(12 Nov 2023, 7:50 am)ifm001 wrote With the GNE strike amd the recent sale of Arriva and talk of future expansion, now would be a good time to 'dip feet in water'

How about a service from Durham depot similar to GNE 50 but possibly a version of the old X50.
Durham to South Shields

Durham to Chester all stops
Chester to Washington non stop
Washington to Boldon Asda limited stop via Follingsby Park
Boldon Asda to South Shields limited Stop via Whiteleas Bridge, South Tyneside Hospital and Westoe

Personally I'd be looking at the Sunderland to Durham network if I was going to do something like that.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/54.77727...?entry=ttu - Maybe something like this now that GNE ditched the 55 and there's never been a link to Durham from large chunks of Hetton.

Can't say they're competing for the sake of it, they dropped out the area. Could do it as an extension as the 64 maybe, which would also open links towards Arnison and Dragonville from those areas aswell. 50 minutes+ from Hetton to Sunderland on the 35 is unacceptable.

(12 Nov 2023, 7:50 am)ifm001 wrote With the GNE strike amd the recent sale of Arriva and talk of future expansion, now would be a good time to 'dip feet in water'

How about a service from Durham depot similar to GNE 50 but possibly a version of the old X50.
Durham to South Shields

Durham to Chester all stops
Chester to Washington non stop
Washington to Boldon Asda limited stop via Follingsby Park
Boldon Asda to South Shields limited Stop via Whiteleas Bridge, South Tyneside Hospital and Westoe

(12 Nov 2023, 12:06 pm)Storx wrote Personally I'd be looking at the Sunderland to Durham network if I was going to do something like that.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/54.77727...?entry=ttu - Maybe something like this now that GNE ditched the 55 and there's never been a link to Durham from large chunks of Hetton.

Can't say they're competing for the sake of it, they dropped out the area. Could do it as an extension as the 64 maybe, which would also open links towards Arnison and Dragonville from those areas aswell. 50 minutes+ from Hetton to Sunderland on the 35 is unacceptable.

I would say, at present, unless the X12 turns being worked by Durham returned to Stockton, Durham have neither the staff nor the vehicles to take on any additional work (indeed, despite regaining some X12s, Durham's 7 turns are still being worked by Darlington and are likely to remain as such). Indeed, there's still days when Durham have work stood due to either no driver, no bus or even sometimes both.

Working in partnership and if there's enough space to do it, changes to the 19/57/57A into:

56 (Hourly): East Hartford - Cramlington - Fern Drive - Seghill - Current route to Whitley Bay
57 (Hourly): Current 57A
58 (Hourly): Ashington - Stakeford - Bedlington - Guide Post - Cramlington - Cramlington Hospital - New Hartley - Seaton Delaval - Seghill - Backworth - Northumberland Park - Cobalt - North Shields
58 Short (Hourly) (35 Minutes Trip): Backworth Loop - Northumberland Park - Cobalt - North Shields

(19/Current 58: Withdrawn)

Current PVR
57/57A: 5
19: 3
58: 1

New PVR
56/57: 4
58: 5

Map:


It would open up quite a few new links, give more time for the 57/57A (56/57) which is having problems and remove the completely pointless 58 and use it for better resources imo.

(19 Nov 2023, 6:01 pm)Storx wrote Working in partnership and if there's enough space to do it, changes to the 19/57/57A into:

56 (Hourly): East Hartford - Cramlington - Fern Drive - Seghill - Current route to Whitley Bay
57 (Hourly): Current 57A
58 (Hourly): Ashington - Stakeford - Bedlington - Guide Post - Cramlington - Cramlington Hospital - New Hartley - Seaton Delaval - Seghill - Backworth - Northumberland Park - Cobalt - North Shields
58 Short (Hourly) (35 Minutes Trip): Backworth Loop - Northumberland Park - Cobalt - North Shields

(19/Current 58: Withdrawn)

Current PVR
57/57A: 5
19: 3
58: 1

New PVR
56/57: 4
58: 5

Map:


It would open up quite a few new links, give more time for the 57/57A (56/57) which is having problems and remove the completely pointless 58 and use it for better resources imo.

This seems sensible to me, I’ve always thought there 58 could be merged into the 19 or 57 in some way.

(19 Nov 2023, 8:15 pm)Thomas12 wrote This seems sensible to me, I’ve always thought there 58 could be merged into the 19 or 57 in some way.

Yeah just makes it tidier, I know New Hartley want more links aswell as they can't get to Cramlington really and have no real Metro link either without travelling all the way to Haymarket or doing a long walk up South Gosforth bank. East Hartford also get a bus service which actually goes somewhere aswell.

Other than the few bus stops to the East of Cramlington, I can't really see any negatives tbh and the 19/57A follow each other through High Pit so there's no loss there. The 19 right now just kind of exists on top of the other 2, and you'd open direct Ashington and Bedlington links to Cobalt for workers. They badly all need to be together imo.

They 57a has turned into a mess, especially as the timetable liners (that I have seen in Seghill) are now inaccurate to boot.

X7/X8/X9 changes as it's simply not working right now.

Arriva and NCC work in partnership for some small extensions to the X7 and X8, namely the X7 serving Tillmouth Avenue in Holywell and the X8 serving Amersham Road in Blyth

New typical board:

X7: 11:14 (BLY) -> 12:22 (NCL)
X8: 12:30 (NCL) -> 13:38 (BLY)
X7: 13:44 (BLY) -> 14:52 (NCL)
... repeat ...

or

X8: 11:29 (BLY) -> 12:37 (NCL)
X7: 12:45 (NCL) -> 13:53 (BLY)
X8: 13:59 (BLY) -> 14:07 (NCL)
... repeat ...

X9: Current times, work standalone.

X7/X8: PVR 10 (+1)
X9: PVR 5 (No Change)

I know it's an extra PVR but at least it's being used to serve some areas which have both lost their serve in recent'ish times and create some links and get the X7 and X8/X9 away from Gosforth High Street and/or South Gosforth so when ones goes tits up the other service isn't seriously impacted. Something needs done anyway as it's pretty much consistently late in recent times. There's also extra padding in the route to help them out a bit (it doesn't take 5 minutes to serve Tillmouth or Amersham).

X19: Wooler, Haugh End, Powburn, Longframlington, Longhorsley, Morpeth, Stannngton, Regent Centre, Newcastle.
Could operate alongside the X14, X15, X16 & X18 between Morpeth & Newcastle. If the X14 is still only every 2 hours to thropton, run the X19 in the other hour

Hi guys, I don't usually post on this part of the forum but today was the tip of the iceberg for me. I was waiting ages for the 7 today and Thursday and I was tracking on bustimes as well as Arriva's app, as you do. They cancelled so many buses before a bus actually came and it always seems to be around 1/2 ish they get really bad. The security guard in the bus station got a driver to ring control or something to check and they said a bus would be 10 minutes but that bus got took out of service. Ended up getting a train - ironically it was a replacement bus. Does anyone know why the 7 is particularly horrendous and why Arriva is so bad at communication?

(02 Mar 2024, 7:28 pm)itsadam wrote Hi guys, I don't usually post on this part of the forum but today was the tip of the iceberg for me. I was waiting ages for the 7 today and Thursday and I was tracking on bustimes as well as Arriva's app, as you do. They cancelled so many buses before a bus actually came and it always seems to be around 1/2 ish they get really bad. The security guard in the bus station got a driver to ring control or something to check and they said a bus would be 10 minutes but that bus got took out of service. Ended up getting a train - ironically it was a replacement bus. Does anyone know why the 7 is particularly horrendous and why Arriva is so bad at communication?

Looking at BusTimes for Saturday, it seems like at least 2 buses were missing for much of the day on consecutive boards, leaving to an hour's gap in service (assuming it's not just tracking issues).

Getting in and out of Darlington can be a mess on Saturdays and the fact the 7 runs on a 20 min frequency instead of 15 that's offered M-F probs doesn't help.

Have noticed more dropping out of service on Darlington services when services are running late, one occasion that left me steaming was a delay of less than 5 mins resulting in a 40 min wait for the next service 5 in Bishop Auckland to which Arriva's response to my complaint being "operational disruptions" which was a load of shit, especially when the driver ran early for much of the remainder of the journey and started at Shildon. When I was in Durham Bus Station during half term one afternoon, two buses in a row dropped out of service, one rushing light all the way back to Darlo and the other starting in Chilton on time.

Sunday suggestion
3 that runs between lingdale and Redcar could in turn serve new Marske.
So follows the same route to Marske. Then turns into longbeck and new Marske. Then revert to the 62 route accessing redcar via the bypass and onto redcar lane

I've been thinking, couldnt Great North Road be done with 2 services if the frequency was right
42-Newcastle-Blyth via Hazlerigg and Dinnington
43-Newcastle-Morpeth as now

(21 Apr 2024, 4:59 pm)V514DFT wrote I've been thinking, couldnt Great North Road be done with 2 services if the frequency was right
42-Newcastle-Blyth via Hazlerigg and Dinnington
43-Newcastle-Morpeth as now

I often thought about this especialy for an evening or on a sunday

Couple of things though - 

People in brunswick having to get the bus to town would have 20/30 minutes added to journey unless they got  bus to wideopen and it connected with the 43.  Same goes for passengers for stops between the travelers rest and blyth 30 minutes minimum added to journey time.

(21 Apr 2024, 4:59 pm)V514DFT wrote I've been thinking, couldnt Great North Road be done with 2 services if the frequency was right
42-Newcastle-Blyth via Hazlerigg and Dinnington
43-Newcastle-Morpeth as now

Not really, as there's the two roads towards Dinnington.

Mind speaking of the 43, I'd love to see these changes:

X16: Newcastle - Northgate Hospital, PVR 2 Saloons / Deckers
777: Kingston Park - St George's Park, PVR 2 Minibuses
43: Cramlington to Newcastle only
57/57A: No route change, PVR 5 Saloons
58: Cramlington to Morpeth via East Hartford (43 from Cramlington to Morpeth additionally serving East Hartford), PVR 3 Midibuses
58: Rest of current route scrapped, not replaced
416: Withdrawn
417: Withdrawn
436: Reroute somehow, PVR 1 Minibus

There's currently full size buses been wasted on the 43 extensions and 777 and it's a waste of tax payer money aswell since it's public funded mostly and don't get me started on the current pointless 58.

(21 Apr 2024, 4:59 pm)V514DFT wrote I've been thinking, couldnt Great North Road be done with 2 services if the frequency was right
42-Newcastle-Blyth via Hazlerigg and Dinnington
43-Newcastle-Morpeth as now

I thought we were trying to improve services with these suggestions? That's a definite no.

(21 Apr 2024, 2:22 pm)Ryland wrote Sunday suggestion
3 that runs between lingdale and Redcar could in turn serve new Marske.
So follows the same route to Marske. Then turns into longbeck and new Marske. Then revert to the 62 route accessing redcar via the bypass and onto redcar lane

I'd have it go along the A174 from Saltburn, do New Marske, then Longbeck and in to Marske that way.
Granted it would miss the station, but it's still hitting the main drag in Marske.

(21 Apr 2024, 7:28 pm)Andreos1 wrote I'd have it go along the A174 from Saltburn, do New Marske, then Longbeck and in to Marske that way.
Granted it would miss the station, but it's still hitting the main drag in Marske.

Maybe could just run the short X4 as an X4A instead or vice versa since they seem to think it's important enough to have a Middlesbrough link at night? Would solve most the Redcar end problems out.

Can do whatever then, the 62/81 route badly needs covered at the other side of Redcar though, half the town has no Sunday service including Kirkleatham (think I spelt that right) which is the sort of place people actually might want to go to on a Sunday rather than say a Tuesday.

(21 Apr 2024, 7:57 pm)Storx wrote Maybe could just run the short X4 as an X4A instead or vice versa since they seem to think it's important enough to have a Middlesbrough link at night? Would solve most the Redcar end problems out.

Can do whatever then, the 62/81 route badly needs covered at the other side of Redcar though, half the town has no Sunday service including Kirkleatham (think I spelt that right) which is the sort of place people actually might want to go to on a Sunday rather than say a Tuesday.

No x4 needs to be full size on versa or solo should be one as 1 there compancy isn't bigger enough  

Versa would be better  at Ashington  for their town sevice  or Stockton  for the 8 .7 .9

A very simple one, change the 57/57A so it does a loop in Whitley Bay like so:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/55.04281...?entry=ttu

There's absolutely no time penalty (it's actually 1 minute quicker) and would open links to the Spanish City area.

Also terminate the 57/57A on an Evening / Sunday short at Whitley Bay and use the resource elsewhere, maybe an extension through to Linton for example, or run the 434 route from Bedlington Station to Ashington? It would give people connections to the Northumberland Line at all times, if the timings were right. The fact they're being turned at North Tyneside Hospital the next 5 days sums up how much they're needed at the North Shields end.

(29 Jul 2024, 10:45 pm)Storx wrote A very simple one, change the 57/57A so it does a loop in Whitley Bay like so:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/55.04281...?entry=ttu

There's absolutely no time penalty (it's actually 1 minute quicker) and would open links to the Spanish City area.

Also terminate the 57/57A on an Evening / Sunday short at Whitley Bay and use the resource elsewhere, maybe an extension through to Linton for example, or run the 434 route from Bedlington Station to Ashington? It would give people connections to the Northumberland Line at all times, if the timings were right. The fact they're being turned at North Tyneside Hospital the next 5 days sums up how much they're needed at the North Shields end.

You clearly don't get why they are doing it. The diversion they would be sent on would make them possible 10 to 20 minutes late so would be completely pointless running to North Shields and then running back even later which would send them via the diversionary route on the way back. There's nothing from Whitley Bay to North Shields via Rake Lane or Billy mill without a change of bus so can't see how the statement you mentioned (how much they're needed at North Shields end). Is in anyway relevant to what you're talking about. If nexus or arriva had of decided to cut that section then it would have happened ages ago but hasn't

(30 Jul 2024, 5:54 am)Aaron21 wrote You clearly don't get why they are doing it. The diversion they would be sent on would make them possible 10 to 20 minutes late so would be completely pointless running to North Shields and then running back even later which would send them via the diversionary route on the way back. There's nothing from Whitley Bay to North Shields via Rake Lane or Billy mill without a change of bus so can't see how the statement you mentioned (how much they're needed at North Shields end). Is in anyway relevant to what you're talking about. If nexus or arriva had of decided to cut that section then it would have happened ages ago but hasn't

If there's enough demand for the service then the service wouldn't be getting cut for 5 days regardless to a diversion.

If there was roadworks at CLS do you honestly think they'd just cut the 21 between Durham and CLS, no they'd add another bus and the council would pay for it as they're causing the diversion. The same way that when Seghill crossing or New Hartley crossings are closed they run shuttle buses to cover the affected parts. 

Also to the reference in bold:
North Shields to Whitley Bay - 1/317
Rake Lane to Whitley Bay - 54/308/309/317
Rake Lane to North Shields - 317
Billy Mill to North Shields - 306/353
Billy Mill to Whitley Bay - 308

The links already exist, other areas ie. Chirton to NT Hospital don't have a service during the day anyway so are irrelevant.

The fact it exists is incompetence more than requirement imo and before going into why the 19 and 317 are both every 30 minutes at the same time while areas like Briardene have zero bus service at all.

Probably a pipe dream!

But in 2026 to mark:

- 40 years since the inauguration of Northumbria Motor Services

- 30 years since Cowie (now Arriva) purchased Northumbria from British Bus Ownership

Arriva should repaint a few vehicles into the retro Northumbria Motor Services livery, similar to what Stagecoach are doing.

(21 Sep 2024, 8:13 pm)L469 YVK wrote Probably a pipe dream!

But in 2026 to mark:

- 40 years since the inauguration of Northumbria Motor Services

- 30 years since Cowie (now Arriva) purchased Northumbria from British Bus Ownership

Arriva should repaint a few vehicles into the retro Northumbria Motor Services livery, similar to what Stagecoach are doing.

A retro repaint would be awesome, though only the likes of the E400MMCs would do the livery justice giving its angular accents. I also suspect Arriva might be against it as it would put all of the the Arriva liveries since 1997 to shame.

(21 Sep 2024, 8:13 pm)L469 YVK wrote Probably a pipe dream!

But in 2026 to mark:

- 40 years since the inauguration of Northumbria Motor Services

- 30 years since Cowie (now Arriva) purchased Northumbria from British Bus Ownership

Arriva should repaint a few vehicles into the retro Northumbria Motor Services livery, similar to what Stagecoach are doing.

Tbf they can't even get the current fleet livery sorted and rolled out across the fleet. 
What would the chances be of sorting out a couple of special retro liveries? 

Mind, if they do one, then there's probably enough left between the rest of the fleet to show a time line of liveries between then and now.

Attatched is how I would improve the Blyth Expresses...

Yellow - X7, changes = new links (everything north on route) to Killingworth and gives Killingworth Dr a bus service otherwise no change
Red - X8, changes = new loop around Cramlington Town Centre opposed to the confusing village road X8/X9 (current routing) being on opposite sides for the same destination
Green - X9, via Dudley Lane (reduces the amount of buses to Newcastle as really how many buses an hour do they need when some places don't have any. They still have the frequent 43, the less frequent 37/352, and the express X9
Orange - X10 via Beacon Lane (the link road doesn't exist yet) and Horton Drive
Pink - 43, Extended 2 bph to Cramlington Hospital & 2bph to Blyth (via Bebside) (rerouted current X9 route). New connections to Chase Farm Dr (short walk from Swaledale Ave (hence the reroute)
Light Blue - 1  slightly rerouted to improve local connections (not everyone wants to travel to Newcastle)
Dark Blue - 2 slightly rerouted to improve local connections (not everyone wants to travel to Newcastle) 

Possibly could renumber the 1/2 to 41/42 to link with the 43 in the cowpen/bebside areas...

I am aware of the reduction in service so you could either up the X9/X10 to every 20 mins/10 comb or add in extra peak journeys, which is probably best. The X7/X8 would stay every 30 mins. And you would have enough deckers to put on all the boards - with the introduction of the electrics for the 43/44/45. This also makes vehicle and driver changes easier at Blyth bus station as opposed to needing remote reliefs.

(13 Nov 2024, 2:31 pm)logidoodah wrote Attatched is how I would improve the Blyth Expresses...

Yellow - X7, changes = new links (everything north on route) to Killingworth and gives Killingworth Dr a bus service otherwise no change
Red - X8, changes = new loop around Cramlington Town Centre opposed to the confusing village road X8/X9 (current routing) being on opposite sides for the same destination
Green - X9, via Dudley Lane (reduces the amount of buses to Newcastle as really how many buses an hour do they need when some places don't have any. They still have the frequent 43, the less frequent 37/352, and the express X9
Orange - X10 via Beacon Lane (the link road doesn't exist yet) and Horton Drive
Pink - 43, Extended 2 bph to Cramlington Hospital & 2bph to Blyth (via Bebside) (rerouted current X9 route). New connections to Chase Farm Dr (short walk from Swaledale Ave (hence the reroute)
Light Blue - 1  slightly rerouted to improve local connections (not everyone wants to travel to Newcastle)
Dark Blue - 2 slightly rerouted to improve local connections (not everyone wants to travel to Newcastle) 

Possibly could renumber the 1/2 to 41/42 to link with the 43 in the cowpen/bebside areas...

I am aware of the reduction in service so you could either up the X9/X10 to every 20 mins/10 comb or add in extra peak journeys, which is probably best. The X7/X8 would stay every 30 mins. And you would have enough deckers to put on all the boards - with the introduction of the electrics for the 43/44/45. This also makes vehicle and driver changes easier at Blyth bus station as opposed to needing remote reliefs.

I'm not going to comment on the Blyth to Cramlington part but assuming franchising partially here, I'd look at merging the X7, X8 and X63. The X63 since it's frequency reduction has become a right old basketcase of a route nowadays since everyone has moved to the X7/X8 from Quorum now and do something like this:


X7: Newcastle - Quorum - Killingworth - Seghill - Seaton Delaval - New Hartley - Seaton Sluice - Blyth (Every 20 Minutes)
X8: Newcastle - Quorum - Killingworth - Burradon - Dudley - Cramlington (Every 20 Minutes)

X7/X8: Every 10 Minutes, Newcastle to Killingworth

38: West End - Newcastle - Freeman - Four Lane Ends - Quorum - Burradon - Annitsford - Cramlington Hospital - Cramlington (Every 30 Minutes)
38A: West End - Newcastle - Freeman - Four Lane Ends - Quorum - Killingworth (Every 30 Minutes)
38B: West End - Newcastle - Freeman - Four Lane Ends - Benton (Every 30 Minutes)

19: Upped to every 30 Minutes, full route
57/57A: Both via Seghill, direct from Annitsford to Cramlington omitting High Pit
352: Withdrawn
353: Upped to Every 30 Minutes, Killingworth to North Shields only
354: Withdrawn
X63: Withdrawn
308: Curtailed at Whitley Bay
309: Head to Blyth via 308 route.

The 308/309 is also way too overbused between Blyth and Whitley Bay, so having an enhanced X7 would partially cover these.

For the Cramlington to Blyth section of the X8, who knows, extend a 43 instead?