(27 Feb 2015, 1:23 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Surely better than Jenny though!

Jenny?
Who is Jenny like?

Stu Elmore does the 56 and he needs a bit va va vrooom put in to his announcements.

(27 Feb 2015, 1:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote Jenny?
Who is Jenny like?

Stu Elmore does the 56 and he needs a bit va va vrooom put in to his announcements.

Is Jenny the new lass who does all of the stops around Cobalt? She has such a dull voice, if so, and compared to the other announcements, her voice is so flat.

Think the ones on the 56 are some of the best. Less gimmicky and retain the regional accent.

(27 Feb 2015, 1:23 pm)Malarkey wrote Speaking of 6084, It was showing the TEN Branded Screen rather than FAB56 when I was on it yesterday on the 10A. 

It was changed on Wednesday.

4989? has broke down at the prospect, Durham Road

(27 Feb 2015, 1:50 pm)Dan wrote Is Jenny the new lass who does all of the stops around Cobalt? She has such a dull voice, if so, and compared to the other announcements, her voice is so flat.

Think the ones on the 56 are some of the best. Less gimmicky and retain the regional accent.

I agree with that. I prefer the announcements on the 56 out of the whole next-stop announcements group of services, I find them to be very straight-forward and easy to understand, albeit a bit quiet.

Haven't used the Cobalt Clipper services enough to give an honest opinion, in fact I don't even remember any announcements on 6103! Will have to try another journey on them and see what they're like.

A lot of people moan on about the ones on the Angel; after a couple of years of living with them - I honestly don't mind them. They don't irritate me in the slightest, and in fact I think it's nice to be able to hear something on top of the silent hybrid engine.

I think the Cobalt ones are the same as the 56 ones?
The Cobalts ones are great.

(27 Feb 2015, 4:49 pm)Tom wrote I think the Cobalt ones are the same as the 56 ones?
The Cobalts ones are great.

Yeah, outside of Cobalt. Some new ones have been done for the stops around Cobalt and those announcements aren't as good.

I reckon the next services to receive investment really deserve Tim Healy!

'Next stop is, Sunderland Pork Lain Inachange, if this is yor stop pleaz ring tha bell wonse and remain seat'd till the bus 'as stoppt.'

'Next stop is, Stanley Bus Staish'n, if you wont 'a be intimadated, pleaz ring tha bell wonse and remain seat'd till the bus 'as stoppt.'

'Next stop is, Metrocentre Inachange, alight 'ere fa a load 'a teenage gurls prancing roond leak reindeer'.

Sorry that's the best I can do. Hope that's made a few people smile! 

(27 Feb 2015, 4:45 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote A lot of people moan on about the ones on the Angel; after a couple of years of living with them - I honestly don't mind them. They don't irritate me in the slightest, and in fact I think it's nice to be able to hear something on top of the silent hybrid engine.

The thing that I can't get away with on the Angel announcements is "ring the bell once and remain seated until the bus has come to a complete stop" I find this really unnecessary.

Jenny is the boring lass who does them on Arriva's Sapphire services:

Jenny: Yourrrr neext stop issss pause....... Gosfo'u'rth Regent Centre

This is what S&K would sound like: Next stop, Gosforth Regent Centaa, Pleezzz Ring Thu bell nd remain seeted til the bus stops.

And this is what they could say for 7501-7509: Contratulashuns, you have successfullie arrived on ya cushy 57 reg carrigggee. Remember to bring a coat the next time though!

(27 Feb 2015, 4:49 pm)Tom wrote I think the Cobalt ones are the same as the 56 ones?
The Cobalts ones are great.

There nearly twins as both batch were new at the same time although 4 of them arrived late due to it being Xmas and se stored at the almost then complete Riverside 

Cobalt Clipper ones are fast same as Fab Fifty Six ones

(27 Feb 2015, 5:19 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Jenny is the boring lass who does them on Arriva's Sapphire services:



Jenny: Yourrrr neext stop issss pause....... Gosfo'u'rth Regent Centre



This is what S&K would sound like: Next stop, Gosforth Regent Centaa, Pleezzz Ring Thu bell nd remain seeted til the bus stops.



And this is what they could say for 7501-7509: Contratulashuns, you have successfullie arrived on ya cushy 57 reg carrigggee. Remember to bring a coat the next time though!

I like the announcements to be boring and don't draw too much attention to themselves, if Arriva had Steve and Karen doing the announcements on the 7 and I had to hear that for an hour from 0745 on a morning I'd go insane!

(27 Feb 2015, 5:20 pm)Racer_Experience wrote There nearly twins as both batch were new at the same time although 4 of them arrived late due to it being Xmas and se stored at the almost then complete Riverside 

Cobalt Clipper ones are fast same as Fab Fifty Six ones

They're on about the announcements rather than the buses themselves.

(27 Feb 2015, 5:33 pm)Jimmi wrote I like the announcements to be boring and don't draw too much attention to themselves, if Arriva had Steve and Karen doing the announcements on the 7 and I had to hear that for an hour from 0745 on a morning I'd go insane!

Here here, the Arriva ones sound professionally done. The 'Please remain seated until the bus has stopped' gets very annoying after Durham Hospital let alone going all the way to Newcastle.

(27 Feb 2015, 5:37 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Here here, the Arriva ones sound professionally done. The 'Please remain seated until the bus has stopped' gets very annoying after Durham Hospital let alone going all the way to Newcastle.

I'd be sick of it hearing it before it got to the Hospital.

Thankfully I often manage to dodge the hybrids on the 21 so no announcements at all which is brilliant.

(27 Feb 2015, 5:37 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Here here, the Arriva ones sound professionally done. The 'Please remain seated until the bus has stopped' gets very annoying after Durham Hospital let alone going all the way to Newcastle.

We've done this so many times now.

You need to get yourself on the full 56 from Sunderland to Newcastle... Far more tolerable than an hour and a bit on an Arriva service with monotonous announcements - even at 5am in the morning (I've done it many times now!)

The ones on the 56 sound professional and retain the regional accent. How it should be done, in my opinion. None of the gimmicks, none of the repetitiveness...

Most judge the announcements based on the very first buses to get them in the entirety of the North East. Of course Go North East was going to make mistakes and learn from them...

(27 Feb 2015, 5:58 pm)Dan wrote We've done this so many times now.

You need to get yourself on the full 56 from Sunderland to Newcastle... Far more tolerable than an hour and a bit on an Arriva service with monotonous announcements - even at 5am in the morning (I've done it many times now!)

The ones on the 56 sound professional and retain the regional accent. How it should be done, in my opinion. None of the gimmicks, none of the repetitiveness...

Most judge the announcements based on the very first buses to get them in the entirety of the North East. Of course Go North East was going to make mistakes and learn from them...

Here here, I don't fully understand why the next-stop announcements on the 21 specifically seems to get so much hate from people who have used the service a handful of times. Like I've said before, I've rode those Hybrids hundreds of times on commutes to school and for leisure, and not once complained. I actually find the mix of two voices very nice, and the fact that they are local north-eastern people who both have an evident accent.

It's like with Lolynes, as an example. People ride them once or two and think they're damp, smelly and slow. I used to get them regularly on scholars and eventually found they provided very nice rides...it all comes down to stereotyping, in one form or another!

(27 Feb 2015, 5:58 pm)Dan wrote We've done this so many times now.

You need to get yourself on the full 56 from Sunderland to Newcastle... Far more tolerable than an hour and a bit on an Arriva service with monotonous announcements - even at 5am in the morning (I've done it many times now!)

The ones on the 56 sound professional and retain the regional accent. How it should be done, in my opinion. None of the gimmicks, none of the repetitiveness...

Most judge the announcements based on the very first buses to get them in the entirety of the North East. Of course Go North East was going to make mistakes and learn from them...

Which ones have S&K announcements?

The only GNE ones that I've been on with announcements is Ten and Cobalt Clipper.

(27 Feb 2015, 6:07 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote Which ones have S&K announcements?

The only GNE ones that I've been on with announcements is Ten and Cobalt Clipper.

the Angel.

Been Gtom'd, currently on 6018 on the 21, looking forward to a week of this while stopping at my Dads in Low Fell.

(27 Feb 2015, 5:58 pm)Dan wrote We've done this so many times now.

You need to get yourself on the full 56 from Sunderland to Newcastle... Far more tolerable than an hour and a bit on an Arriva service with monotonous announcements.

The ones on the 56 sound professional and retain the regional accent. How it should be done, in my opinion. None of the gimmicks, none of the repetitiveness...

Most judge the announcements based on the very first buses to get them in the entirety of the North East. Of course Go North East was going to make mistakes and learn from them...

Not done the 56 yet (keep meaning too) but I have done the 60 I can't really remember what the announcements sounded like but I remember them being alright.

For me it's just the ring the bell... Bit that annoys me on the 21 if they just didn't have that bit I would have no problem with Steve and Karen's announcements.

I will admit that there are flaws with Arriva's announcements too, some of them could do with coming out faster as with the announcements for certain stops you have practically passed the stop by the time it has been announced, some of the stops on the 7 have no announcements and there was no announcements at all on the morning journeys up to Framwellgate Moor.

Although at least with the monotonous Arriva announcements I have found if you do the journey often enough you can tune out the announcements out, some days on the 7 I sometimes think that they aren't even working because I have tuned them out. Some would say that this is a bad thing.

(27 Feb 2015, 6:15 pm)Jimmi wrote Not done the 56 yet (keep meaning too) but I have done the 60 I can't really remember what the announcements sounded like but I remember them being alright.

For me it's just the ring the bell... Bit that annoys me on the 21 if they just didn't have that bit I would have no problem with Steve and Karen's announcements.

I will admit that there are flaws with Arriva's announcements too, some of them could do with coming out faster as with the announcements for certain stops you have practically passed the stop by the time it has been announced, some of the stops on the 7 have no announcements and there was no announcements at all on the morning journeys up to Framwellgate Moor.

Although at least with the monotonous Arriva announcements I have found if you do the journey often enough you can tune out the announcements out, some days on the 7 I sometimes think that they aren't even working because I have tuned them out. Some would say that this is a bad thing.

I wouldn't normally advise using the 56 from Sunderland all the way to Newcastle, but I think it'd be great for some members of the forum to do it then hop on an X21/X22 from Newcastle to Ashington to compare. I've been on just about every single route in the North East which has Next Stop Announcements now (perhaps yet to ride one or two of the "Venture" branded services) and I've come to the conclusion that the regional accent makes the announcements so much better. It's a voice that customers are likely to be familiar with, and it's one that isn't robotic and monotonous.

The announcements on all of Go North East's buses new in 2013 are great in my opinion. There's a hiccup on the announcements for "Drifter" service 60, whereby the first announcement out of Park Lane (towards Parkside) is played as the bus is actually entering Park Lane (from Parkside), but other than that, they're spot on.

I believe the 'Please ring the bell and remain seated until the bus has stopped' comes from the "Red Arrows" X1 service. That announcement is tolerable on the X1 because it's a limited stop service, and the announcements don't play all too often anyway. On the "Angel" 21 service, where the bus passes a stop every 30 seconds, I can understand how it would be a little bit irritating. I've certainly done the full 21 route (and onwards to Bishop Auckland on a Sunday X21) on a number of occasions now, and aside from that line being used, there's nothing wrong with the announcements on there either. My biggest gripe about the announcements on the X1 is the gimmick, "The next stop... You guessed it... Herrington Buuurn!" Like I say, as the first bus operator in the region to introduce Next Stop Announcements, you'd expect them to make mistakes and learn from them (which they have!)

At the end of the day, it's all down to personal preference. There's no right and wrong way of doing the announcements, and we can ultimately only give our opinions. 

(27 Feb 2015, 6:34 pm)Dan wrote I wouldn't normally advise using the 56 from Sunderland all the way to Newcastle, but I think it'd be great for some members of the forum to do it then hop on an X21/X22 from Newcastle to Ashington to compare. I've been on just about every single route in the North East which has Next Stop Announcements now (perhaps yet to ride one or two of the "Venture" branded services) and I've come to the conclusion that the regional accent makes the announcements so much better. It's a voice that customers are likely to be familiar with, and it's one that isn't robotic and monotonous.



The announcements on all of Go North East's buses new in 2013 are great in my opinion. There's a hiccup on the announcements for "Drifter" service 60, whereby the first announcement out of Park Lane (towards Parkside) is played as the bus is actually entering Park Lane (from Parkside), but other than that, they're spot on.



I believe the 'Please ring the bell and remain seated until the bus has stopped' comes from the "Red Arrows" X1 service. That announcement is tolerable on the X1 because it's a limited stop service, and the announcements don't play all too often anyway. On the "Angel" 21 service, where the bus passes a stop every 30 seconds, I can understand how it would be a little bit irritating. I've certainly done the full 21 route (and onwards to Bishop Auckland on a Sunday X21) on a number of occasions now, and aside from that line being used, there's nothing wrong with the announcements on there either. My biggest gripe about the announcements on the X1 is the gimmick, "The next stop... You guessed it... Herrington Buuurn!" Like I say, as the first bus operator in the region to introduce Next Stop Announcements, you'd expect them to make mistakes and learn from them (which they have!)



At the end of the day, it's all down to personal preference. There's no right and wrong way of doing the announcements, and we can ultimately only give our opinions. 

Remove the tag lines and the 21, X1 announcements would be fine.

I will have to sample more of GNE's services with announcements over the upcoming months. Done most of Arriva's.

(27 Feb 2015, 6:44 pm)Jimmi wrote Remove the tag lines and the 21, X1 announcements would be fine.

I will have to sample more of GNE's services with announcements over the upcoming months. Done most of Arriva's.

Sapphire ones are crap, general next stop: Miserable old git, end of route: bouncy bloke

(27 Feb 2015, 4:50 pm)Dan wrote Yeah, outside of Cobalt. Some new ones have been done for the stops around Cobalt and those announcements aren't as good.

it is actually the Travel Co-ordinator for the Cobalt Business Park, hence why you hear her around the Cobalt.

(26 Feb 2015, 9:40 pm)citaro5284 wrote Yeah, like on the link below, but TFL use a 2 line display, whereby you can use the sign as just a 1 liner with larger text if we so wish.

http://www.hanoverdisplays.com/interior-...n-systems/

Will they give the driver similar functionality as to what they have with the iBus system? i.e. the ability to display pre-programmed messages when appropriate. 

I find the two line display that TFL use is more than clear enough to read, but it depends what the benefit of having the extra line would be? I think TFL is just blank, until the bell is pressed?

(27 Feb 2015, 4:52 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote I reckon the next services to receive investment really deserve Tim Healy!

'Next stop is, Sunderland Pork Lain Inachange, if this is yor stop pleaz ring tha bell wonse and remain seat'd till the bus 'as stoppt.'

'Next stop is, Stanley Bus Staish'n, if you wont 'a be intimadated, pleaz ring tha bell wonse and remain seat'd till the bus 'as stoppt.'

'Next stop is, Metrocentre Inachange, alight 'ere fa a load 'a teenage gurls prancing roond leak reindeer'.

Sorry that's the best I can do. Hope that's made a few people smile! 

Brilliant.  

Either him or Marcus Bentley, who is perhaps more famous for doing the Big Brother voiceovers. 

(27 Feb 2015, 8:24 pm)aureolin wrote Will they give the driver similar functionality as to what they have with the iBus system? i.e. the ability to display pre-programmed messages when appropriate. 

I find the two line display that TFL use is more than clear enough to read, but it depends what the benefit of having the extra line would be? I think TFL is just blank, until the bell is pressed?


Brilliant.  

Either him or Marcus Bentley, who is perhaps more famous for doing the Big Brother voiceovers. 

'10:31 on the angel 21 service. The vehicle approaches Durham Bus Station, several passengers stand up in preparation to alight.'

'14:53 on the Crusader service 27. As the bus reaches Heworth Metro, a selection of OAPs prepare to board the already crowded vehicle...will they be allowed to travel? We'll find out after the break.'

(27 Feb 2015, 8:28 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote '10:31 on the angel 21 service. The vehicle approaches Durham Bus Station, several passengers stand up in preparation to alight.'

'14:53 on the Crusader service 27. As the bus reaches Heworth Metro, a selection of OAPs prepare to board the already crowded vehicle...will they be allowed to travel? We'll find out after the break.'

You knar Marcus, I am convinced you are round the twist....haha!!

(27 Feb 2015, 8:28 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote '10:31 on the angel 21 service. The vehicle approaches Durham Bus Station, several passengers stand up in preparation to alight.'

'14:53 on the Crusader service 27. As the bus reaches Heworth Metro, a selection of OAPs prepare to board the already crowded vehicle...will they be allowed to travel? We'll find out after the break.'

citaro5284 can make this happen... 

(27 Feb 2015, 8:28 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote '10:31 on the angel 21 service. The vehicle approaches Durham Bus Station, several passengers stand up in preparation to alight.'

'14:53 on the Crusader service 27. As the bus reaches Heworth Metro, a selection of OAPs prepare to board the already crowded vehicle...will they be allowed to travel? We'll find out after the break.'

Haha! Post of the day. And something i definitely wan to see.