(27 Dec 2013, 9:43 am)andreos1 I didn't have a bus service that came in 1 1/2 miles of me and unless I drove or walked, I couldn't get to the shops.
The day was originally going to involve a group of us heading to the match - several of us didn't bother when we realised how awkward it would be getting there and back (I wasn't the only one to not have a bus service).

Touching on your Debenhams point, do they not have a service offer on each day of the year?
Do their staff not deserve time off?

(27 Dec 2013, 10:44 am)Davey Bowyer GNE are streets ahead of Arriva. I remember one morning when I was getting Arriva's 43 and due to the fact that Arriva only have mobile phones, the driver couldn't report the problem until he got to Haymarket and that run ended up being cancelled leaving us passengers waiting for another 15 minutes. Now if GNE were running that service, the driver could have easily managed to contact the depot via the radio for another bus to be sent to Haymarket before he got there. Also, the ticketing is miles ahead of Arriva and far more easier to use. Mind you though folks, one thing that gets on my nerves is people who don't turn up for their bus on time, the driver drives off and people have the audacity to complain about it! It's their responsibility to get there on time and when they make it by the skin of their teeth, they faff around with £20 notes just for a short hop down the road. GNE aren't perfect in any sense but they do at least try.

(27 Dec 2013, 12:37 pm)CatsFast101 I think it's great that go north east are providing these services when others don't bother. Boxing Day is becoming increasingly more popular. However a comment on corrie from Christmas Day (which I'm just watching now) got me thinking. Roy Cropper commented on the local Weatherfield wayfarer (coronation street's local bus service) operating to an every 2 hour limited schedule. I'm wondering if some of the more frequent services that don't usually run could do to be an hourly or 2 hourly if necessary. Things like Loop, Lime, 61 etc. having things interworking etc. just an idea?

(27 Dec 2013, 1:23 pm)palatine3833 The Loop was trialled 3 years ago and was operated by Weardale using Dennis Tridents, every 30 minutes on both the 93/94 as seen here

(27 Dec 2013, 4:26 pm)Greg in Weardale And it wasn't worth turning out for, loadings were abysmal. I did the Arriva 44/45 to Dinnington for Weardale in 2010 & 2011; in 2010 Newcastle were at home and several buses were overloaded after the match and loadings reasonable at other times, in 2011 much less busy and it can't have been worth the small fortune Nexus paid for these services with drivers on £200 for the day and light running from Stanhope.

(27 Dec 2013, 4:26 pm)Greg in Weardale And it wasn't worth turning out for, loadings were abysmal. I did the Arriva 44/45 to Dinnington for Weardale in 2010 & 2011; in 2010 Newcastle were at home and several buses were overloaded after the match and loadings reasonable at other times, in 2011 much less busy and it can't have been worth the small fortune Nexus paid for these services with drivers on £200 for the day and light running from Stanhope.

(27 Dec 2013, 1:16 pm)palatine3833 The simple reason why Arriva don't use a radio system is due to the nature of the routes. They trialled it on quite a few buses, but because of the rural nature of most routes, the radios failed to work on the majority of services. The 43 in Durham, the radio only worked between Durham-Ushaw Moor, but not through to Esh Winning, so it only worked for around half the route.

(27 Dec 2013, 10:12 am)Dan I agree.

Service information for Boxing Day was released quite a while ago. If I could prepare the journeys which I was going to make for my day of photography, then any member of the public could also refer to timetables for their journeys.

I've seen many complaints on Go North East's Facebook page today about the lack of a normal Monday to Friday bus service. One person even complained about having a weekly ticket which cost £21.80 and he was unable to use it this morning as no buses operated in his area before x time, so he had to pay someone £10 to get to work...
If that were me, I'd have checked online to see what the operation was going to be like prior to purchasing a ticket! You wouldn't buy an advance single ticket for a train if you couldn't get to the station on time, so what's the difference with buses?

Service information was given to people well in advance and throughout the day yesterday via announcements - anyone with an internet connection (whether it's on a mobile, tablet or laptop/PC) can check the website. Let's face it - if they can complain on a Facebook page, they can access the information for Boxing Day operations.
Despite this, I saw many people yesterday (including younger people who most definitely have access to the above devices) waiting around for buses and referring to the timetables at bus stops.
A young lad about the same age as me had waited for the 56 for an hour thinking it was a Sunday service, but the first one from Sunderland wasn't scheduled to come until 08:50am...
Rear advertisements have been placed on buses for the convenience of customers I gather, to alert them of operations around the Christmas/New Year period, notices have been pinned on the usual boards on-board buses, GNE's website has had the information available for quite some time and even their Social Media reps have been issuing the information for quite some time too...
...And for what purpose? Customers have ignored all of the above, and are still confused.


In my example, it was the 58 at Heworth.
The boards with all of the times of buses had the 58 down as 8, all of the Newcastle-bound services were down as using the stand the Washington-bound services use and vice versa... Drivers still used the same stands though!


Is this Twitter page manned by enthusiasts or an official Customer Services team? I ask because I've only ever seen enthusiasts discuss it, and I've not actually seen any announcements on-board Stagecoach buses with information about it. I can't find any mention of it on the Stagecoach website either.
If it's enthusiasts (or even drivers who are enthusiasts) which run it, it does not surprise me that someone was online yesterday or indeed Christmas Day.


Hear, hear!

GNE are light years ahead of many operators throughout the country, for both their operations and indeed their presence on the online platform.
Once they have a real time tracking app similar to Arriva's which is being rolled out at present, I really doubt there's much more they can do to improve other than longer hours (which were actually recently implemented).

When we had really bad snow earlier this year, I think I recall GNE being online until the very last bus of the night...

(27 Dec 2013, 6:16 pm)fozzovmurton I thought the 56 was it's Sunday Services, sure it was running every 20 mins, but was being displayed as leaving Stand S(8/78 Stand I think)...

(27 Dec 2013, 11:30 am)andreos1 My final piece for now, is based on a comment from the GNE fb page that I have just seen.

The GNE representative has stated that they use information gathered from the previous Boxing Day to determine the services they run.

Newcastle had their first home game for donkeys years on Boxing Day and by all accounts this wasn't taken into account, with stories emerging of the reduced services, resulting in crowded 21's leaving passengers standing and the x1 being worked by Solars.
Dread to think how other services to Western Gateshead and Stanley/Consett via the Metrocentre managed.
The only extra services I can see from previous years (happy to stand corrected) were the contracted soccerbuses, drafted in to assist with the 52,000 people making their way to Gallowgate, who had done other things in years gone by.

The 93 and 94 didn't run to TVTE for some strange reason and services to Sunderland from outlying towns and villages (where there had been home games for consecutive seasons) were at a similar frequency to previous years.
Dalton Park seemingly wasn't served either.
Unsure of retail parks on North Tyneside, although it appears Byker retail park didn't justify a service either.

I am curious as to how they can argue there is no need for a service, if there hasn't been one previously and the business case behind it (whilst respecting business interests).
If any of the reps can explain, I would be all ears.

Demand for services will change year on year and no doubt increase as society changes.
Whether people agree with it or not, it is time for the bus operators to adapt too.

(27 Dec 2013, 12:30 pm)citaro5284 Why would a business want to tell a member of the public their affairs.....surely it is for the Management and Directors of the business to make them decisions and it has nothing to do with you (or anyone else) when them decisions get made. I am not just talking GNE here, but for all businesses?

(27 Dec 2013, 12:37 pm)CatsFast101 I think it's great that go north east are providing these services when others don't bother. Boxing Day is becoming increasingly more popular. However a comment on corrie from Christmas Day (which I'm just watching now) got me thinking. Roy Cropper commented on the local Weatherfield wayfarer (coronation street's local bus service) operating to an every 2 hour limited schedule. I'm wondering if some of the more frequent services that don't usually run could do to be an hourly or 2 hourly if necessary. Things like Loop, Lime, 61 etc. having things interworking etc. just an idea?

(27 Dec 2013, 6:19 pm)Greg in Weardale Those of you who live within reach of a Boxing Day bus should be grateful to GNE and Nexus for providing at least some services and the Metro. There's no national rail services or any buses for the vast majority of the population, but in most areas of the country very few businesses are open on Boxing Day so there'll only be buses in places where it's worth companies operating commercially or where a Transport Authority is willing to pay. And of course costs, especially drivers' pay, will be inflated. New Year's Day is odd as well with many national rail services running, but no buses or Metro - are less businesses open then or are overheads higher to run public transport? Maybe most people are too hungover to want to go out.

(27 Dec 2013, 6:38 pm)fozzovmurton Correctomundo sir, Dalton Park was not served and never has been on Boxing Day, even if they ran an hourly service, even if it never went beyond Dalton Park would be enough



Fair point, but as they provide a public service does that not mean they accountable to Customers and as The Groul as a whole is a plc are they also not accountable to shareholders



I mentioned the 61 even an hourly service to Dalton Park would be good



I am very grateful even if I did have to walk from Murton to Deneside for a bus

(27 Dec 2013, 6:49 pm)CatsFast101 Yeah I know, I've thought that surely dalton park would justify as service in some form even if it was hourly or just a few runs or even an extended 60 for the day (like they do with the 47) some sort of service I would of thought could be justified. Walking from Murton to Deneside is a treck, Id get a bus from the terrace to the station never mind walking up to Deneside!

(27 Dec 2013, 6:55 pm)fozzovmurton I live as close by road to Deneside as I do to Dalton Park, on Sea View Estate, but yes, your right a service to Dalton Park would have been good, not sure about an extension of the 60 though, the people of Parkside and Dawdon would probably then twist about missing out, I would have done it by interworking with the 2A and/or 42 and/or 60

(27 Dec 2013, 7:10 pm)CatsFast101 True, Parkside & Dawdon only miss out to keep the 60 PVR at 2, by terminating it at the harbour so I'm not sure how any extension would work. But I'd like to see a service for dalton park next year.

(27 Dec 2013, 11:47 am)andreos1 I never noticed it whether it had ran previously.
If it is a new Boxing Day service, then brilliant.

Loadings were obviously analysed from the 43/44 and they were enough to justify an extra bus from Stanley - perfect for shoppers, workers and people going to the match.

Anyone in Newcastle on a normal Saturday can see the justification in having frequent 21's and x1's - when a match has finished during the week, extra services are put on to some routes such as the x10.

So I am unsure as to why the frequency was reduced to/from Newcastle on a number of services and smaller vehicles introduced for the x1, if demand would be similar, if not increased to normal.

Comments have been made, comparing services to the Tokyo Metro!

This is a multi-million pound organisation and they couldn't forecast/manage loadings on one of the busiest shopping days of the year in addition to 52,000 people converging onto the City Centre...
However, the other big two are just as guilty in failing to maintain their service offer.

Edit.
I would still love to know the business case and even logic behind the decision making though.

If for example the x1 picked up a stack of people heading to Newcastle from Houghton - what would GNE be able to determine from that?
Would they be aware that passengers had been dropped off by family, dropped off by another bus from an outlying estate/village or walked there?
Unless passengers were specifically asked or held a day/week/month ticket, then there is no way in the world GNE can determine if there is a demand for a service in say Fencehouses or Bournmoor.

It is the same with the 21 picking up passengers in Chester le Street.
For all GNE know, the 10 getting on, could have all come from Garden Farm Estate - which would justify demand for a bus through there on Boxing Day.

Every year, I see numerous posts (there will be any amount who don't post) on fb from passengers wanting to get to work on TVTE.
There are some this week - yet according to GNE towers, there is no demand?!

(27 Dec 2013, 8:50 pm)Liam Yes, it requires deckers. When it was Citaro operated, people were often left behind.

(27 Dec 2013, 7:44 pm)busman101 I can come back a bit on the Team Valley situation as I caught the 937 to Chester-le-Street on Monday teatime and was one of 3 passengers on it & its usually a lot busier than that, so that does suggest that passenger numbers at Team Valley drop like a stone in Christmas week.

You might have been looking at my twitter feed as I commented on the 21 being like the Tokyo Metro and whilst it was heaving, it looked like extra buses where sent from Chester (as the bus I was on passed 2 empty buses heading to Newcastle) and the drivers did well in getting as many on as possible.

I don't know if the X31 has run before, but the two I saw leave Eldon Square weren't well used at all and one of the buses would have been much better used on the 21 instead.

There's a few things to look at if the Toon end up at home again next Boxing Day, but there's still been steps forward as I can remember the 21 being every 20 mins on Boxing Day & it's now every 10 mins - can't be many places (outside London) that have a 10 min frequency on a Boxing Day.

(27 Dec 2013, 8:50 pm)Liam Yes, it requires deckers. When it was Citaro operated, people were often left behind.