(30 Sep 2023, 3:07 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Durham do have two - 7523/39 have both had Euro6 mods to enable them to be used on the X12. Unfortunately, whoever was allocating this morning has reportedly ignored a note left by one of the inspectors this morning and allocated 1481 instead.

There'd still be at least 2 buses on Newcastle boards which would be single deckers, even if those 2 were allocated. 

Obviously it's more than possible that 7523/39 had defects which meant they couldn't have been allocated to the X12, or engineering (who I'd imagine trump a "note from an inspector") needed them later in the day.

(30 Sep 2023, 3:07 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Durham do have two - 7523/39 have both had Euro6 mods to enable them to be used on the X12. Unfortunately, whoever was allocating this morning has reportedly ignored a note left by one of the inspectors this morning and allocated 1481 instead.

Ah that's fair, never realised any down there got E6 mods. Kind of makes sense with 7523 though, considering the rest of the batch.

It’s not been as disruptive as I imagined tbh.

Uber weren’t ever surcharging. I was sat in Gilbert and smith on the fell just £9 lighter after an Uber from town. I’m seriously considering whether the 21 is worth the matchday hassle anymore

I am yet to see a gne ticket get flashed at me during this too.

(30 Sep 2023, 8:55 pm)F114TML wrote I am yet to see a gne ticket get flashed at me during this too.

The difference will be on weekdays. Had someone posting on nextdoor, lives in Newton Hall. Works at Sunderland college. Bugger of a commute without the 20 and would be more than £9 each way in a taxi.

(30 Sep 2023, 10:23 pm)BusLoverMum wrote The difference will be on weekdays. Had someone posting on nextdoor, lives in Newton Hall. Works at Sunderland college. Bugger of a commute without the 20 and would be more than £9 each way in a taxi.

Could get the 64 into Durham and the 22 to Sunderland?

(30 Sep 2023, 10:23 pm)BusLoverMum wrote The difference will be on weekdays. Had someone posting on nextdoor, lives in Newton Hall. Works at Sunderland college. Bugger of a commute without the 20 and would be more than £9 each way in a taxi.

Isn't it more like £20 each way in a taxi?

I know it's not really cheap either but I'd be taking the £12 anytime return from Durham to Sunderland only takes 48 minutes or so and includes any train from Durham to Newcastle and the Metro or Northern Trains from Newcastle to Sunderland.

There's a weekly season ticket available for £53 aswell.

(01 Oct 2023, 12:29 am)itsadam wrote Could get the 64 into Durham and the 22 to Sunderland?

Yeah then get the variety of SC services, but I suppose its not the best say they start at 9am

They cannot get there in time, as the first 22 from Durham to Sunderland gets to Sunderland at 7:55 and what takes them roughly an hour on the 20, would take upwards of 3 hours

(30 Sep 2023, 8:29 pm)Ambassador wrote It’s not been as disruptive as I imagined tbh.

Uber weren’t ever surcharging. I was sat in Gilbert and smith on the fell just £9 lighter after an Uber from town. I’m seriously considering whether the 21 is worth the matchday hassle anymore

got to agree with this. Not that i would use a UBER but i think i'll be driving to matches now rather than busing it.  Granted it means no drinks after game in town but i can how get home and have some locally. Go north easts loss

(30 Sep 2023, 1:18 pm)Unber43 wrote X50/327/X75 are operating atm, I'm surprised.

no x50 on Wednesday for NUFC game though

Wonder if any of the management will get any stick for driving through a strike.

(30 Sep 2023, 2:03 pm)54APhotography wrote I made a point of going to the O Gauge Show at Nissan of stopping at the stops after Bunnyhill as there were lots waiting for 56s. Nobody i told was aware.od the strike and headed off for 3s or 13s. Didn't see anybody at the stops on my way back so assume word of mouth is getting around

when i passed heworth at arounf 7pm there seems a load of people sitting in the different stops... the 4 seemed to have a really large amount of people there.

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(01 Oct 2023, 7:44 am)iUnber43 wrote Wonder if any of the management will get any stick for driving through a strike.

t i though busses had to be " signed off" by engineers each morning before they went out - are they not striking too?

(01 Oct 2023, 7:44 am)Rob44 wrote when i passed heworth at arounf 7pm there seems a load of people sitting in the different stops... the 4 seemed to have a really large amount of people there.

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t i though busses had to be " signed off" by engineers each morning before they went out - are they not striking too?

Buses only need signed off if they had a defect reported on the previous days service or if a defect is found on first use check, or of course if they are due their regular engineering checks.

(01 Oct 2023, 8:12 am)xpm wrote Buses only need signed off if they had a defect reported on the previous days service or if a defect is found on first use check, or of course if they are due their regular engineering checks.

Chances are management wont do that for the week

(01 Oct 2023, 12:29 am)itsadam wrote Could get the 64 into Durham and the 22 to Sunderland?

Personally, I wouldn't be going anywhere near the 22, you've got a massive potential of being stranded in Sunderland since it's the only bus to parts of South Sunderland + East Durham and is only 2 BPH now.

(01 Oct 2023, 8:27 am)Unber43 wrote Chances are management wont do that for the week

Drivers responsibility whether they are management or not,  or if someone allocates a vehicle with a previously reported defect that has not been signed off by an engineer, then it would be down to the person who allocated it.  A non-engineer cannot legally sign off a reported defect, especially a PG9.

(01 Oct 2023, 12:29 am)itsadam wrote Could get the 64 into Durham and the 22 to Sunderland?

They're on the Durham road site so need a third (or 4th, depending on which 22 as the 22B finishes at Peterlee)  bus, which would be stagecoach so would have a walk in between. They'd spend 5 hours a day travelling instead of 2. Can see why they were looking for a lift.

(01 Oct 2023, 2:48 pm)BusLoverMum wrote They're on the Durham road site so need a third (or 4th, depending on which 22)  bus, which would be stagecoach so would have a walk in between. They'd spend 5 hours a day travelling instead of 2. Can see why they were looking for a lift.

probably looking at 6, bu the time you get there and wait for the 22, and thats not considering if there is a huge queue and you have to wait for the next one, or whether you start at 9am as its physically impossible to get there on time.

If you finish say 16:30 you're probably looking to not get home till 8, and if that bus is 5 mins late youve got to wait well over an hour to not get home till 9

(01 Oct 2023, 2:56 pm)Unber43 wrote probably looking at 6, bu the time you get there and wait for the 22, and thats not considering if there is a huge queue and you have to wait for the next one, or whether you start at 9am as its physically impossible to get there on time.

If you finish say 16:30 you're probably looking to not get home till 8

And this is all assuming the 22s are running. We've used the 22s and 24 twice, recently, and on both occasions buses were cancelled or regulated.

has anyone heard or read anything about refunds? Not so much the network one tickets ( although you pay to use all 3 major bus operators in tyne and wear) but for those who bough exclusively GNE tickets? Im sure someone bought a weekly Gateshead ticket on Tuesday on the 27 so would he be entitles t0 40% of the total back as he couldn't use the ticket.

(01 Oct 2023, 3:13 pm)Rob44 wrote has anyone heard or read anything about refunds?  Not so much the network one tickets ( although you pay to use all 3 major bus operators in tyne and wear) but for those who bough exclusively GNE tickets? Im sure someone bought a weekly Gateshead ticket on Tuesday on the 27 so would he be entitles t0 40% of the total back as he couldn't use the ticket.

They're asking people on Social Media to contact them directly, rather than making a blanket statement about what they intend to do.

According to their Ticket Refund Policy, they reserve the right to refuse a refund:

Unforeseen circumstances
In the event of a suspension of services because of strikes, labour disputes, emergency or adverse weather conditions, reasonable refunds or extension of validity of pre-purchased tickets may be considered but the decision will be entirely at the discretion of the company. Refunds will not be made in respect of days on which it can reasonably be foreseen that no service or a replaced service will be provided, or days on which the company has advertised a reduction or suspension of service such as Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

This pretty much echoes consumer law, and whilst I'm by no means an expert on it, they'd class industrial action as an unforeseen circumstance. Even though they're completely at liberty to prevent the dispute. 

That being said, it'd be extremely poor of them to not refund days lost to customers, and I imagine it'd cause even more reputational damage than they've already done to themselves.

(30 Sep 2023, 8:29 pm)Ambassador wrote It’s not been as disruptive as I imagined tbh.

Uber weren’t ever surcharging. I was sat in Gilbert and smith on the fell just £9 lighter after an Uber from town. I’m seriously considering whether the 21 is worth the matchday hassle anymore

Eldest Constantopolous had the opposite experience mind. 
Went back to the Fell too and it took a good while to get a taxi/uber, as nothing was accepting. 
Traffic atrocious too.

Looks like some local companies are running some of the GNE services in Hexham, during the strikes although, very limited.

(01 Oct 2023, 5:22 pm)Michael wrote Looks like some local companies are running some of the GNE services in Hexham, during the strikes although, very limited.

All 'free of charge' too. Wonder who is funding them?

(01 Oct 2023, 5:40 pm)Andreos1 wrote All 'free of charge' too. Wonder who is funding them?

All council contracts so assume Northumberland CC or whatever the Hexham Parish Council is called. I know there's arguments about covering strike routes but probably not a good idea to leave rural communities completely stranded. It's different to say Ouston where they at least have a shop.

No doubt it'll be partially covered by the penalities which no doubt GNE will be charged for not running them at all.

It would be nice for a list to be outlined with what the GNE want the drivers to be without/changes they want etc

Might help the public on the Unite Side if they see there breaks are getting taken away etc

(01 Oct 2023, 6:08 pm)Storx wrote All council contracts so assume Northumberland CC or whatever the Hexham Parish Council is called. I know there's arguments about covering strike routes but probably not a good idea to leave rural communities completely stranded. It's different to say Ouston where they at least have a shop.

No doubt it'll be partially covered by the penalities which no doubt GNE will be charged for not running them at all.

In which case, every single tax payer in Northumberland needs to know that the already financially challenged council, is paying additional money, to cover these routes. 
I sincerely doubt the claw back will cover the additional costs incurred over this period. 

These are the very same routes that would be still being run, if it wasn't for the abject failure of the operator, in sitting down or listening, to find out why their proposals aren't acceptable to the vast majority of the driving staff.

(01 Oct 2023, 8:17 pm)Andreos1 wrote In which case, every single tax payer in Northumberland needs to know that the already financially challenged council, is paying additional money, to cover these routes. 
I sincerely doubt the claw back will cover the additional costs incurred over this period. 

These are the very same routes that would be still being run, if it wasn't for the abject failure of the operator, in sitting down or listening, to find out why their proposals aren't acceptable to the vast majority of the driving staff.

Surely the question is, why would the council pay GNE for services they aren't running on strike days?

The answer is, they won't be. So they can afford to pay for partial replacements, which are free because they can't be registered in time.

(02 Oct 2023, 3:08 am)DeltaMan wrote Surely the question is, why would the council pay GNE for services they aren't running on strike days?

The answer is, they won't be. So they can afford to pay for partial replacements, which are free because they can't be registered in time. 

But it doesn't explain the free rides though. 
Is the GNE claw back really going to cover the payment of covering the services AND free rides?

(02 Oct 2023, 6:35 am)Andreos1 wrote But it doesn't explain the free rides though. 
Is the GNE claw back really going to cover the payment of covering the services AND free rides?

It's entirely possible. The council simply won't pay them for what they've not done and divert that money to the greatly reduced service level. There is a chance NCC may even make a saving!