(15 Jun 2024, 9:09 pm)Dan wrote This has nothing to do with the 16/16A. The Hybrids at Consett were replaced by a myriad of Volvo B9s, largely released following the return of the E200MMCs from Go North West (now on the 6, which had previously been operated by Volvo B9s). Consett have more spare buses, on paper, than they’ve ever had before (which, as well as cost issues with holding an excess number of spare buses, just puts pressure on strained engineering teams to maintain additional buses which they shouldn’t have).

Riverside and Consett just have high VOR levels which is resulting in the dual-door buses being used on frontline work instead of scholars as intended.

The main issue is that engineering teams are firefighting and don’t have the capacity to arrange vehicle changeovers once VOR levels reduce during the day, meaning buses which shouldn’t be allocated to certain routes are remaining out on those routes all day (and often all night).

Of course, as well as accessibility issues which have been discussed here, there are huge hidden costs associated with running older and/or more fuel-hungry buses all night long (often on contracts which weren’t costed based on fuel-hungry buses), penalty payments for not adhering to contract specification, loss of additional 6p/km BSOG on certain vehicle types… The list goes on.

Correct vehicle allocation ought to be a priority of the business as part of cost control measures, but I fear there is a deeply engraved mentality across all levels of the business which thinks this is just about having the right coloured bus on the right route, and there are very few people left at Go North East these days attempting to challenge that perception to improve profitability of the business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk