North East Buses

(03 Sep 2025, 4:48 pm)WestDurhamSwift wrote [ -> ]6161 is going into the same livery.

Already done!!

(03 Sep 2025, 2:25 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]Must admit, I didn't read that from that message, but won't fault them on the general message.

Don't know who signed that off, no doubt a bloke, because I'm sure most women wouldn't be touched by it - at all.

There's also another TV ad to go with this campaign where women are cleaning/driving a StreetLite, it's just as bad, if not worse than the all-over bus wrap.

(03 Sep 2025, 10:01 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]There's also another TV ad to go with this campaign where women are cleaning/driving a StreetLite, it's just as bad, if not worse than the all-over bus wrap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgIp_G90WD8

This one I guess? Pretty cringe, I must admit, just a lot of buzzwords with absolutely no meaning, if you ask me. Having a large section on a woman cleaning is rather ironic aswell.

That is dreadful. It draws attention to stereotypes more than it debunks them and, as for the cleaning - what the .…?

They often make it seem like, up until a few years ago, no woman had ever worked in the bus industry before.

It's such an egregious, single issue recruitment strategy. It literally internalises outdated and preconceived ideas about women and their abilities. You'd be forgiven for thinking that video's target audience was housewives at home in the 1960s listening to the wireless while cleaning and preparing meals.

While I'll concede that, by nature of the job, the engineering faculty of any bus operator will be massively under-representative of women, with probably more in the few admin roles than in overalls on the shop floor, they blow this out of proportion across the board. Clerical and administrative roles within the company have often been occupied by women with long service rates, and many of those still there today will have completed YTS courses upon leaving school in the 80s and 90s. There are probably just as many, if not more, women than men in these office-based roles if you discount operations management. They'd have far more had they not made them redundant.

If you looked at the seniority lists for drivers at all of their depots (perhaps except Sunderland, although there was one long serving lady there until quite recently), you'd see at least one - often multiple - women drivers who have had a 25 year long service award. The longest serving driver at Chester when it closed was a woman with 45 years in. I believe the longest server at Percy Main now is a woman with nearly 45 years as well. The blonde driver in that video will have been at Gateshead for about thirty years. Remember that long service rates have massively downturned over the last few years and there will be very few drivers joining the company today or even since the pandemic who will end up becoming long servers themselves. There are lots more women working within the company with historic service that broke it, I dare say in most cases to start families.

A female friend of mine is a freight train driver. She always says you can't be what you can't see. So any efforts to improve the diversity of the workforce is a good thing in my book.

She used to be a GNE driver but moved to GCT and is now at Stagecoach Sunderland, and I was in Park Lane the other day, there were 2 female coach drivers, 1 female arriva driver and 3 female GNE drivers. It looked so empowering, really, from a male-dominated industry, especially considering the age of the drivers varied from young to middle-aged, etc.

Tbh I was in Park Lane once waiting for the X6, and a 61/60/700/2A all pulled out one after each other all with women drivers

I think having watched their recruitment video, I didn't see anything mentioned about customer service. Also it screamed out what we will give you, not what we expect from you, such as having a positive attitude, being safe & reliable & having a good aspect of customer service etc.

Regardless of who is driving the bus, as long as the service is being delivered punctually, that's all anybody can ask for. Although just because somebody is the opposite gender, or has a disability or limitations, should not mean they can't have the same opportunities, as at the end of the day most jobs can be taught, and once anybody gets used to something they should in theory get better at it.

Also just based on the recruitment advert alone, it just appears to an outsider as a box ticking exercise, just rushed out to say we are supporting or doing this as a company. No real explanation to say why, similar with other recent campaigns they have embarked on, whilst the quality of their bus services continues to get worse.

Similar story across the industry however, it just appears the main focus is to maximise revenue, whereby employees increasingly feel as though they are just payroll numbers, with minimum investment in new resources, more stress brought on by reduced running times, more stopping on journeys due to frequencys being slashed, older buses brought in to most areas that were not council focused areas for funding & investment in new vehicles.

Then drivers getting it in the neck from management for the slightest thing in some cases, can be some of the big reasons for high turnover, not to mention some not being able to plan their life around changing shift patterns. You only have to take a read of employee reviews of why somebody left a company & most reasons are similar to with each other in some way, or indeed talk to drivers who may be with another company, and most would likely share their experience with the previous operator.

Although saying that, the retention at smaller independent operators seems to be much greater, where drivers seem to feel much more valued & appreciated, want to actually be at work, and feel they can talk to their boss as though they are part of the same team & not out to find any reason to make their job harder or give them a disciplinary. Also it just seems to a customer, especially on vehicles that don't have covered cab screens, that it's easier to interact with the driver when boarding & alighting the vehicle, and you tend to find the driver will actually acknowledge their customers much better & provide good customer service to them.

Another attraction of independents for female drivers would be the reduced likelihood of being expected to work late at night. I wouldn't fancy being the driver of a bus carrying nowt but a group of pissed blokes through a housing estate at 10:30pm.

Corporate Streetlite parked up at Chilton Moor yesterday afternoon, missing some of its offside engine panels.
That and the green one behind it, causing absolute chaos on the junction.

3965 now withdrawn. 6160 now at Riverside and out on the Loop today.

6161 is now at Consett

Coach at Saltmeadows being prepped for repaint (or thats what it looked like) Any ideas?

When is the new buses arriving for the 21, 56, 58 and X66?

(13 Sep 2025, 4:29 pm)Michael wrote [ -> ]When is the new buses arriving for the 21, 56, 58 and X66?

If Wright Electroliners have been ordered then soon as Plymouth Citybus/Go-Ahead London are taking deliveries of them currently, once these are completed the next ones within Go-Ahead Group should be East Yorkshire, not sure where Go North East fits into this as I am of the understanding they've ordered Yuntong U11DD's for the 21/58 and potentially a few E12's for the X66, happy for anyone to correct me on this though as nothing 100% confirmed.

(14 Sep 2025, 3:51 pm)Malarkey wrote [ -> ]If Wright Electroliners have been ordered then soon as Plymouth Citybus/Go-Ahead London are taking deliveries of them currently, once these are completed the next ones within Go-Ahead Group should be East Yorkshire, not sure where Go North East fits into this as I am of the understanding they've ordered Yuntong U11DD's for the 21/58 and potentially a few E12's for the X66, happy for anyone to correct me on this though as nothing 100% confirmed.

The single decker Yutongs have turned out to be a good investment so hopefully the deckers do.

I had heard a while back that Matt Carney doesnt like Yutongs, so I would be surprised if GNE were going against what he says. I think it will be Wrights with them signing a deal with them back in 2024.

Are deckers not for the X66 with singles going on the 58?

(14 Sep 2025, 5:37 pm)L469 YVK wrote [ -> ]Are deckers not for the X66 with singles going on the 58?

Sure it was singles for the X66 and Deckers for the 58.

(14 Sep 2025, 5:37 pm)L469 YVK wrote [ -> ]Are deckers not for the X66 with singles going on the 58?

Would be better to have a full fleet of Double Deckers for the 21/58/X66 than having a microfleet of Single Deckers on either 58 or X66.

Currently on the Durham bound 50 and we just had to pick up passengers off 6215.

Bust wing mirror.

6100 seems to of broken down in front of Flannels in Sunderland, it only got from Park Lane - it was its first run of the day.

https://bustimes.org/vehicles/gnel-6100


It tracked on the 99 but didn't actual run.

I've seen 8322 in Newcastle twice today appearing to be operating on the 1. There was a few people on board so mustn't have caused that much confusion. Can only assume it never got updated when the service changes happened.

Good to see gaffer tape being used to cover the holes above the rear wheel arches on the inside of 5384. Oh and the doors don't work

(28 Sep 2025, 9:48 am)DeltaMan wrote [ -> ]Good to see gaffer tape being used to cover the holes above the rear wheel arches on the inside of 5384. Oh and the doors don't work

But is it genuine branded gaffer tape or the cheapest that Pound Bargains had on offer?

I would hope that only high quality bodge jobs would be acceptable.

(28 Sep 2025, 2:27 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]But is it genuine branded gaffer tape or the cheapest that Pound Bargains had on offer?

I would hope that only high quality bodge jobs would be acceptable.

It appeared to be B&Q standard. So somewhere in between!

(28 Sep 2025, 9:48 am)DeltaMan wrote [ -> ]Good to see gaffer tape being used to cover the holes above the rear wheel arches on the inside of 5384. Oh and the doors don't work

Trying to follow in GCT's footprints now then, they have been using it for years

Here's a one, so just got off the 309 and the driver mentioned that the 301 is going back to deckers with the soon to be ex-Angel StreetDecks.

IMO, would be a wiser move using them on the 307/309 with B9TLs doing the 301 instead which are way better suited to the distance & teraim especially around Bensham, Lobley Hill & Whickham.

Followed an old Optare Decker on the X21 yesterday joining the A1(N) Northbound after Chester-Le-Street it crawled up the slip road at no more than 20-30mph very dangerous and very loud.