(20 Apr 2021, 6:45 pm)Dan wrote It was noted yesterday that the SNS service, on its first day of operation under Gateshead Central Taxis, suffered a breakdown with an 18-reg Optare Solo. This is unfortunate, but paired with the roadworks near Deptford Terrace, resulted in services running to severe delays all day. Seemingly rather than three buses run the contract as they are contractually bound to do, Gateshead Central ran the service with two buses (a 64-reg Optare Solo and a 67-reg Wright Streetlite). At approximately 17:30, I noticed the Solo and Streetlite running in tandem. That presumably means that there were gaps in service of an hour, rather than the service running every 20 minutes as is scheduled.
Had this been the first day GCT had failed to meet expectations, I'd be all for letting a small independent have some time to get stuff right. Reality is they've been absolute cowboys for years now, reportedly running vehicles in unroadworthy states, constantly missing out sections of routes, failing to meet contract spec (the list goes on).
How these guys get contracts ahead of reputable independents, such as JH, or larger companies is disgusting. With NE local authorities seemingly advocating a race to the bottom (see Northumberland CC with their awards of contracts to companies such as PCL), it makes you wonder why companies such as GNE even bother trying to get folk back onto buses. Constantly rewarding shoddy operation with new contracts will inevitably lead to small companies who hold high standards being pushed out of business and that's unacceptable.