Enviro 400MMC's for the X10
Enviro 400MMC's for the X10
(20 Dec 2021, 8:49 am)Adrian Interesting move, if that is the case. Not only do Hexham lose their "major upgrade with £1million investment from Go North East", but arguably you're downgrading the X9/X10 in the process.Agree entirely, the B11RT/Elite is a superb coach and it does seem those are particularly unsuited. Megabus run older B11R/Elites and they are still better than Levante, on distances that make the Oxford run and X9/10 seem like doddles. In Scotland they operate a more varied pattern and they do ok. The train service between Newcastle and Middlesbrough is abysmal, all year round, with capacity rarely matching numbers, the coach was the way to win business, bunging a bus on will have a negative effect, regardless of how high spec that bus is.
It's worth referring back to the press release back in February and reading the statements made at the time.
- "From today, Go North East has introduced luxury coaches on its premium X10 express route that runs between Middlesbrough and Newcastle via the A19, serving Stockton, Norton, Billingham, Peterlee, Dalton Park, Heworth and Gateshead."
- “These coaches provide extra comfort and a first-class travel experience, running fast and direct along the A19."
- and that "The route is cheaper and more luxurious than the train, with a return ticket costing just £8 between Middlesbrough and Newcastle, and unlimited travel available for £8.50 a day or £35 a week."
The quote from the company representative was that:
“We’re delighted to be upgrading our X10 service into our X-lines regional bus network with the introduction of these luxury coaches on our Middlesbrough to Newcastle express route.
“These coaches provide extra comfort and a first-class travel experience, running fast and direct along the A19.
“They will also play an important part in delivering congestion-busting low-carbon travel to help support the economic recovery of the region.”
There's a lot of emphasis there on luxury coaches and a first-class travel experience, even making the statement that it is more luxurious than the train. Are we now reverting back to a 'second-class' travel experience?
I think the upgrade of the X9/X10 to coaches was an excellent move and one likely to attract commuters away from the train. There's an automatic perception amongst the general public that coach travel is a step up from service bus travel, and in my opinion it needs something innovative like this to attract people away from the train.
What hasn't been on the operator's side is the pandemic, and perhaps if the route out of it panned out as expected in early 2021 we'd have seen a different response. Instead though, these have lasted a mere 10 months. We're not even on the road out of a pandemic yet, so not only is this barely even short-termism, it's almost a defeatist attitude that passenger numbers are never going to return. What happened to all the growth ambitions and targets (based on pre-pandemic numbers) being shouted about in the Bus Service Improvement Plan? That appears to have lasted all of five minutes.
There's also the question of reliability, and if the normal commuter loads had returned early 2021, they'd have been in the same reliability league as before the B9TLs were withdrawn. Pissed off commuters and hardly an advert for the service.
I've personally no issues with the Enviro 400MMCs, and whilst I think their introduction was a real boost for the X84/X85, they're a downgrade from the 'luxury coaches providing a first-class travel experience' on the X9/X10. A case of your words coming back to bite you?
(20 Dec 2021, 8:49 am)Adrian Interesting move, if that is the case. Not only do Hexham lose their "major upgrade with £1million investment from Go North East", but arguably you're downgrading the X9/X10 in the process.Agree entirely, the B11RT/Elite is a superb coach and it does seem those are particularly unsuited. Megabus run older B11R/Elites and they are still better than Levante, on distances that make the Oxford run and X9/10 seem like doddles. In Scotland they operate a more varied pattern and they do ok. The train service between Newcastle and Middlesbrough is abysmal, all year round, with capacity rarely matching numbers, the coach was the way to win business, bunging a bus on will have a negative effect, regardless of how high spec that bus is.
It's worth referring back to the press release back in February and reading the statements made at the time.
- "From today, Go North East has introduced luxury coaches on its premium X10 express route that runs between Middlesbrough and Newcastle via the A19, serving Stockton, Norton, Billingham, Peterlee, Dalton Park, Heworth and Gateshead."
- “These coaches provide extra comfort and a first-class travel experience, running fast and direct along the A19."
- and that "The route is cheaper and more luxurious than the train, with a return ticket costing just £8 between Middlesbrough and Newcastle, and unlimited travel available for £8.50 a day or £35 a week."
The quote from the company representative was that:
“We’re delighted to be upgrading our X10 service into our X-lines regional bus network with the introduction of these luxury coaches on our Middlesbrough to Newcastle express route.
“These coaches provide extra comfort and a first-class travel experience, running fast and direct along the A19.
“They will also play an important part in delivering congestion-busting low-carbon travel to help support the economic recovery of the region.”
There's a lot of emphasis there on luxury coaches and a first-class travel experience, even making the statement that it is more luxurious than the train. Are we now reverting back to a 'second-class' travel experience?
I think the upgrade of the X9/X10 to coaches was an excellent move and one likely to attract commuters away from the train. There's an automatic perception amongst the general public that coach travel is a step up from service bus travel, and in my opinion it needs something innovative like this to attract people away from the train.
What hasn't been on the operator's side is the pandemic, and perhaps if the route out of it panned out as expected in early 2021 we'd have seen a different response. Instead though, these have lasted a mere 10 months. We're not even on the road out of a pandemic yet, so not only is this barely even short-termism, it's almost a defeatist attitude that passenger numbers are never going to return. What happened to all the growth ambitions and targets (based on pre-pandemic numbers) being shouted about in the Bus Service Improvement Plan? That appears to have lasted all of five minutes.
There's also the question of reliability, and if the normal commuter loads had returned early 2021, they'd have been in the same reliability league as before the B9TLs were withdrawn. Pissed off commuters and hardly an advert for the service.
I've personally no issues with the Enviro 400MMCs, and whilst I think their introduction was a real boost for the X84/X85, they're a downgrade from the 'luxury coaches providing a first-class travel experience' on the X9/X10. A case of your words coming back to bite you?
