(13 Jul 2018, 5:32 pm)makem1 wrote In the interests of having a constructive debate as it's been brought up, I am kind of with Andreos on this one. Far too often with contracts, either those which are annually tendered or for bigger 'one-off' jobs like the Tall Ships, it's a race to the bottom as far as quality is concerned.

Again, as in Andreos' case, totally understandable that the council/LA base these contracts on which operator can provide the cheapest and best value solution, but putting that to one side and looking at the perception some passengers will have based on these buses (which is the company's own brand/image etc - it's not the council/LA who are operating these services)... Externally, the bodywork condition on these ex-London B7s which have been acquired by Go North East is in a shocking state... At some point in time I think more or less every panel has been dented, when you see them in the flesh. When you hear the buses before you see them, that also gives off somewhat of a poor perception to passers-by (folk who are normally non-bus users) and probably won't encourage them to jump on-board a bus in that company's commercial network of services, if they were sitting on the fence.

Really not sure what gives you the impression that GNE has bundles of money to spend on LED destinations either? If this is a cost that GNE would incur as a result of taking the work on, you'd think it'd either be included within their tender model as a cost which would have to be covered, or it comes directly out of the profits made on these contracts. Going back to the previous discussion, this is why they won't be fitted with any additional features, such as Wi-Fi or USB sockets (it would have added too much cost which probably would have meant that GNE wouldn't have been awarded the contracts!)

One way or the other, it's what should be done by all of the operators operating these contracts, and in no way am I saying that it's every single one of the independents who seemingly aren't doing it. I saw a Henry Cooper Volvo B7RLE operating a scholars service a couple of weeks ago - it was absolutely spotless, the alloys were gleaming, the driver was in a shirt so looked fairly smart, and it was spot on-time in the morning rush hour... I'd doubt even Go North East could commit to this level of quality on all of the contracts they'll operate from September.

Henry Cooper Coaches: OBR297 by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

If people think the buses are bad, try Northern rails pacers, and as for Sunderlands docks, part of them look like a chernobyl aftermath, and we have the cheek to charge £20 a car parking!
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Sunderland docks are a lot better now. I remember visiting the old Redby Travel garage in Hendon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Walking past the flats was like taking your life in your hands.

With regards to councils taking the cheapest tender. I don't think you can get much worse than PCL Travel using an old Variety Club Sunshine Coach on the former Spirit Buses route.

Charles

Charles