(05 Apr 2016, 3:28 pm)Jimmi wrote The issue was when I boarded I didn't know that this would cause an issue especially as I have limited experience of StreetLite's, but I realised seconds after boarding and the next passenger who boarded sat next to me so I was stuck there really, also people had already started standing at the front by this point as well but there was still seats next to other people so I would have been in the way of people wanting to sit down if I stood up.
Problem is, you never truly know what numbers you are going to get on the X66, sometimes it can be heaving, others it can be dead, although I had already boarded and I thought I was going to be alright, but I wasn't.
It did seem like the bus was there for a while in Gateshead Interchange, possibly a late departure?
I still don't know how you've managed to conclude that Go North East is a terrible company, based on this bad experience? You've admitted yourself that you sometimes see empty Streetlites - imagine the cost to the company, if that was an articulated vehicle? Not forgetting the unnecessary pollution to the environment. There's a bus every 6-7 minutes and quite frankly if I see the queue building up before me boarding, I will wait for the next bus, which is likely to be a lot quieter. More could be done by Go North East to manage passenger loadings, but just because this resource is not present (excluding Christmas time when it is), does not make the company terrible.
Also picking up on your points about no longer defending the company - this is the problem I have with this hobby, at the moment. When I first started to get involved in the hobby, enthusiasts voiced their opinions but never did it seem like a personal vendetta against a company, so other enthusiasts didn't see the need to 'defend' the company. Too many enthusiasts (and this isn't a dig at you but a general observation) are becoming bitter and twisted over little things that they don't like, and it makes the hobby much less enjoyable for me, as it's led to snide remarks being made and hence disagreements between enthusiasts.