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+--- Forum: Go North East (https://northeastbuses.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=54)
+--- Thread: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 (/showthread.php?tid=2029)
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Malarkey - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 8:52 am)Michael On the VOSA email:
GO NORTH EAST LIMITED
Director(s): KEVIN CARR, DAVID CURRY, ALEXANDER PAUL EDWARDS, GEORGE COLIN McPHERSON, DAVID ALLEN BROWN, Simon Patrick Butcher
117 QUEEN STREET, GATESHEAD, NE8 2UA
Removed operating centre: SITE 11,, SALTMEADOWS ROAD, GATESHEAD, NE8 3AH
Does this mean they are closing Saltmeadows?
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Citaro5326 - 13 Oct 2017
3983 is now in a black base , any suggestions
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - nk55 - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 1:49 pm)Malarkey Does this mean they are closing Saltmeadows?
I would guess it was made an operating centre when the low cost unit moved there, which is no longer the case.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - idiot - 13 Oct 2017
Disgrace if Washington increases... Hard to drive down there at times.
Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - cbma06 - 13 Oct 2017
Just been looking on GNE website allocations, and by what stated on VOSA ,deptford at present is 107 but will go to 120, peterlee is 20 and still be 20, Washington at present is 53 and will go to 60, Chester at present is 100 will go to 103, crook stays at 10, Stanley at present is 74 and will go to 82, Percy main at present 80 and go to 85, riverside at present is 160 and will go to 170.
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RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - EL1TE - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 2:04 pm)Citaro5326 3983 is now in a black base , any suggestions
Receiving a promotional livery.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - S813 FVK - 13 Oct 2017
From what I understand, these number changes don't mean that the company needs to have that many vehicles kept at each depot, they just can't go over it.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Malarkey - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 2:04 pm)Citaro5326 3983 is now in a black base , any suggestions
3983 in Black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37003145163/in/dateposted/
5304 has also returned to Go North East in the Corporate Livery - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37003244033/in/feed
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Rapidsnap - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 3:49 pm)S813 FVK From what I understand, these number changes don't mean that the company needs to have that many vehicles kept at each depot, they just can't go over it.
The Authorised number will be for the number of O Discs allocated to that depot. Depots can store above that number of non active / stored vehicles.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - RBZ 5459 - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 3:57 pm)Malarkey 3983 in Black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37003145163/in/dateposted/
5304 has also returned to Go North East in the Corporate Livery - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37003244033/in/feed
It's for the Special Events fleet, which I hope isn't anything strenuous.... would of thought they would have held out for more Omnidekkas for standardisation. Still 9 04 plates, 10 54 plates, 5 05 plates, 10 55 plates and 4 06 plates on N94UD down in Brighton apparently, if that Brighton low emission zone thingy is still planned they'll be wanting some of them away surely.
Also, for those in the know - what does the special events fleet entail?
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Dan - 13 Oct 2017
(13 Oct 2017, 5:54 pm)RBZ 5459 It's for the Special Events fleet, which I hope isn't anything strenuous.... would of thought they would have held out for more Omnidekkas for standardisation. Still 9 04 plates, 10 54 plates, 5 05 plates, 10 55 plates and 4 06 plates on N94UD down in Brighton apparently, if that Brighton low emission zone thingy is still planned they'll be wanting some of them away surely.
Also, for those in the know - what does the special events fleet entail?
Brighton & Hove do plan on binning off most of their remaining Scania OmniDekkas over the next few years, but I'll doubt we'll see many more (if any at all) migrating north. There are a small number of the same type (55-reg) being offered around the Group at present from Metrobus, but I'm doubtful that any other operating company will want them. Similar examples (albeit a few years older) were offered around the Group from Go South Coast, and there were no takers which resulted in Ensign taking most of them (indeed, here in the North East, Stagecarriage have taken a couple of them). They were great low-value replacements for the elderly and fairly reliable Dennis Tridents in the fleet, but they're still fairly old, expensive to maintain, and the work that has to be done on them to bring them up to 'Go North East standard' is expensive. I doubt we'll see anything more than the current examples in the fleet being tarted up with a re-trim, handpoles repainted, etc.
With regards to 3983 - the repaint doesn't coincide with it forming part of the company's Special Events fleet but is relevant (it's been on the cards for a while now - this one wasn't repainted unlike all of the other dual-door Volvo B7 in the summer of 2016). It's just a promotional livery, as stated above already and on the news page. Should be branded up soon, as well as the two promotional Night Bus double-decks (pencilled in for next week - so best to get your photos of them in base colours this weekend, if anyone is interested).
The Special Events fleet is exactly what it says on the tin really - a fleet of buses which are readily available for Special Events. There was a small amount of detail on the news page at the time about what the Special Events fleet was (which you can see an example of for 3983 here). Whilst the loss of Nexus Miscellaneous Contracts resulted in the loss of daily work for these vehicles (which was unfortunate), they also saw use on various contracts on weekends, school holidays, etc, which I'd imagine bring in a fair amount of money to the company. This includes the likes of Metro Replacement (planned and adhoc/emergency), Sunderland Airshow Park & Ride services, Great North Run Baggage Buses and shuttle buses, and similar. Go North East are retaining these vehicles in the fleet to operate said contracts, and as they're now readily available during the day on weekdays, it allows Go North East to bid for other contracts which require buses at this time. A good example would be the Sunderland Illuminations 101 service in operation over the next few weeks. The three coaches in the Special Events fleet (with Driver Training 7114 as a fourth, if required) are mainly used on Rail Replacement and Private Hire contracts (the number of which Go North East has operated has rapidly increased over the last few months). You may have noticed Arriva jumping on the Rail Replacement bandwagon recently too - one could argue that if it's a Northern contract, it's going back into the same DB pot, so probably likely to become more frequent where coaches and tachographed vehicles don't have to be used...
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Swiny1 - 14 Oct 2017
Dan do you think GNE will win some of the contracts back. Awful seeing Kingsley (cowboys) operating so much. Some of the buses they have now must be leased but I still think they will balls up
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RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Tom - 14 Oct 2017
(14 Oct 2017, 8:24 am)Swiny1 Dan do you think GNE will win some of the contracts back. Awful seeing Kingsley (cowboys) operating so much. Some of the buses they have now must be leased but I still think they will balls up
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Some of the buses used on the scholars look a mess. Stanley travel have had a President on scholars with a written paper sign for as long as I can remember, and those B7s from London look a mess. One of them still has half of a advert on the back.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Swiny1 - 14 Oct 2017
Totally agree. Scary they are carrying young kids about. My work uses Kingsley for different events and some of your the staff commemted lately on how scary the buses/ driving were
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* The staff
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RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - BusLoverMum - 14 Oct 2017
(14 Oct 2017, 8:43 am)Tom Some of the buses used on the scholars look a mess. Stanley travel have had a President on scholars with a written paper sign for as long as I can remember, and those B7s from London look a mess. One of them still has half of a advert on the back.
(14 Oct 2017, 8:46 am)Swiny1 Totally agree. Scary they are carrying young kids about. My work uses Kingsley for different events and some of your the staff commemted lately on how scary the buses/ driving wereNothing changed from 20 years ago, then.
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RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Dan - 14 Oct 2017
(14 Oct 2017, 8:24 am)Swiny1 Dan do you think GNE will win some of the contracts back. Awful seeing Kingsley (cowboys) operating so much. Some of the buses they have now must be leased but I still think they will balls up
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It is a pity that quality is not taken into consideration with the scholars and Miscellaneous Works contracts.
I'm not suggesting that the likes of Go North East or Arriva are perfect, but at least you can have a bit more confidence that the children who use these services are safe and in the event that something does go wrong, the buses are all equipped with CCTV and telematics systems.
I don't think every independent operator is the same, but this year's significant loss of contracts from Arriva and Go North East has resulted in a large number of smaller independent operators gaining more work, and I think the quality of the vehicles sourced has reduced somewhat. Nightingale Coaches' gains last year saw a fleet of ex-London double-decks acquired which were repainted externally, and they looked pretty tidy. This year is a completely different kettle of fish: buses running around with no fleet names, legal lettering, destination displays, etc. I regularly pass double-decks in Kingsleys Coaches' fleet on my way to work - some of them have what appears to be a bed sheet in the front windscreen on the upper saloon, with some form of advert on it! The ex-London stock Stanley Travel has taken is still running around in London base colours, and again, leaves a lot to be desired.
Go North East has already bailed Nexus out with one or two contracts - one bus from the Special Events fleet has been allocated to a scholars service previously operated by Nightingale Coaches (if I remember rightly) for the past few weeks.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Swiny1 - 14 Oct 2017
Totally agree with your comments
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Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - cbma06 - 14 Oct 2017
Only slightly agree with the comments, it's ashame that the independent bus companies don't have the backing of someone who's smoking a big Brazilian cigar
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RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - Jimmi - 14 Oct 2017
(14 Oct 2017, 11:40 am)Dan It is a pity that quality is not taken into consideration with the scholars and Miscellaneous Works contracts.
I'm not suggesting that the likes of Go North East or Arriva are perfect, but at least you can have a bit more confidence that the children who use these services are safe and in the event that something does go wrong, the buses are all equipped with CCTV and telematics systems.
I don't think every independent operator is the same, but this year's significant loss of contracts from Arriva and Go North East has resulted in a large number of smaller independent operators gaining more work, and I think the quality of the vehicles sourced has reduced somewhat. Nightingale Coaches' gains last year saw a fleet of ex-London double-decks acquired which were repainted externally, and they looked pretty tidy. This year is a completely different kettle of fish: buses running around with no fleet names, legal lettering, destination displays, etc. I regularly pass double-decks in Kingsleys Coaches' fleet on my way to work - some of them have what appears to be a bed sheet in the front windscreen on the upper saloon, with some form of advert on it! The ex-London stock Stanley Travel has taken is still running around in London base colours, and again, leaves a lot to be desired.
Go North East has already bailed Nexus out with one or two contracts - one bus from the Special Events fleet has been allocated to a scholars service previously operated by Nightingale Coaches (if I remember rightly) for the past few weeks.
About how long do the current contracts last? I fear that if the answer is a short duration, the operators won't bother spending as much effort in vehicle presentation, especially if they are mostly only going to do scholar's and Nexus misc boards, when Phoenix aquired a fair amount of Nexus contracts last year, they put pretty much all of the vehicles they aquired out in their previous operators liveries and sure enough they lost most of these services when the contracts came to a end about 8 months later, who would spend fortunes on making buses look smart and well presented when you only end up having to sell them after 8 months, which is a shame really.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - October 2017 - BusLoverMum - 14 Oct 2017
I suspect this might cause a few problems in Chester let Street town centre
https://twitter.com/DurhamCouncil/status/919188969635635200