(27 Jul 2016, 8:28 pm)Tom wrote Already seems to me the Solos aren't big enough for any of the 40, 41 or 42 services. Most of the ones I have seen have had most seats taking, and quite a few with standees, especially the 40/41 going around Holy Cross and the 42 going to Asda.

It's just the 42 for me, it was absolutely packed coming out of Benton Asda.

Also, the new 10A timetable in Newcastle Eldon Square still only showed that it went to Rockwood Hill, with a tiny little part at the bottom (labelled 'y' - exactly) stating that it goes to High Spen and Blackhall Mill, but it never actually shows that on the timeline of the stops. I don't think the changes have been advertised well enough, on the timetable itself it never actually states that its going to Blackhall Mill on the front of the leaflet, it waits until your'e inside to tell you that. I'm sure a regular user of the 11 wouldn't recognise that there is an extension of the 10A (and the withdrawal of the 11 in that way) if it wasn't for the huge petition set up on Facebook that was shared hundreds if not thousands of time. It's almost as if they're scared of telling people that it extends to Blackhall Mill hourly...

A post on the facebook page about the withdrawal of the 11 pretty much sums it up how many of the customers feel:

Dear Go North East,
Like many others, I rely on service 11 everyday and now that you are withdrawing it many of us will be left with a totally inadequate bus service. If you're wondering why bus ridership is decreasing then look no further than this case study - if you don't provide a bus service; nobody will use the bus! Just a few short years ago, Go North East used to conduct widespread passenger consultations. In fact the present service 11 came into being because of one of those consultations. They were an excellent example of a bus company actually listening to its passengers, and I Applauded you for that. However, now it seems the customers opinion is no longer valued, with cut to important services such as the 43, 44 and 44A and now the 11. Crucially, passengers responded to these cuts by signing petitions pleading with you to listen to their concerns. The 43 and 44 petition attracted hundreds if not thousands of signatures and the petition to keep service 11 has attracted over 1,000. Is this not testament that the withdrawing these services was not the right thing to do?
To really add insult to injury, the 10A which is supposed to replace the 11 is advertised as extending hourly to Blackhall Mill, yet on a number of occasions the time between buses is up to 75 minutes. This means that instead of having to wait 10 minutes for a bus, I will now have to wait over an hour.
And I know that I am not alone.
I acknowledge that the 11 is not always as busy as you would like it to be, but particular at peak times the service attracts a very healthy number of passengers (I invite you to ride it) so therefore would it not be possible to keep the 11 in some form so that passengers aren't left without a bus for more than an hour (when the previous frequency was twice an hour) or improve the offering of the 10A so passengers can at least cling on to some sort of service.
Usually I'm very supportive of the decisions you make and I do praise your service, but I just think that this is a step too far.
Thank You in anticipation of your response.