(11 Oct 2018, 3:56 pm)pbjd wrote Hopefully 5386 becomes a Green Quaylink so the fleet numbers are in order.

(12 Oct 2018, 9:40 pm)JM03 wrote Just a quick question. I was on 6084 and noticed it was different to all other TVT i the same code areas and was on tonight but it has newer regs, different seats(no leather back) and the newer plugs. Has it always been at Riverside?

(12 Oct 2018, 9:41 pm)Jamie M wrote Used to be fab fifty six a few years ago, but was sent over for TENs some point in the last 3 years. I don't ever remember it at deptford tbh.

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(12 Oct 2018, 9:41 pm)Jamie M wrote Used to be fab fifty six a few years ago, but was sent over for TENs some point in the last 3 years. I don't ever remember it at deptford tbh.

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(12 Oct 2018, 9:44 pm)JM03 wrote Was there a bigger PVR or something for the 56 back then or something?

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Was there a bigger PVR or something for the 56 back then or something?

(12 Oct 2018, 9:45 pm)Jamie M wrote It dropped by 1 I think, someone else might have more to add if there actually is anything more to say.

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(12 Oct 2018, 9:49 pm)S813 FVK wrote PVR was reduced by 1 when the 56 went from every 10 minutes to every 12.

6084 transferred with the intention of being a spare for the X9/X10 with having a tachograph, but was also used on the TENs to make up the PVR of those services.

(12 Oct 2018, 10:30 pm)JM03 wrote Whats a tachograph

(12 Oct 2018, 10:30 pm)JM03 wrote Whats a tachograph

(12 Oct 2018, 10:37 pm)Jamie M wrote It's a device that requires a driver tachograph card. It records driver speed and driver hours. The card is credit card sized.

It gets complicated. Stop reading here if you don't like complicated things.

If you pass over 51km driving (or so) from the starting destination, your journey falls under "EU" driving rules, and this means less driving time and more strict breaks and definitions and the need for all of the following:
- A bus with a tachograph card reader
- A driver who has a tachograph card
- A driver who has enough hours left per week to be able to legally driver under EU rules (I can't remember the EU value, silly me wasnt long ago since I did my theory, I'm too young to driver under EU rules anyway....)

It's ultimately a silly idea for it to be used for local services because it means different drivers need different breaks and only certain buses can be used. As a result you won't see it used on anything but coach work now, the whole need for a tachograph (bus and driver), or Private Hire. It can be bypassed by splitting the route in half. X10 now goes to Dalton Park then Middlesborough and neither leg of the journey are more than 51km, where as the whole X10 journey end-to-end is. 685 is another good example of this splitting technique.

Tachographed buses still will be around for private hire which can easily excess the limits for domestic driving and are normally done in one continuous stretch. There's all sorts of examples of private hire that GNE do but someone else can go into that detail.

Domestic rules make more sense and are more flexible in most situations, less break time needed and more time behind the wheel allowed and any vehicle can be used.

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(12 Oct 2018, 11:10 pm)Andreos1 wrote Also used for HGV's where distances don't count, but hours do. 
As well as the digital version mentioned, there's the older analogue version with times/speeds marked on a paper disc. Although I believe vehicles manufactured post 2006 have digital fitted rather than analogue.

(12 Oct 2018, 11:12 pm)Jamie M wrote Nobody uses paper methods anymore, it's about as useful and novelty as a floppy disk. Folk law teaches you had to take a bag full of them in case one got dirty. Still for some unexplainable reason, it features prominently on DSA revision material, probably as high as digital tachographs and safety material.

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(12 Oct 2018, 11:17 pm)Andreos1 wrote Just enough spare incase of damage or dirt. 


You sure about nobody using the old charts? 
Granted it will be reduced compared to days of yore, but chances are anything built prior to 2006 still kicking around, will have them.
Particularly in smaller fleets.

(12 Oct 2018, 11:22 pm)Jamie M wrote Most jobs you look for demand digital tachograph card, I've never actually seen a listing for hgv or psv that says otherwise unless it doesn't break domestic rules. Would say its an exception that perhaps one or two old vehicles require the use paper discs and actually end up being used with said paper discs.

Maybe I won't see a tachograph card either, I'm a few years off being allowed to be let loose on EU rules for PSV so who knows

I personally think there should be a seperate exam for tachograph users because it's a different ball game and a different career completely. I picked up so much tachograph knowledge that will be miles away by the time I could even consider having one. Would also help justify having that silly module system they have in place for CPC and whatever else it is.

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(14 Oct 2018, 10:50 am)Michael wrote When will the 2 Hybrid Solo's (629/630?) return to service on the 700?

(14 Oct 2018, 12:04 pm)busmanT wrote They have been back on for a few weeks

(14 Oct 2018, 3:20 pm)L469 YVK wrote Seems to be quite a few problems with the X9/X10 lately in terms of vehicle reliability / breakdowns. Are such instances just minor faults or are the B5TLs genuinely not suited to the route?

(15 Oct 2018, 6:18 am)GuyParkRoyal wrote There does appear to be a problem with the X9/X10 B5TL vehicles. They are often seen parked in the yard at the Volvo truck and bus centre at Washington.

(15 Oct 2018, 6:18 am)GuyParkRoyal wrote There does appear to be a problem with the X9/X10 B5TL vehicles. They are often seen parked in the yard at the Volvo truck and bus centre at Washington.

(15 Oct 2018, 7:35 am)Dan wrote I don't think this necessarily suggests poor reliability - rather that they're under warranty and Volvo prefer to work on their own premises rather than a Go North East site, unlike Wrights and Optare, who more commonly carry out work on-site (so arguably less noticeable). Scania and ADL are often seen on-site at Stagecoach sites, so I'd say this is how they prefer to carry out their maintenance work.

The Volvo B5 Hybrids and Volvo B11RT coaches are also regularly parked at Volvo on Crowther Industrial Estate, again because they are under warranty.

Similarly when Wrightbus vehicles have issues on the engine side (Daimler/Mercedes), they are often sent to Bells near Benton, as that is the preference of their engineers.

While they are under warranty, you'd expect bus operators to get the issues fixed (regardless of however small they are) as soon as it is flagged up.

When the warranty expires, Go North East's own engineers carry out work during the night to reduce impact on operations. You don't tend to be that lucky when the work is outsourced (under warranty) as they have more than Go North East as a customer!

I have said this in the past but will say it again - if every operator reported every incident/breakdown as Go North East does with the X10, we would be suggesting that there isn't a single vehicle type in the country which can be deemed reliable.

That said, I do think the 5-litre engined Volvo is perhaps being strained a little too much up and down the A19 seven days a week, but I don't think there's a bus on the market that could cope with such a demanding route. The X9/X10 needs coaches for the work that it does, no doubt about that, but there isn't one on the market that could deliver what Go North East needs for this type of route. The coach would need to be low-floor and high capacity (peak time journeys need every single seat currently on the B5TLs), with a dedicated wheelchair bay.

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(15 Oct 2018, 9:01 am)RBZ 5459 wrote Plaxton Panorama perhaps?

(15 Oct 2018, 10:00 am)Michael wrote They would suit the route but would come with a few problems.... Eldon Square, Peterlee bus station, Dalton Park? (are they bigger than the coach which used to be allocated to the Stagecoach X55?).

(15 Oct 2018, 11:34 am)RBZ 5459 wrote  
Half a metre shorter the Panorama. Eldon might be squeeze, bottom stands a possibility.

(15 Oct 2018, 12:55 pm)Andreos1 wrote How about those Volvo coaches that appeared on the 685?

(15 Oct 2018, 12:55 pm)Andreos1 wrote How about those Volvo coaches that appeared on the 685?

(15 Oct 2018, 12:58 pm)Jamie M wrote What about those'n on the oxford tube.

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