(10 Oct 2017, 8:59 pm)Michael wrote What do they do for that test?

I'll be honest with you here Michael, I haven't a clue.

(10 Oct 2017, 10:04 pm)Malarkey wrote I'll be honest with you here Michael, I haven't a clue.

I would imagine it involves NDT (non-destructive testing) of various parts and components of the vehicle.
It could be checking for corrosion, sagging, welding etc and marrying it up with the expected life expectancy of the vehicle.

(08 Oct 2017, 1:07 am)DAmbassador wrote It’s almost like the fleet purchasing policy went out of the window when HM Govt waved a bag of cash infront of a Hybrid purchase option   

I’d imagine Riverside are probably the only depot currently able to maintain the Hybrids alongside CLS. 

On the subject of Angels...wonder if we'll finally get our beloved pink angel livery back   Or perhaps a rebrand back to the original 21 brand.

To be fair, the Hybrids are Volvo/Wright Gemini of which Go North East have a large number (B7TL, B9TL and now B5TL) so they were hardly a diversion from fleet purchasing policy.
The hybrids are maintained under contract by Volvo.

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(05 Oct 2017, 6:45 pm)EMalarkey wrote I believe they are B9 Gemini's

Is this definite that they are getting Volvo B9 from London?

(11 Oct 2017, 11:06 pm)MbusmanT wrote To be fair, the Hybrids are Volvo/Wright Gemini of which Go North East have a large number (B7TL, B9TL and now B5TL) so they were hardly a diversion from fleet purchasing policy.
The hybrids are maintained under contract by Volvo.

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Is this definite that they are getting Volvo B9 from London?

Nothing confirmed, you would know either way.

http://www.ensignbus.com/2011-volvo-b9tls.html

5242 is suffering from an identity crisis, it thinks it is a double decker 3887 !!!

(12 Oct 2017, 4:42 pm)Coppercap40 wrote 5242 is suffering from an identity crisis, it thinks it is a double decker 3887 !!!

Ticket machines been changed and they haven’t changed the details, not hard to do either!!. 

Now 6135 & 6140 are at Stanley has any of the 388.. been withdrawn?

(11 Oct 2017, 11:06 pm)busmanT wrote Is this definite that they are getting Volvo B9 from London?

(12 Oct 2017, 2:31 am)nk55 wrote Nothing confirmed, you would know either way.

Nothing confirmed, just what I have heard from other enthusiasts when out and about, and what I have read on various Facebook Pages in the past few weeks.

Go-Ahead London Central are in the process of receiving an order for 28 more Volvo B5LH Wright Gemini 3's, 14 Volvo B5LH MCV EvoSeti's & 8 Alexander Dennis Dennis Enviro 400MMC's, so some B9's from the WVL batch may well be released once new vehicles arrive in London, doubt we'll be seeing any more Brighton cast-offs.

Details of Go-Aheads orders are on this fleet list.
http://www.ukbuses.co.uk/fleet/glondon.pdf

Many buses in London that have been new within the last 10 years or so are leased and more often than not the vehicles are returned to the leaser when they are no longer required rather than cast off around the groups. The leaser then used firms like Ensign Bus to sell them on to various operators.

On the VOSA email:


GO NORTH EAST LIMITED
Director(s): KEVIN CARR, DAVID CURRY, ALEXANDER PAUL EDWARDS, GEORGE COLIN McPHERSON, DAVID ALLEN BROWN, Simon Patrick Butcher

117 QUEEN STREET, GATESHEAD, NE8 2UA
Removed operating centre: SITE 11,, SALTMEADOWS ROAD, GATESHEAD, NE8 3AH

Increase at existing operating centre: HIGH STREET, STANLEY, DH9 0TE
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 82 vehicle(s)

Decrease at existing operating centre: PERCY MAIN DEPOT, ROTHBURY TERRACE, NORTH SHIELDS, NE29 7AP
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 85 vehicle(s)

Decrease at existing operating centre: GATESHEAD RIVERSIDE DEPOT, MANDELA WAY, GATESHEAD, NE11 9DH
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 170 vehicle(s)

New operating centre: DEPTFORD TERRACE, SUNDERLAND, SR4 6DD
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 120 vehicle(s)

New operating centre: INDUSTRIAL ROAD, WASHINGTON, NE37 2SA
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 60 vehicle(s)

New operating centre: PICKTREE LANE, CHESTER LE STREET, DH3 3SW
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 103 vehicle(s)

New operating centre: EAST DURHAM COMMUNITY TRANSPORT, UNIT 7A, 3 COOK WAY, NORTH WEST INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, PETERLEE, SR8 2HY
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 20 vehicle(s)

New operating centre: WEARDALE MOTOR SERVICES, UNIT 1 VIRGINIA BUILDINGS, PROSPECT, CROOK, DL15 8JN
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 10 vehicle(s)

New Undertaking The operator will provide the Traffic Commissioner with bank statements covering a three month period and other financial details (such as overdraft facility agreements or credit card statements) that show the licence holder has access to the required level of funding. These details to be provided by 30 June 2018 for the period March, April and May.. Attached to licence


Not sure on the current numbers at each depot

(13 Oct 2017, 8:52 am)Michael wrote On the VOSA email:


GO NORTH EAST LIMITED
Director(s): KEVIN CARR, DAVID CURRY, ALEXANDER PAUL EDWARDS, GEORGE COLIN McPHERSON, DAVID ALLEN BROWN, Simon Patrick Butcher

117 QUEEN STREET, GATESHEAD, NE8 2UA
Removed operating centre: SITE 11,, SALTMEADOWS ROAD, GATESHEAD, NE8 3AH

Does this mean they are closing Saltmeadows?

3983 is now in a black base , any suggestions

(13 Oct 2017, 1:49 pm)Malarkey wrote Does this mean they are closing Saltmeadows?

I would guess it was made an operating centre when the low cost unit moved there, which is no longer the case.

Disgrace if Washington increases... Hard to drive down there at times.

Just been looking on GNE website allocations, and by what stated on VOSA ,deptford at present is 107 but will go to 120, peterlee is 20 and still be 20, Washington at present is 53 and will go to 60, Chester at present is 100 will go to 103, crook stays at 10, Stanley at present is 74 and will go to 82, Percy main at present 80 and go to 85, riverside at present is 160 and will go to 170.


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(13 Oct 2017, 2:04 pm)Citaro5326 wrote 3983 is now in a black base , any suggestions

Receiving a promotional livery.

From what I understand, these number changes don't mean that the company needs to have that many vehicles kept at each depot, they just can't go over it.

(13 Oct 2017, 2:04 pm)Citaro5326 wrote 3983 is now in a black base , any suggestions

3983 in Black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37...ateposted/

5304 has also returned to Go North East in the Corporate Livery - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37...33/in/feed

(13 Oct 2017, 3:49 pm)S813 FVK wrote From what I understand, these number changes don't mean that the company needs to have that many vehicles kept at each depot, they just can't go over it.

The Authorised number will be for the number of O Discs allocated to that depot. Depots can store above that number of non active / stored vehicles.

(13 Oct 2017, 3:57 pm)Malarkey wrote 3983 in Black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37...ateposted/

5304 has also returned to Go North East in the Corporate Livery - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/37...33/in/feed

It's for the Special Events fleet, which I hope isn't anything strenuous.... would of thought they would have held out for more Omnidekkas for standardisation. Still 9 04 plates, 10 54 plates, 5 05 plates, 10 55 plates and 4 06 plates on N94UD down in Brighton apparently, if that Brighton low emission zone thingy is still planned they'll be wanting some of them away surely.

Also, for those in the know - what does the special events fleet entail?

(13 Oct 2017, 5:54 pm)RBZ 5459 wrote It's for the Special Events fleet, which I hope isn't anything strenuous.... would of thought they would have held out for more Omnidekkas for standardisation. Still 9 04 plates, 10 54 plates, 5 05 plates, 10 55 plates and 4 06 plates on N94UD down in Brighton apparently, if that Brighton low emission zone thingy is still planned they'll be wanting some of them away surely.

Also, for those in the know - what does the special events fleet entail?

Brighton & Hove do plan on binning off most of their remaining Scania OmniDekkas over the next few years, but I'll doubt we'll see many more (if any at all) migrating north. There are a small number of the same type (55-reg) being offered around the Group at present from Metrobus, but I'm doubtful that any other operating company will want them. Similar examples (albeit a few years older) were offered around the Group from Go South Coast, and there were no takers which resulted in Ensign taking most of them (indeed, here in the North East, Stagecarriage have taken a couple of them). They were great low-value replacements for the elderly and fairly reliable Dennis Tridents in the fleet, but they're still fairly old, expensive to maintain, and the work that has to be done on them to bring them up to 'Go North East standard' is expensive. I doubt we'll see anything more than the current examples in the fleet being tarted up with a re-trim, handpoles repainted, etc.

With regards to 3983 - the repaint doesn't coincide with it forming part of the company's Special Events fleet but is relevant (it's been on the cards for a while now - this one wasn't repainted unlike all of the other dual-door Volvo B7 in the summer of 2016). It's just a promotional livery, as stated above already and on the news page. Should be branded up soon, as well as the two promotional Night Bus double-decks (pencilled in for next week - so best to get your photos of them in base colours this weekend, if anyone is interested).

The Special Events fleet is exactly what it says on the tin really - a fleet of buses which are readily available for Special Events. There was a small amount of detail on the news page at the time about what the Special Events fleet was (which you can see an example of for 3983 here). Whilst the loss of Nexus Miscellaneous Contracts resulted in the loss of daily work for these vehicles (which was unfortunate), they also saw use on various contracts on weekends, school holidays, etc, which I'd imagine bring in a fair amount of money to the company. This includes the likes of Metro Replacement (planned and adhoc/emergency), Sunderland Airshow Park & Ride services, Great North Run Baggage Buses and shuttle buses, and similar. Go North East are retaining these vehicles in the fleet to operate said contracts, and as they're now readily available during the day on weekdays, it allows Go North East to bid for other contracts which require buses at this time. A good example would be the Sunderland Illuminations 101 service in operation over the next few weeks. The three coaches in the Special Events fleet (with Driver Training 7114 as a fourth, if required) are mainly used on Rail Replacement and Private Hire contracts (the number of which Go North East has operated has rapidly increased over the last few months). You may have noticed Arriva jumping on the Rail Replacement bandwagon recently too - one could argue that if it's a Northern contract, it's going back into the same DB pot, so probably likely to become more frequent where coaches and tachographed vehicles don't have to be used...

Dan do you think GNE will win some of the contracts back. Awful seeing Kingsley (cowboys) operating so much. Some of the buses they have now must be leased but I still think they will balls up

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(14 Oct 2017, 8:24 am)Swiny1 wrote Dan do you think GNE will win some of the contracts back. Awful seeing Kingsley (cowboys) operating so much. Some of the buses they have now must be leased but I still think they will balls up

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Some of the buses used on the scholars look a mess. Stanley travel have had a President on scholars with a written paper sign for as long as I can remember, and those B7s from London look a mess. One of them still has half of a advert on the back.

Totally agree. Scary they are carrying young kids about. My work uses Kingsley for different events and some of your the staff commemted lately on how scary the buses/ driving were

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* The staff

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(14 Oct 2017, 8:43 am)Tom wrote Some of the buses used on the scholars look a mess. Stanley travel have had a President on scholars with a written paper sign for as long as I can remember, and those B7s from London look a mess. One of them still has half of a advert on the back.

(14 Oct 2017, 8:46 am)Swiny1 wrote Totally agree. Scary they are carrying young kids about. My work uses Kingsley for different events and some of your the staff commemted lately on how scary the buses/ driving were

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* The staff

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Nothing changed from 20 years ago, then.

(14 Oct 2017, 8:24 am)Swiny1 wrote Dan do you think GNE will win some of the contracts back. Awful seeing Kingsley (cowboys) operating so much. Some of the buses they have now must be leased but I still think they will balls up

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It is a pity that quality is not taken into consideration with the scholars and Miscellaneous Works contracts.

I'm not suggesting that the likes of Go North East or Arriva are perfect, but at least you can have a bit more confidence that the children who use these services are safe and in the event that something does go wrong, the buses are all equipped with CCTV and telematics systems.

I don't think every independent operator is the same, but this year's significant loss of contracts from Arriva and Go North East has resulted in a large number of smaller independent operators gaining more work, and I think the quality of the vehicles sourced has reduced somewhat. Nightingale Coaches' gains last year saw a fleet of ex-London double-decks acquired which were repainted externally, and they looked pretty tidy. This year is a completely different kettle of fish: buses running around with no fleet names, legal lettering, destination displays, etc. I regularly pass double-decks in Kingsleys Coaches' fleet on my way to work - some of them have what appears to be a bed sheet in the front windscreen on the upper saloon, with some form of advert on it! The ex-London stock Stanley Travel has taken is still running around in London base colours, and again, leaves a lot to be desired.

Go North East has already bailed Nexus out with one or two contracts - one bus from the Special Events fleet has been allocated to a scholars service previously operated by Nightingale Coaches (if I remember rightly) for the past few weeks.

Totally agree with your comments

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Only slightly agree with the comments, it's ashame that the independent bus companies don't have the backing of someone who's smoking a big Brazilian cigar


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(14 Oct 2017, 11:40 am)Dan wrote It is a pity that quality is not taken into consideration with the scholars and Miscellaneous Works contracts.

I'm not suggesting that the likes of Go North East or Arriva are perfect, but at least you can have a bit more confidence that the children who use these services are safe and in the event that something does go wrong, the buses are all equipped with CCTV and telematics systems.

I don't think every independent operator is the same, but this year's significant loss of contracts from Arriva and Go North East has resulted in a large number of smaller independent operators gaining more work, and I think the quality of the vehicles sourced has reduced somewhat. Nightingale Coaches' gains last year saw a fleet of ex-London double-decks acquired which were repainted externally, and they looked pretty tidy. This year is a completely different kettle of fish: buses running around with no fleet names, legal lettering, destination displays, etc. I regularly pass double-decks in Kingsleys Coaches' fleet on my way to work - some of them have what appears to be a bed sheet in the front windscreen on the upper saloon, with some form of advert on it! The ex-London stock Stanley Travel has taken is still running around in London base colours, and again, leaves a lot to be desired.

Go North East has already bailed Nexus out with one or two contracts - one bus from the Special Events fleet has been allocated to a scholars service previously operated by Nightingale Coaches (if I remember rightly) for the past few weeks.

About how long do the current contracts last? I fear that if the answer is a short duration, the operators won't bother spending as much effort in vehicle presentation, especially if they are mostly only going to do scholar's and Nexus misc boards, when Phoenix aquired a fair amount of Nexus contracts last year, they put pretty much all of the vehicles they aquired out in their previous operators liveries and sure enough they lost most of these services when the contracts came to a end about 8 months later, who would spend fortunes on making buses look smart and well presented when you only end up having to sell them after 8 months, which is a shame really.

I suspect this might cause a few problems in Chester let Street town centre
https://twitter.com/DurhamCouncil/status...9635635200