North East Buses

It was an Indigo solo on the 64S in Durham, this afternoon. Not sure how much extra capacity that can realistically add (and Arriva were running a few solo boards of their own, today, anyhow) but it was carrying fresh air. I suspect many of the St Leonard's pupils would have just walked, rather than wait for a bus that might be full anyhow - it's not that far from there to Newton Hall via Aykley woods.

Belmont's probably a decker down, at the moment, anyhow. The tailback this caused was pretty phenomenal. Reckon its another depot's turn to have this one, again.

(07 Sep 2020, 3:44 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Go North East are operating 56 extra buses on duplicate services across the region, with just under half of these being for Arriva and Stagecoach.

Couple of photos of the Stagecoach Sunderland duplicates operated this morning:

Go North East: 5308 / NK08CHX by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

Go North East: 5427 / NK16BYJ by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

Go North East: 5307 / NK08CHV by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

Stagecoach North East: 28024 / YR14CGE by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

Go North East: 5310 / NK08MXY by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

Do you have a list of the duplicate workings?

(07 Sep 2020, 7:33 pm)GNE6312 wrote [ -> ]GNE look to be using the 16/17 reg levantes on duplicate 1/2/308s on behalf of arriva. Wish this was on all runs on these services as these 3 have the worst allocation with arriva, YJ61 DB300s, solos & Darts

Off topic, but there's really nae hope if you're complaining about a company allocating minibuses to routes that demand nothing more...

Blyth do allocate deckers onto the 1, but there's only so many spare buses available now the full service is restored. I haven't really seen off-peak loadings exceed the capacity, so I think the services being duped at peak is okay...

(07 Sep 2020, 9:45 pm)mb134 wrote [ -> ]Off topic, but there's really nae hope if you're complaining about a company allocating minibuses to routes that demand nothing more...

Further to go off topic, personally I give them credit for it. Most bus companies would've made them full size singles every 30 minutes years ago, downgraded back to minis over time but less frequent.

Also what's wrong with the DB300's imo they're some of the best buses in the North East. Much better than the Streetdeck which replaced them and have the same engine as the Enviro 400 with the bonus of a solid chassis and decent Wright bodywork. They're nowhere near the worst buses out of all the 3 operators.

The Pulsars are by far the worst buses at Blyth as the X7, X10, X11 and 308 can't cope with them at peak times and if they allocate them wrong or do they're usual swapping things around you quite often end up with them on the 5pm peaks out of Newcastle especially on the 308 which they've promised more times I can count not to allocate singles on.

Does anyone have the details about what journeys GNE are duping in Northumberland?

(07 Sep 2020, 10:10 pm)omnicity4659 wrote [ -> ]Does anyone have the details about what journeys GNE are duping in Northumberland?

https://cdn1-originals.webdamdb.com/1395...1599226895&response-content-disposition=inline;filename%253DNorth%20East%20Schools%20from%2004.09_HR.pdf&response-content-type=application/pdf&Policy=eyJTdGF0ZW1lbnQiOlt7IlJlc291cmNlIjoiaHR0cCo6Ly9jZG4xLW9yaWdpbmFscy53ZWJkYW1kYi5jb20vMTM5NTNfMTEwNTM0MTMyP2NhY2hlPTE1OTkyMjY4OTUmcmVzcG9uc2UtY29udGVudC1kaXNwb3NpdGlvbj1pbmxpbmU7ZmlsZW5hbWUlMjUzRE5vcnRoJTIwRWFzdCUyMFNjaG9vbHMlMjBmcm9tJTIwMDQuMDlfSFIucGRmJnJlc3BvbnNlLWNvbnRlbnQtdHlwZT1hcHBsaWNhdGlvbi9wZGYiLCJDb25kaXRpb24iOnsiRGF0ZUxlc3NUaGFuIjp7IkFXUzpFcG9jaFRpbWUiOjIxNDc0MTQ0MDB9fX1dfQ__&Signature=AaMvxQ6QEiIbIpQh7BqJ8oXCzmiPvS-2iHwToXF~2IFlpmL3NEo6PpLOgUCvAluQNsP95Vv5No6LzhyTBfprRhbpNDx0CwblSd-3aSKnYi2bx6p-uwwSQeee7YAiHHhaP7jXoPiPbF0iTSbaIMwJ~yoLbIqaYmoHUNE5eux9Q5thjMU-LdfqGe-uuxIvTWofnGELjq~3ZdIiIRxUpVPVZJ~3ezDlikvloJuhYgWtRqu5BjzYM8SL-XAYOS94ZYEvNAbnCdzjHDLTsv-xWOVOZbSc1n8gDUem6hq8U2IJLJXbhnAYLxX8~2w94uoL1wDmcmf73rBrKdayQV65AcmOQg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAI2ASI2IOLRFF2RHA

They're all the services which are being duplicated, not sure if GNE is doing them all but Arriva haven't done any with a *

(Apologies long link)

A bit of entertainment this afternoon was what must have been the 20s trying to negotiate the salutation bus gate the wrong way.

Northern General 2099 / PCN 762 by kieron mathews, on Flickr

As someone was mentioning the Routemaster, it does a couple of runs a day on the 21 which currently are:

06:49 CLS-GHD
15:13 GHD-CLS

A few worrying messages on the routemaster facebook post re normal (non-scholars) journeys on some routes being packed with standees etc.  Really concerning if true.

https://www.facebook.com/215880875709/posts/10164239207265710/?extid=LKJcUhyOYcWteIL1&d=n

(08 Sep 2020, 11:26 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote [ -> ]A few worrying messages on the routemaster facebook post re normal (non-scholars) journeys on some routes being packed with standees etc.  Really concerning if true.

https://www.facebook.com/215880875709/posts/10164239207265710/?extid=LKJcUhyOYcWteIL1&d=n

I wouldn't consider it worrying tbh. They've had to work out dupes as a shot in the dark for the first few days and maybe week. Capacity has been added where they think is necessary and will be closely monitoring the data received to improve the services which are struggling for capacity. More will no doubt be added, especially as new buses are arriving and adding additional capacity into the network. Rome wasn't built in a day.

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(09 Sep 2020, 12:59 am)6049 wrote [ -> ]I wouldn't consider it worrying tbh. They've had to work out dupes as a shot in the dark for the first few days and maybe week. Capacity has been added where they think is necessary and will be closely monitoring the data received to improve the services which are struggling for capacity. More will no doubt be added, especially as new buses are arriving and adding additional capacity into the network. Rome wasn't built in a day.

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It's without a shadow of a doubt worrying from a public health perspective if transport operators are allowing more passengers to board than can be safely accomodated for social distancing - especially with infection rates rising exponentially again.  Leaving passengers to wait for the next vehicle would be the right thing to do (no reasonable person could expect every journey to have the required number of seats at the minute), allowing people to continue piling on is irresponsible (if indeed this is what is happening).

(09 Sep 2020, 1:15 am)stagecoachbusdepot wrote [ -> ]It's without a shadow of a doubt worrying from a public health perspective if transport operators are allowing more passengers to board than can be safely accomodated for social distancing - especially with infection rates rising exponentially again.  Leaving passengers to wait for the next vehicle would be the right thing to do (no reasonable person could expect every journey to have the required number of seats at the minute), allowing people to continue piling on is irresponsible (if indeed this is what is happening).

I've had a similar discussion before on another thread. Unfortunately, it is a grey area when it comes to capacity. 50-60% is the figure talked about but there are so many variables about bubbles etc. There is also the situation that inevitably, some drivers will just not want the hassle of refusing to allow anymore passengers onto the vehicle and will not think twice about staying out of a conflict situation. I sympathise with both sides of the argument but the moral standpoint is that in the current climate the driver is in the wrong if the bus is allowed to exceed capacity. The ticket machine is pre set to warn drivers about passenger numbers getting close to capacity and there are procedures in place to deal with that. This is in addition to the data analysis which will be taking place.

The point of my original reply was not to dismiss the need social distancing, moreover to highlight that this is a very new problem and one that has had to be designed with a degree of guesswork (for want of a better word). Dupes will inevitably be refined, reworked and increased as demand dictates. It does require everyone to pull together and understand that this is not something that is going to be got right first time, every time.

Like I have said, unfortunately there will be some who ignore this. I'm sure any drivers found to be knowingly allowing people onto an already full bus will be dealt with by GNE. Another thing to consider is that there was around half a dozen reports of full buses or overcrowding on that post. Half a dozen too many, I'm sure we all agree but social media is a double edged sword. I would say as a rough guess, 80-90% of posts on there are complaints about one thing or another. People obviously have a right to complain if there is an issue, but it does seem to overshadow the situations where drivers and the company have done the right thing one way or another.

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It shouldn't be a problem on standard service buses. There should be no standees if you're operating to 50%-60% of capacity.

What's not clear from facebook is whether those commenting are referring to the S suffixed services. Unfortunately the Department of Education have disgracefully excluded these services from social distancing, suggesting that all kids are part of the same 'bubble'. But that only applies to dedicated services, which I guess is why GNE have chosen to suffix their schools duplicates with an S.

(09 Sep 2020, 9:56 am)Adrian wrote [ -> ]It shouldn't be a problem on standard service buses. There should be no standees if you're operating to 50%-60% of capacity.

What's not clear from facebook is whether those commenting are referring to the S suffixed services. Unfortunately the Department of Education have disgracefully excluded these services from social distancing, suggesting that all kids are part of the same 'bubble'. But that only applies to dedicated services, which I guess is why GNE have chosen to suffix their schools duplicates with an S.

Pre-COVID, when I'd travel down to Bishop in the afternoon, I'd often accidentally travel through Durham at around 3pm, which resulted in me getting trapped on a bus full of kids (made worse by the awful traffic at Nevilles Cross!)
It wasn't uncommon to see the X21 quite obviously over capacity, with people sitting on the tables, three to a row, sitting on the floor upstairs etc. That was with the bus being relatively empty before it hit Durham. So I wouldn't be surprised if even with the duplicate there's overloading. 

I'd imagine it'd be the same with other routes

(09 Sep 2020, 9:56 am)Adrian wrote [ -> ]It shouldn't be a problem on standard service buses. There should be no standees if you're operating to 50%-60% of capacity.

What's not clear from facebook is whether those commenting are referring to the S suffixed services. Unfortunately the Department of Education have disgracefully excluded these services from social distancing, suggesting that all kids are part of the same 'bubble'. But that only applies to dedicated services, which I guess is why GNE have chosen to suffix their schools duplicates with an S.

Even the S services GNE are running we're only allowed to a full seated capacity with no standees.

Are the go north east buses covering on all stagecoach routes. I’ve only seen the 12 13 and 23 in Sunderland

(10 Sep 2020, 11:37 pm)Acky81 wrote [ -> ]Are the go north east buses covering on all stagecoach routes. I’ve only seen the 12 13 and 23 in Sunderland

Just the routes that get particularly hammered with school kids, few South Shields routes too. 18A is duped in Sunderland as is the E6 from Whitburn to South Shields. There's a few others.

(11 Sep 2020, 4:42 am)deanmachine wrote [ -> ]Just the routes that get particularly hammered with school kids, few South Shields routes too. 18A is duped in Sunderland as is the E6 from Whitburn to South Shields. There's a few others.

Yes, I saw a Crusader Citatro on the E6 on Tuesday.

There was a coast and cobalt decker on South Shields number 3 at biddick hall on Wednesday teatime