Arriva North East: Rare & Odd Workings - July 2016 

Arriva North East: Latest News & Discussion-July 2016

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(28 Jun 2016, 7:07 pm)BusLoverMum wrote If it is true, I'm sure it's not random. There tends to be a bit of thought goes into these things.

I don't think the 19 will receive any new vehicles just yet. I can however see something like this happening down the line and maybe some newer buses then:

- 9: Current 9 route from North Shields to Sunderland every 30 minutes
- 9A (split at Cramlington for Tacho rules): Current 19 route from Ashington to Percy Main then 9 route to Sunderland every hour
- 9B: Blyth - Newsham - High Pit then same route as 9A to Sunderland every hour

Timetable info for the Kynren show's in Bishop Auckland can be seen here: http://www.cartogold.co.uk/durham/shuttlebus-tt.pdf

Evening all, 

The Northern National Restoration Group are holding another event on Sunday 4th September this year, following the successful one last year in which more people than ever anticipated turned up to ride ex-Northern Leyland National Mk2/Leyland FTN 710W, ex-National Welsh Leyland National Mk1/Leyland YFY 4M and former-Leyland test vehicle Leyland National Mk1/Leyland WHH 556S. The three vehicles all differed mechanically, with FTN 710W being Volvo-repowered, YFY 4M carrying it's original Leyland 510 engine, and DAF-repowered WHH 556S.

This year, Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown 4855 (R855 PRG) is being used alongside another vehicle from the Workington Transport Heritage Trust (potentially anything in their vast collection that is MOT'd). The route that has been chosen is an extensive run that follows the 775 route from Consett Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Market Place, the 21 to Durham, a run on the 53 to Witton Gilbert, then the 765 back to Consett Bus Station from there.

At present, pickups are to be undertaken at Consett at 10:15, Stanley at 10:50, Chester-le-Street at 11:20, and Durham Millburngate at 11:45. Photostops will be available on Stanley Front Street, Chester-le-Street, Durham North Road/Millburngate and Lanchester Village Green. All pickups aside from Consett will not be returned to, so those joining us will have to make their own way back from Consett. Passengers will be able to change vehicles at all of the locations listed above. 

Following a problem last year, all under-16s must be accompanied by an adult. Any donations will be greatly received, as the cost of operating such an event isn't cheap. 

R852 PRG

Need some help homies...

As you know I am getting married next year...for my sins [FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY]

In terms of Transport, I want a vintage bus as part of my wedding day, to take guests from the Church to the Reception Venue...

Only bus I have seen that does wedding do's is an old Routemaster, and would love something like that for my big day...

Anyone know who I would contact for that or know of any special companies who hire out vintage buses...PM me plz

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Stagecoach Group PLC

Sale of megabus Europe retail operations

29 June 2016

Stagecoach Group plc ("Stagecoach") is pleased to announce that yesterday it agreed the sale of the retail operations of its megabus Europe business to FlixMobility GmbH ("FlixBus").  Only those megabus.com retailing operations involving mainland Europe are part of the agreed sale.  

The megabus Europe business comprises both retailing activities and coach operating activities.  The retailing activities involve the design of inter-city coach services, including their timetabling, co-ordination and marketing, as well as the pricing and sale of journeys on those services.  The coach operating activities encompass the day-to-day operation and staffing of the coach services.  We have agreed the sale to FlixBus of the retailing part of that business.  We will continue to operate a number of European inter-city coach services as a contractor to FlixBus and we look forward to building on our relationship with it.

The sale of the megabus Europe retail operations will complete on or around 1 July 2016.  In addition, Stagecoach has agreed that it will dispose of a number of vehicles to FlixBus or its nominee at a future date.

The agreed amount of the consideration for the sale of the retail operations will be satisfied by the issue of a loan note from FlixBus to Stagecoach at completion.  Stagecoach expects the loan note to be fully settled by the end of 2017.   Payment of the loan note is not subject to any conditions or performance criteria which need to be fulfilled.

Stagecoach expects to report a gain on disposal in respect of the sale in its consolidated financial statements for the year ending 30 April 2017.

Existing customer bookings for megabus.com Europe journeys remain valid and these services are continuing to operate as normal.  FlixBus is a leading retailer of inter-city coach travel in Europe - more information on it can be found, and travel can be booked, at www.flixbus.com.

A number of changes are happening in the not too distant future around Great Park such as the following:
Bollards removed from Brunton Lane bus link bridge and cameras are to run 24/7
New bus link between Sir Bobby Robson Way and the SAGE Park & Ride
Q3 is to be re routed running anti clockwise around Great Park from the 4/9/2016 doing the following route:
Rosedon Way Current Stop-Sir Bobby Robson Way-SAGE via New bus link-Wagonway Drive-Rosedon Way Hail & Ride past the community centre then over the bus link bridge

I recently headed off to the real Costa del Sol, not to be confused with the Easington Lane variation.
The management is typically Spanish; lazy and over-bureaucratic. There are no timetables stuck to shelters or anything at all. The buses don't have any branding or anything at all to indicate even what company they belong to. The LED display simply displays the destination, with no route number or via points, yet each takes a hugely varying route to its destination. This means having to board the bus to asatain where the bus is actually going. This only stands for half of the fleet of B9 style triaxial coaches.

The other half is a collection of battered blue unidentifiable tin boxes, far too boring to deserve a place in this post. These buses don't have any destination board, only "Line A" painted on the side, almost obscured with age. The seats were almost identical to GNE's classic mosaic seats.

These buses run half hourly via wherever, but if you can cut through all the astranged organisational features - you have yourself a speedy ride on what is effectively a brand new coach or a washing machine. Every trip is packed, somehow everyone copes.

The clear message I've learned is that however bad GNE/SNE/ANE may appear to us through bad customer service or late workings or whatever it is you may have issues with, this isn't much compared to the horribly disorganised (yet functional) system employed by ALSA, where you have to dig through horrible websites to dig up any idea of a timetable and beg the driver to establish where it is you are actually going to.

If you are planning any trips to South Spain - make sure you do your own research online to since this is almost certainly the expectation!