(15 May 2021, 2:29 pm)Malarkey Noted twice this week the 20:08 19 from Cobalt Business Park to North Shields Ferry on Wednesday and Thursday did not show up as one of my work colleagues normally use this service down to the Ferry to then go over to South Shields as it is quicker than getting the 309 into Newcastle then getting the Metro through which they ended up doing.

(15 May 2021, 3:16 pm)Dan Make sure to send a complaint to Nexus Customer Services on behalf of your work colleague.

The only way we will ever see improvements is if customers keep complaining. I suspect Nexus aren’t even aware of the issues.


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(15 May 2021, 4:22 pm)Micheal Aaron I highly doubt nexus  do anything. Considering the amount of complaints they have received that much. If nexus weren't informed when they were taken to court because of vosa then I doubt nexus reporting anything will change. Nexus will still give them contracts and nothing will change

(15 May 2021, 6:28 pm)Micheal Aaron Wow. That's blown my mind(Sarcastic) but tbh why do nexus still give them contract if they know there gonna receive complaints I mean tbh they probably don't but who knows

(15 May 2021, 7:25 pm)Micheal Aaron It's just strange how much they have received. They have been up in court yer nexus still give them contract

(15 May 2021, 11:25 pm)Rapidsnap Hang on the H1 is meant to be Euro 6. Don't think I've seen anything remotely near Euro 6 standard on that route. When I've seen it, it was a V-Reg (hidden by the Northern Ireland plate) Dennis Trident which if they are lucky would be Euro 3 at the most. Think on one other occasion it has been a Streetlite, think they are Euro 5.

(16 May 2021, 9:18 am)idiot On the other side of things there isn't money trees growing outside of Nexus to pay for a higher bid.

(16 May 2021, 9:33 am)Dan No - and nobody is suggesting that there is - but what has been repeated time and time again is that the successful operator of any contract to run bus services should be running the service as it was tendered.

Once a company starts repeatedly not running the contract as it was tendered - be it continued lost mileage, continued running of the wrong route and missing out stops, or otherwise - this means it's no longer a level playing field, and gives that company an unfair advantage on all the other operators who tendered for that service, be it commercial or independent, who submitted their price based on running the service as it was tendered.

We have seen vehicle shortages this week which are reported to be as a result of vandalism in Pennywell on an evening. This isn't Gateshead Central Taxis' fault, but it is their responsibility to have an adequate number of spare vehicles to operate all their services. Most commercial operators have a 12-14% spare vehicle allocation (and this needs to be factored into the cost of any tender that operators submit), and it would be interesting to see how this compares against Gateshead Central Taxis' spare vehicle allocation.

Whilst Nexus might not have a money tree growing outside on St. James' Boulevard, I would think that they still expect that what little money they do have to maintain these 'socially necessary' bus services, going to Gateshead Central Taxis in most cases, to be spent on services which do actually run. It is not acceptable for Gateshead Central Taxis to be paid for services they are not operating.

(16 May 2021, 10:58 am)streetdeckfan It's not just about the cost, it's about the value, GCT may be cheap, but they certainly ain't good value for money.

Surely the goal should be to try and drive up passenger numbers on the contracted route to get it to a point where it doesn't need the financial support, GCT seem to be doing the complete opposite!

(16 May 2021, 10:58 am)streetdeckfan Surely the goal should be to try and drive up passenger numbers on the contracted route to get it to a point where it doesn't need the financial support, GCT seem to be doing the complete opposite!