North East Buses

(07 Aug 2021, 11:46 am)idiot wrote [ -> ]Is there any plans for other cities or town in the North East to implement a CAZ?!

Na, they just want to move the problem around.............

Is the Tyne Valley Ten PVR now just 15x vehicles? Noticed that the long layover has been removed from Hexham originally introduced in 2014

(07 Aug 2021, 2:22 pm)L469 YVK wrote [ -> ]Is the Tyne Valley Ten PVR now just 15x vehicles? Noticed that the long layover has been removed from Hexham originally introduced in 2014

Blackhall Mill end is just 4 mins from 16 mins. Also shuffle around at Eldon Square with new timetables. X30/X31/X70/X71/X72 will now use E X1 will use D 6/10s will use C 47/47a/X45/X46 will use B and 12/12a will join X84/X85 on A

(07 Aug 2021, 2:22 pm)L469 YVK wrote [ -> ]Is the Tyne Valley Ten PVR now just 15x vehicles? Noticed that the long layover has been removed from Hexham originally introduced in 2014

I get a PVR of 6 on the 10 and 9 on the 10A/10B so yep looks like it's 15 overall currently

(07 Aug 2021, 12:11 pm)Michael wrote [ -> ]Na, they just want to move the problem around.............

Huh? The Government won’t impose an order on other areas unless their pollution hits illegal levels.

(07 Aug 2021, 2:31 pm)Stanleyone wrote [ -> ]Blackhall Mill end is just 4 mins from 16 mins. Also shuffle around at Eldon Square with new timetables. X30/X31/X70/X71/X72 will now use E X1 will use D 6/10s will use C 47/47a/X45/X46 will use B and 12/12a will join X84/X85 on A

Is that the only changes at Eldon. Also is the Q3 returning to Eldon or will it still serve what it does now (on its way to Wallsend)

On the new X6 timetable , there’s a hiccup on the timetable, there’s no 14:07 journey and there’s 2x 19:17 journey




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https://twitter.com/MartijnGNE/status/14...0024131585

Looks like we've missed two, Sunderl and District Blonde and Silver.....

So just a recap:

Sunderland and District Berries 2 - Pink Versas
Sunderland and District Silver 33 - Silver Solos
Sunderland and District Blonde 38 - Gold Solos
Sunderland and District Graphite 39 - Black Solos
Sunderland and District Cherry 35 -  Red Citaros
Sunderland and District Violet 55 - Purple Citaros
Sunderland and District Blue 61 -  Blue Citaros

Seems to suggest 5324 is to be one of the SD Blue Citaros.

Glad to see they spaced the 50, 82 & 84 a bit better through Lambton & Ayton. Also hope the onmidekkas will still be allocated.

The more I’ve looked at the timetables, the more I think these latest changes will be very messy for customers.

GNE desperately need to contract an information architect. Passengers will no doubt see some of these changes as confusing:

• V3 being rerouted will no doubt cause issues—it contains half of the previous V3 route, and half of the previous V5 route. It should be re-numbered. I wonder how many will board the V3 thinking it will go through Bridgehill. 
  
• X5/X15: when viewing the timetable on the website, selecting “To Consett & Shotley Bridge” implies you’re travelling from Durham to Consett, and not from, e.g., Bridgehill to Consett. It does not display the route to Consett on the “To Consett” tab. Towards Durham, it only implies there being one service an hour serving Bridgehill. [This is likely due to Shotley RC Church being the terminus point, but in reality Durham is the only terminus point of this service. Internal convenience for GNE should not be substituted for customer convenience]
  
• 45/X45/X46/47/47a is a mess of a timetable to look at or find anything on. How did anyone sign this off? Split them up. There is zero need for 47 to be grouped with (X)45/X46 when nobody is going to be travelling from Newcastle to Consett on the 47. 
  
• 53/54 need to display the Quayside (from 5 Sep) on the timetable list, much like other services list additional stops from 5 Sep. Searching for the Quayside on the timetable list will only display ToonLink and Q3.
  
• Speaking of which, why does the search on the timetable list only search the “key” destinations? Poor UX.
  

I can’t comment on most other services, but these are pretty messy. 

Oh well, at least we can view a “summary” of the changes in a 60 page document.

(07 Aug 2021, 7:54 pm)ddddddd wrote [ -> ]The more I’ve looked at the timetables, the more I think these latest changes will be very messy for customers.

GNE desperately need to contract an information architect. Passengers will no doubt see some of these changes as confusing:

• V3 being rerouted will no doubt cause issues—it contains half of the previous V3 route, and half of the previous V5 route. It should be re-numbered. I wonder how many will board the V3 thinking it will go through Bridgehill. 
  
• X5/X15: when viewing the timetable on the website, selecting “To Consett & Shotley Bridge” implies you’re travelling from Durham to Consett, and not from, e.g., Bridgehill to Consett. It does not display the route to Consett on the “To Consett” tab. Towards Durham, it only implies there being one service an hour serving Bridgehill. [This is likely due to Shotley RC Church being the terminus point, but in reality Durham is the only terminus point of this service. Internal convenience for GNE should not be substituted for customer convenience]
  
• 45/X45/X46/47/47a is a mess of a timetable to look at or find anything on. How did anyone sign this off? Split them up. There is zero need for 47 to be grouped with (X)45/X46 when nobody is going to be travelling from Newcastle to Consett on the 47. 
  
• 53/54 need to display the Quayside (from 5 Sep) on the timetable list, much like other services list additional stops from 5 Sep. Searching for the Quayside on the timetable list will only display ToonLink and Q3.
  
• Speaking of which, why does the search on the timetable list only search the “key” destinations? Poor UX.
  

I can’t comment on most other services, but these are pretty messy. 

Oh well, at least we can view a “summary” of the changes in a 60 page document.

The new timetable hasn't been uploaded yet as a PDF yet, it still has the one from the 12th April 2021..... although the one on the page for the services is a mess, but I agree, it needs to be separate timetables.

(07 Aug 2021, 6:12 pm)transportintyneandwear wrote [ -> ]https://twitter.com/MartijnGNE/status/14...0024131585

Looks like we've missed two, Sunderl and District Blonde and Silver.....

So just a recap:

Sunderland and District Berries 2 - Pink Versas
Sunderland and District Silver 33 - Silver Solos
Sunderland and District Blonde 38 - Gold Solos
Sunderland and District Graphite 39 - Black Solos
Sunderland and District Cherry 35 -  Red Citaros
Sunderland and District Violet 55 - Purple Citaros
Sunderland and District Blue 61 -  Blue Citaros

What about the 60/20 the 60 has been called the Sunderland District Drifter 60, Personally I think the 9 should be branding.

(07 Aug 2021, 11:28 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I'd have loved to have seen the business case for the latest version of the 71 and the predicted revenues versus capital expenditure.
I'd then happily laugh in the face of the wild claims made and send that person back to bus planning school.

There's throwing money after bad and then there's the 71. 
15 years of someone, somewhere persevering, tweaking it slightly, tweaking it a bit more and cutting the resource, giving up for a bit (see 36 extension from Houghton), before coming back for a bit more and somehow convincing the powers that be, that after all the failed efforts previously - this version was going to work.
All whilst being part of a failed legacy of the Omnis on the 21 debacle.

As for the mandarins at the Dft and their timetable changes impacting on a bus service.
Imagine the mandarins in bus op commercial departments impacting on more than just rail connectivity...

I don't know how you can say that with a straight face. The 71 service operates out of Chester-le-street, which is also the terminus for 71, which means drivers and vehicles are used as efficiently as possible. They only use two buses for the 60 minute service and the vehicles are cascaded, so it's just the running costs which need to be paid. If anybody needs to learn how to schedule I don't think it's GNE....

(07 Aug 2021, 8:29 pm)Keeiajs wrote [ -> ]What about the 60/20 the 60 has been called the Sunderland District Drifter 60, Personally I think the 9 should be branding.

Totally pointless as the 9 will interwork with the 5 so they would both technically have to share 1 brand or it would be pointless, it will stay corporate unless there is a plan with it being yellow on the map

(07 Aug 2021, 9:08 pm)N1cholas wrote [ -> ]Totally pointless as the 9 will interwork with the 5 so they would both technically have to share 1 brand or it would be pointless, it will stay corporate unless there is a plan with it being yellow on the map

I thought the yellow was for either 38 or 33

(07 Aug 2021, 6:12 pm)transportintyneandwear wrote [ -> ]https://twitter.com/MartijnGNE/status/14...0024131585

Looks like we've missed two, Sunderl and District Blonde and Silver.....

So just a recap:

Sunderland and District Berries 2 - Pink Versas
Sunderland and District Silver 33 - Silver Solos
Sunderland and District Blonde 38 - Gold Solos
Sunderland and District Graphite 39 - Black Solos
Sunderland and District Cherry 35 -  Red Citaros
Sunderland and District Violet 55 - Purple Citaros
Sunderland and District Blue 61 -  Blue Citaros

The Silver Fox? Phillip Schofield comes to mind…

Graphite? Is their a tenuous Sunderland link I’m missing? Same for Blue parrot? Makaw? Sounds a bit like Makem? We almost had a theme with the fruits. But these latest two? Nobody wants hair in their food…

Just checking VOSA and it seems the M7 has been registered for the 5th September:

PB0003954/1101
Variation GO NORTH EAST LIMITED M7 Stanley Bus Station Stanley Bus Station

(07 Aug 2021, 9:42 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]The Silver Fox? Phillip Schofield comes to mind…

Graphite? Is their a tenuous Sunderland link I’m missing? Same for Blue parrot? Makaw? Sounds a bit like Makem? We almost had a theme with the fruits. But these latest two? Nobody wants hair in their food…

The obvious Sunderland link would have been coals if you needed something to describe a dark black grey colour.  But that would have had some local relevance hence the selection of something completely obscure. 

Even beyond the questionable choice of brand names and graphics, it even makes little sense as a "simple tube map" as the colour descriptors are so ... undescriptive.  How many people are going to say oh do I want the graphite line or the voilet line (or one of the other four purply coloured lines.  Or mistakenly punt for the blonde line being yellowy and end up in Jarra.  Coloured route branding isn't a bad idea but this is just really badly executed.

(07 Aug 2021, 9:58 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote [ -> ]The obvious Sunderland link would have been coals if you needed something to describe a dark black grey colour.  But that would have had some local relevance hence the selection of something completely obscure. 

Even beyond the questionable choice of brand names and graphics, it even makes little sense as a "simple tube map" as the colour descriptors are so ... undescriptive.  How many people are going to say oh do I want the graphite line or the voilet line (or one of the other four purply coloured lines.  Or mistakenly punt for the blonde line being yellowy and end up in Jarra.  Coloured route branding isn't a bad idea but this is just really badly executed.

At least GNE are trying to make their fleet stand out and get passengers back on the buses because i've seen Stagecoach and Arriva do nothing at all.