(04 Aug 2022, 9:42 pm)Storx wrote [ -> ]It's no wonder public transport is f**ked when people literally see the Metro as competition. It's so fundamentally wrong in every way.
It's like the 1930s/40s/50s with train companies sweating because cars were becoming popular. Add in a transport minister who has a very special interest in them and I think we all know where that lead.
(04 Aug 2022, 8:23 pm)Unber43 wrote [ -> ]56 is such a awful route, especially leaving sunderland around Southwick etc, it takes 30-40 mins to get to Concord.
tbf the 56 is generally route just drags, similar to the 20 through Rainton, East Rainton
And that means that those people in the Raintons and Southwick have a bus service!
(04 Aug 2022, 10:06 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]And that means that those people in the Raintons and Southwick have a bus service!
I know, I just wish there was a faster GNE alternative like their is with the X20
(04 Aug 2022, 9:47 pm)Unber43 wrote [ -> ]Its £2.00 one way, £1.80 was before the price rises. £3.80 is for a return
No it’s not.
I can assure you £3.80 is the fare for a single from Newcastle to Hexham on the 10. The only time it is £2.00 is after 7pm.
(04 Aug 2022, 10:21 pm)Thomas12 wrote [ -> ]No it’s not.
I can assure you £3.80 is the fare for a single from Newcastle to Hexham on the 10. The only time it is £2.00 is after 7pm.
Okay! Sorry.
If they've withdrawn the X11, why haven't they withdrawn the Toon Tour? Surely that would free up even more drivers
Isn't toontour run by Percy Main, which seems full staffed (I don't know if it is, but they have very very few cancellations whenever they do have them), and drivers of the toontour might not be willing to transfer to another depot to help?
Are drivers contracted to work at a certain depot?
Because I know a few people in different industries where their contracts specify that they can be moved around to different stores/offices in the area with no/short notice
(05 Aug 2022, 12:21 pm)streetdeckfan wrote [ -> ]Are drivers contracted to work at a certain depot?
Because I know a few people in different industries where their contracts specify that they can be moved around to different stores/offices in the area with no/short notice
Regardless of any travel times or potential travel expenses/times, they need to know the routes.
As well as I know North Tyneside, I'm not sure I'd be able to drive what's left of the local services around Wallsend.
Ditto Consett with their local services.
(05 Aug 2022, 12:40 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]Regardless of any travel times or potential travel expenses/times, they need to know the routes.
As well as I know North Tyneside, I'm not sure I'd be able to drive what's left of the local services around Wallsend.
Ditto Consett with their local services.
It's never stopped them before!
I remember when they closed Crook depot, they were sending drivers down to Bishop that didn't have a clue where to go because they hadn't learned the route yet! I remember one of them saying they'd only ever been to Bishop once before and they were just following a map they had printed out.
I lost count of the amount of times they stopped and asked passengers which way to go, or just going the wrong way completely
(05 Aug 2022, 12:46 pm)streetdeckfan wrote [ -> ]It's never stopped them before!
I remember when they closed Crook depot, they were sending drivers down to Bishop that didn't have a clue where to go because they hadn't learned the route yet! I remember one of them saying they'd only ever been to Bishop once before and they were just following a map they had printed out.
I lost count of the amount of times they stopped and asked passengers which way to go, or just going the wrong way completely
Wonder if those sorts of behaviours are part of the reason staff attrition is so high and passengers are falling away in droves?
It's hardly going to inspire much confidence is it?
An easy way to get drivers sorted at other depots is either buy a sat nav type system with the route fully programmed in ( I know it’s a game and hardy to do in reality but the bus simulator games have exactly that and am fairly sure technology exists if you can track a bus off bus times ) or hire drivers across multiple depots where they split there time. Stagecoach seem to manage it with certain drivers across Hartlepool Stockton and Newcastle so no reason Go North East couldn’t do it.
(05 Aug 2022, 1:09 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]Wonder if those sorts of behaviours are part of the reason staff attrition is so high and passengers are falling away in droves?
It's hardly going to inspire much confidence is it?
IIRC, they only had 2 senior drivers (is that the proper term?) to train
all of the CLS drivers on the route, I think they were also given a stupidly short amount of time to do it as well, hence the drivers having to go out without knowing where to go!
(05 Aug 2022, 1:25 pm)col87 wrote [ -> ]An easy way to get drivers sorted at other depots is either buy a sat nav type system with the route fully programmed in ( I know it’s a game and hardy to do in reality but the bus simulator games have exactly that and am fairly sure technology exists if you can track a bus off bus times ) or hire drivers across multiple depots where they split there time. Stagecoach seem to manage it with certain drivers across Hartlepool Stockton and Newcastle so no reason Go North East couldn’t do it.
Couriers would be the best example to use, I used to work for DPD a few years back and they had a system built into a drivers sat nav that set the route the driver would take in order to deliver parcels in the most efficient/eco friendly manner, can't see why something like this could not be implemented technology wise on a Bus in order to aid a driver particularly in there first weeks on the road whilst still in the learning phase.
(05 Aug 2022, 5:37 pm)Malarkey wrote [ -> ]Couriers would be the best example to use, I used to work for DPD a few years back and they had a system built into a drivers sat nav that set the route the driver would take in order to deliver parcels in the most efficient/eco friendly manner, can't see why something like this could not be implemented technology wise on a Bus in order to aid a driver particularly in there first weeks on the road whilst still in the learning phase.
Transdev's CityZap buses on the York to Leeds route used to have Sat Nav systems which would send the driver in/out of Leeds via the quickest route so presumably it would be possible for it to be implemented to show a set route but doubt it would ever be implemented due to cost.
Does anyone know if the Seasider branded Levante 7128 will be on the X11 tomorrow for its final day or if 7132 will be on?
Is the X11 permanently withdrawn or will it be coming back next year?
Mod note: Posts around bus incidents and warning systems have been moved into the
Bus Incidents thread.
(05 Aug 2022, 12:46 pm)streetdeckfan wrote [ -> ]It's never stopped them before!
I remember when they closed Crook depot, they were sending drivers down to Bishop that didn't have a clue where to go because they hadn't learned the route yet! I remember one of them saying they'd only ever been to Bishop once before and they were just following a map they had printed out.
I lost count of the amount of times they stopped and asked passengers which way to go, or just going the wrong way completely
Prior to Crook closing and the X21 moving to Chester, Chester operated the X21 to Bishop Auckland on Sundays, interworking with the 21 at Durham. Through fares available. New drivers (and, by extension, former unit 2 drivers when the two main rotas were amalgamated in 2014) should have been route-learned to account for this but it is possible that some rarely worked any such duties prior to Crook's closure. Some former unit 1 drivers at Chester would have worked the route to Bishop during the Pink Angel days.
Your anecdote reminded me of an occasion one Saturday not long after the 8/78 changed to Streetlites where an old hand on the 4-day rota asked me to go to Stanley and back with him on the 8 to keep him right. At the time, on a sixteen line rota, there was just a single duty where they covered the Stanley end of the 8 route, it being on a Saturday that they would each encounter once every sixteen weeks.
(08 Aug 2022, 12:04 pm)R852 PRG wrote [ -> ]Prior to Crook closing and the X21 moving to Chester, Chester operated the X21 to Bishop Auckland on Sundays, interworking with the 21 at Durham. Through fares available. New drivers (and, by extension, former unit 2 drivers when the two main rotas were amalgamated in 2014) should have been route-learned to account for this but it is possible that some rarely worked any such duties prior to Crook's closure. Some former unit 1 drivers at Chester would have worked the route to Bishop during the Pink Angel days.
Your anecdote reminded me of an occasion one Saturday not long after the 8/78 changed to Streetlites where an old hand on the 4-day rota asked me to go to Stanley and back with him on the 8 to keep him right. At the time, on a sixteen line rota, there was just a single duty where they covered the Stanley end of the 8 route, it being on a Saturday that they would each encounter once every sixteen weeks.
There weren't so many drivers that got confused with the core X21 route, I think some of the issues came about due to the extension of the X21 to Tindale Retail Park involving navigating a decker through Woodhouse estate, which didn't (and still doesn't) operate on a Sunday.
At that time, it still operated via Weardale drive, which meant it was an absolute maze to get through, especially since even the Solos/Versas that operated the old 18 service could barely get through with the badly parked cars, never mind a bloody StreetDeck!