pulsar and they clearly don't deserve the school revenue.

Arriva, send the Pulsar to Blyth for the 1 & 2
Arriva also, puts half of them on the X7/X8/X9 and sticks solos on the 1/2

(09 Sep 2021, 2:29 pm)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]1409 this afternoon providing the busy school journey on the X7, absolutely shambolic on arriva's hands. All schools with arriva routes should duplicate them with a school bus or arriva will have their kids squashed like cattle on a pulsar and they clearly don't deserve the school revenue.

Try complaining to Arriva directly about this issue, more likely something will happen if you make them aware of it, I claim responsibility for making a Belmont 7 board decker allocated as I complained about capacity, mind with the way Blyth tends to operate I wouldn't expect much to happen.

(09 Sep 2021, 3:11 pm)Train8261 wrote [ -> ]Arriva, send the Pulsar to Blyth for the 1 & 2
Arriva also, puts half of them on the X7/X8/X9 and sticks solos on the 1/2

What Solo's on the 1 and 2 would they be? 

There also are X7 boards which will be Pulsar allocated.

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(09 Sep 2021, 2:29 pm)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]1409 this afternoon providing the busy school journey on the X7, absolutely shambolic on arriva's hands. All schools with arriva routes should duplicate them with a school bus or arriva will have their kids squashed like cattle on a pulsar and they clearly don't deserve the school revenue.

They've allocated a decker onto the one in the morning today, likely as a result of the one yesterday running bus full. If it's a constant problem then it's definitely a concern, but that board has been allocated a decker twice this week and a Pulsar yesterday - it's possible that driver didn't encounter kids (it's timed past at 1508, school finishing looks to be 1505), and as such nothing was done for today.

If it's an issue which is reported (drivers will report it too), as Jimmi points out, things will probably be done. As it's the first week of proper school for quite a long time, without dupes, it's entirely possible that problems like this will arise and will need feedback to rectify (particularly where the service has split allocation).

(09 Sep 2021, 3:47 pm)mb134 wrote [ -> ]What Solo's on the 1 and 2 would they be? 

There also are X7 boards which will be Pulsar allocated.

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They've allocated a decker onto the one in the morning today, likely as a result of the one yesterday running bus full. If it's a constant problem then it's definitely a concern, but that board has been allocated a decker twice this week and a Pulsar yesterday - it's possible that driver didn't encounter kids (it's timed past at 1508, school finishing looks to be 1505), and as such nothing was done for today.

If it's an issue which is reported (drivers will report it too), as Jimmi points out, things will probably be done. As it's the first week of proper school for quite a long time, without dupes, it's entirely possible that problems like this will arise and will need feedback to rectify (particularly where the service has split allocation).

It can be done, Darlington have had to do this a few times with peak 7 allocations and also the morning 5A to Bishop Auckland College as passengers such as myself complained.

The first few weeks/months are usually awkward for loadings as especially with colleges it's not 100% known how many they will carry on any journey, the 5A I mentioned above the number of students travelling tends to decline over time to the point a decker is no longer required and can just get away with a Lite/Pulsar instead.