(27 Jun 2022, 1:22 pm)Andreos1 Will it ever end?
We've had fingers pointed at Covid, the DVLA, VOSA, HGV operators, the Government and Brexit. 

(27 Jun 2022, 1:45 pm)Jimmi Don't forget the outbreaks of football fever

(27 Jun 2022, 1:22 pm)Andreos1 Will it ever end?
We've had fingers pointed at Covid, the DVLA, VOSA, HGV operators, the Government and Brexit. 

But ultimately, they're going to constantly struggle to attract and retain drivers.
They always have done and for all the 'TeamGNE' slogans and platitudes, the same issues will continue to apply there and elsewhere with other operators going forward. Office and other staff (such as fitters) shouldn't be the default fall-back option when shortages kick in.

Just look at what's happening at Chester and the resentment that is causing. We've even had drivers and staff there saying any goodwill has gone from others.
Throw in the pay and conditions that are being being gradually eroded along with all of these monitoring devices that are installed on vehicles and it's no wonder they have issues.
Regardless of Covid, DVLA, VOSA, HGV operators, the Government and Brexit...

(27 Jun 2022, 1:45 pm)Jimmi Don't forget the outbreaks of football fever

(27 Jun 2022, 2:18 pm)Adrian I mean with July 24th around the corner, there's ultimately going to be a need for less drivers to cover the daily PVR, but you wonder whether they'll still be in a position of not being able to fulfil the timetable.

There's also the question around whether a greater spare % in driving resource is going to be required, if GNE end up taking on a proportion of this commercial work that they've chucked towards the local authorities? There's an actual cost to the business for not running secured work, whereas in the absence of a 'delay repay' type model, they can get away with a meaningless apology at most for their commercial stuff.


November/December will be a nightmare with all the England matches in the World Cup!

(27 Jun 2022, 2:18 pm)Adrian I mean with July 24th around the corner, there's ultimately going to be a need for less drivers to cover the daily PVR, but you wonder whether they'll still be in a position of not being able to fulfil the timetable.

There's also the question around whether a greater spare % in driving resource is going to be required, if GNE end up taking on a proportion of this commercial work that they've chucked towards the local authorities? There's an actual cost to the business for not running secured work, whereas in the absence of a 'delay repay' type model, they can get away with a meaningless apology at most for their commercial stuff.


November/December will be a nightmare with all the England matches in the World Cup!

(27 Jun 2022, 5:05 pm)busmanT The 24th July changes will still save quite a few PVR (20 odd?), and lots of reductions to evening and Sunday services will save drivers.
The big question is how will they cope with all the extra scholars from September and the Metro flow blockade.

(27 Jun 2022, 5:05 pm)busmanT The 24th July changes will still save quite a few PVR (20 odd?), and lots of reductions to evening and Sunday services will save drivers.
The big question is how will they cope with all the extra scholars from September and the Metro flow blockade.

(27 Jun 2022, 6:29 pm)Dan Plus paired with a reduction in establishment due to the school holidays, I wouldn't expect there to be any short-notice cancellations over this period.

All the evening/Sunday services (a lot of which were recently introduced during the pandemic) would save quite a substantial amount of drivers, I'd imagine. More than what you'd first think.

(28 Jun 2022, 1:36 pm)busmanT Hopefully these reductions won't lose too many passengers (if you can't get home on the bus, you won't use it to go out and vice-versa).

Whilst many of the early morning journeys were only introduced during the pandemic, the evening and Sunday reductions seem to be affecting long standing frequencies.

With the reduced frequencies I hope that the drivers are given more running time as each remaining bus will be busier - the 21 on a Sunday for example, where the frequency drops from every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes. 

(30 Jun 2022, 9:59 am)F114TML All the parking bays at Park Lane were taken when I arrived, 2 solos (one on the 60 and one on the X6) were abandoned in the stand. People wanting the 61 had been waiting for an hour with cheers when a driver turned up with one passenger commenting she was fed up and would've just gone home if one didn't turn up.

Fun!

(30 Jun 2022, 9:59 am)F114TML All the parking bays at Park Lane were taken when I arrived, 2 solos (one on the 60 and one on the X6) were abandoned in the stand. People wanting the 61 had been waiting for an hour with cheers when a driver turned up with one passenger commenting she was fed up and would've just gone home if one didn't turn up.

Fun!

(30 Jun 2022, 1:56 pm)wibblejunior Most of the 61's route is also covered by the 22 and 23, but that doesn't really help people who live in Murton, want to go into Sunderland, and don't want to walk all the way over to Dalton Park just because there's an extra 4 buses an hour into Sunderland from there.

(30 Jun 2022, 4:12 pm)cbma06 Since the 65 connects murton/Dalton park and Seaham for passengers between the 2 areas, service 61 should be non stop on a19 between leaving ryhope and arriving at Dalton park, faster journey times for passengers from Murton to Sunderland, top end of Seaham is well served by service 60 and 22/23.

#bring back the X53


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(30 Jun 2022, 4:28 pm)Unber43 Tbh the 65 might be worth extending to Sunderland (for changeovers), atleast once per hour. To make it every 30 mins with the X6.

(30 Jun 2022, 4:33 pm)cbma06 If service 20 is every 15 minutes, can’t half the 20’s every hour change to service 65, and the other half change into doing the 204/204a, so service 20/65/204/204a be under the prince bishop brand since there all go into Durham


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(30 Jun 2022, 4:33 pm)cbma06 If service 20 is every 15 minutes, can’t half the 20’s every hour change to service 65, and the other half change into doing the 204/204a, so service 20/65/204/204a be under the prince bishop brand since there all go into Durham


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