North East Buses

(20 Jun 2014, 4:43 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Sadly this is a normal occurrence.
Often services using stand J will often arrive early and another bus is on that stand, so they pull onto stand K which often results in Service 7 using stand L which means services 20/20A/40 pull in next to the stand.

Could drivers also turn up early for there shift instead of turning up one minute before the bus is due out which means the bus leaves late and buses have to pull onto the wrong stands.

Totally agree. Apparently Arriva do a similar thing in Bishop Auckland bus station.

(20 Jun 2014, 7:05 pm)Roland Pratt wrote [ -> ]Totally agree. Apparently Arriva do a similar thing in Bishop Auckland bus station.

It usually not too bad when I've been there, drivers are often wondering around but that's because of layover time between journeys on Services 1/5/5A.

Does anyone know how driver changeovers are done for Service 87.

(20 Jun 2014, 4:01 pm)Roland Pratt wrote [ -> ]BLAME Leven? If you hadn't've changed your 6 they would never have put the 84 on! They can obviously make it pay!

If they can make it pay by carrying next to nothing, they are doing well.

Its the same as the H66, A66, Sunday 77 and the extra 45's. Judging by the peak time loads i've witnessed, they are definitely not 'paying'. 2 passengers on a peak trip is woeful.

Its only a matter of time before Mr Proctor withdraws his chequebook and Leven Valley curl back into their shell again.

I waited for the 08:28 685 towards Hexham at Corbridge Riverside this morning, but it went through Corbridge Middle Street onto the A69 via Watling Street and Stagshaw Road - bypassing Dilston and Hexham East altogether.

Fortunately there was a GNE TEN at 08:32.

(21 Jun 2014, 9:12 am)G-CPTN wrote [ -> ]I waited for the 08:28 685 towards Hexham at Corbridge Riverside this morning, but it went through Corbridge Middle Street onto the A69 via Watling Street and Stagshaw Road - bypassing Dilston and Hexham East altogether.

Fortunately there was a GNE TEN at 08:32.

I thought that diversion ended?

(21 Jun 2014, 9:20 am)Dan wrote [ -> ]I thought that diversion ended?

Yes, it ended a couple of weeks ago!

According to the NCC website it is due to be completed by 07 July, at the moment the bridge is controlled by 2 way traffic lights.

Some good news that has come to light in the past few weeks is that an additional order has been gained which sees 9x 8.8m Streetlites on order for Darlington services 13a/13b, bringing the total new vehicles to 61 for 2014 for the North East. These will help to displace the rest of the older Mini Darts, with 5 05-plate MPDs due to move to Blyth to replace their remaining non DDA Darts.

(21 Jun 2014, 10:49 am)Coppercap40 wrote [ -> ]According to the NCC website it is due to be completed by 07 July, at the moment the bridge is controlled by 2 way traffic lights.

No - all work finished 23rd May (in time for the County Show at Bywell) although traffic lights were in operation in early June to clear the work compound - all cleared now for at least ten days.

http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/news/dils...-1.1138064

(21 Jun 2014, 11:09 am)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]Some good news that has come to light in the past few weeks is that an additional order has been gained which sees 9x 8.8m Streetlites on order for Darlington services 13a/13b, bringing the total new vehicles to 61 for 2014 for the North East. These will help to displace the rest of the older Mini Darts, with 5 05-plate MPDs due to move to Blyth to replace their remaining non DDA Darts.

I can only assume that the 9/10 will no doubt get the same treatment next year?

2836 has now been repainted and is back in service at Darlington.

(21 Jun 2014, 9:46 pm)John_R wrote [ -> ]2836 has now been repainted and is back in service at Darlington.

2836 has been bk in service frm repaint a few weeks now glad to hear darlo are f
getting some streetlites

Does anyone know if 4510 is getting repainted,its the only one left in the 45 series to carry original features or are they due to be scrapped,i know 4511 is basically rotting apart and has a severe smell of damp,i dread getting on it and 4510 is going the same way,but 4512-15 dont smell at all presumably due to its interior refurbishments,4517/18 are starting to smell too ive noticed a few times its leaking windows

(21 Jun 2014, 10:56 pm)V514DFT wrote [ -> ]Does anyone know if 4510 is getting repainted,its the only one left in the 45 series to carry original features or are they due to be scrapped,i know 4511 is basically rotting apart and has a severe smell of damp,i dread getting on it and 4510 is going the same way,but 4512-15 dont smell at all presumably due to its interior refurbishments,4517/18 are starting to smell too ive noticed a few times its leaking windows

4510 is off to Redcar soon, though as it's not DDA I can't see it getting a refurb now.

(20 Jun 2014, 4:43 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Sadly this is a normal occurrence.
Often services using stand J will often arrive early and another bus is on that stand, so they pull onto stand K which often results in Service 7 using stand L which means services 20/20A/40 pull in next to the stand.

Could drivers also turn up early for there shift instead of turning up one minute before the bus is due out which means the bus leaves late and buses have to pull onto the wrong stands.

With regards to stand J, it's very close timings for that stand:

43 - Arr 53 Dep 00
24 - Arr 02 Dep 07
43 - Arr 08 Dep 15
22 - Arr 17 Dep 22 and so on, doesn't take much to cause a blockage, however I don't see the problem with drivers waiting on the set down stand until the stand is clear then pulling onto the correct stand on time.

(20 Jun 2014, 7:18 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]It usually not too bad when I've been there, drivers are often wondering around but that's because of layover time between journeys on Services 1/5/5A.

Does anyone know how driver changeovers are done for Service 87.

For service 87, we are required to travel passenger on a service 6 from Durham to Bishop Auckland and vice versa; however should a bus break down or run late there are issues.

(21 Jun 2014, 11:09 am)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]Some good news that has come to light in the past few weeks is that an additional order has been gained which sees 9x 8.8m Streetlites on order for Darlington services 13a/13b, bringing the total new vehicles to 61 for 2014 for the North East. These will help to displace the rest of the older Mini Darts, with 5 05-plate MPDs due to move to Blyth to replace their remaining non DDA Darts.

Is the 8.8m the door forward type? These will be welcomed as at the moment a number of old darts feature on here which is a come down from the Solos that were normally on this service until Darlington started to loose its Solos.These buses plus the possible 5 11.5 Streetlites due next year for Darlo X1 are a further investment

(22 Jun 2014, 7:47 am)upt50k wrote [ -> ]Is the 8.8m the door forward type? These will be welcomed as at the moment a number of old darts feature on here which is a come down from the Solos that were normally on this service until Darlington started to loose its Solos.These buses plus the possible 5 11.5 Streetlites due next year for Darlo X1 are a further investment

8.8m is the Wheel Forward version

(22 Jun 2014, 7:47 am)upt50k wrote [ -> ]Is the 8.8m the door forward type? These will be welcomed as at the moment a number of old darts feature on here which is a come down from the Solos that were normally on this service until Darlington started to loose its Solos.These buses plus the possible 5 11.5 Streetlites due next year for Darlo X1 are a further investment

Will the order for Darlo X1 be in max livery or standard?

(22 Jun 2014, 8:59 am)buznut wrote [ -> ]Will the order for Darlo X1 be in max livery or standard?

It's entirely dependent on what orders we can win next year but they would be to Max specification.