(29 Feb 2024, 9:58 am)Aaron21 wrote Hang on a minute 

Who in the hell has the 653 then. Who's running it

Stagecoach, as the 553, from what I can gather. Confused me as well, there is no 653 mentioned, so it's either the Stagecoach 553 or hasn't been awarded yet with it being a new service.

(29 Feb 2024, 9:18 am)V514DFT wrote I give it a week until buses stop showing up

A week? I give it the first day given the 351 runs on Sundays

(29 Feb 2024, 10:43 am)OrangeArrow49 wrote Stagecoach, as the 553, from what I can gather. Confused me as well, there is no 653 mentioned, so it's either the Stagecoach 553 or hasn't been awarded yet with it being a new service.

It's possible that Stagecoach have the 553 and nexus just awarded them it all day as the 653

(29 Feb 2024, 11:19 am)Aaron21 wrote It's possible that Stagecoach have the 553 and nexus just awarded them it all day as the 653

I think it could be the case

(28 Feb 2024, 11:09 pm)RedKite wrote GoNE have secured services 1, 317, X78
GCT have secured services 19, 41A, 342, 335, 351, 355, X46
Stagecoach have secured services 18\553, 32\32A, 35, 54
Phoenix have W1, W2

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/N...06236-2024

How much does the PVR drop for the Tyneside Rockets,due to contract changes, I take it the 317 will be added to the brand.


Hopefully if there's some spare Streetlites, they'll replace the Versa's....

(29 Feb 2024, 1:09 pm)Michael wrote How much does the PVR drop for the Tyneside Rockets,due to contract changes, I take it the 317 will be added to the brand.


Hopefully if there's some spare Streetlites, they'll replace the Versa's....

No difference, the 317 is PVR 5 and the 335/351/359 is too.

(29 Feb 2024, 1:17 pm)Thomas12 wrote No difference, the 317 is PVR 5 and the 335/351/359 is too.

Ah right. Cheers, I was at work so couldn't work it out.

(29 Feb 2024, 10:46 am)DeltaMan wrote A week? I give it the first day given the 351 runs on Sundays

Knew i always like you for a reason, great minds

Gateshead Central Taxi are as good as GoNorthEast, modern fleet, alright drivers. It's not as if GoNorthEast are the height of excellence with a crap clapped out fleet, rude drivers and buses breaking down left, right and centre. Guess everyone forgot about the strike aswell.

(29 Feb 2024, 1:09 pm)Michael wrote How much does the PVR drop for the Tyneside Rockets,due to contract changes, I take it the 317 will be added to the brand.


Hopefully if there's some spare Streetlites, they'll replace the Versa's....

"This is the Coaster 317 service to Whitley Bay" (calm down people it was a joke)

(29 Feb 2024, 5:35 pm)Storx wrote Gateshead Central Taxi are as good as GoNorthEast, modern fleet, alright drivers. It's not as if GoNorthEast are the height of excellence with a crap clapped out fleet, rude drivers and buses breaking down left, right and centre. Guess everyone forgot about the strike aswell.

Yes I would agree GCT have a modern clean fleet of buses, the drivers are very friendly and they have issues but less than other companies.

Yes anyone in the employ of GNE mocking GCT is in glass house territory

I see the north Tyneside expansion worked as well as most of us predicted

(29 Feb 2024, 10:55 pm)Ambassador wrote Yes anyone in the employ of GNE mocking GCT is in glass house territory

I see the north Tyneside expansion worked as well as most of us predicted

I don’t really have much defence of GNE tbh, but nothing has really changed with the North Tyneside expansion.

The commercial services are only seeing minor tweaks to timetables, and the 335/351/359 was a short term Nexus tender which in reality is never going to be a commercial opportunity. I’d say they have more chance of that with the 317.

(29 Feb 2024, 10:55 pm)Ambassador wrote Yes anyone in the employ of GNE mocking GCT is in glass house territory

I see the north Tyneside expansion worked as well as most of us predicted

The North Tyneside network has outlived the March withdrawal prediction that most on this forum gave.

No major changes (other than the loss of the 335/351/359 contracts - outside of their control to an extent), just timing changes similar to what Stagecoach are doing on the 37/38.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Still would love to know who has this 653 service. Nothing been mentioned

(01 Mar 2024, 7:32 am)Dan wrote The North Tyneside network has outlived the March withdrawal prediction that most on this forum gave.

No major changes (other than the loss of the 335/351/359 contracts - outside of their control to an extent), just timing changes similar to what Stagecoach are doing on the 37/38.


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I would say the weakest of the 4 services is the 352 which, is almost in full duplicated by the 37 and doesn’t run on Evening or Sunday, 353 & 354 slightly stronger. When I’ve saw these routes very few people on it that’s an indication ?

changes confirmed on VOSA:

PB0003954/1406
Cancellation GO NORTH EAST LIMITED 335 (335) Hadrian Park Killingworth

PB0003954/1376
Cancellation GO NORTH EAST LIMITED 51 (351, 351) Newcastle Whitley Bay

PB0003954/1407
Cancellation GO NORTH EAST LIMITED 359 (359) Killingworth Whitley Bay

PB0003954/1398
Cancellation GO NORTH EAST LIMITED 553 (553) Wallsend Freeman Hospital

PB0003954/1431
New GO NORTH EAST LIMITED X78 (X78) Newcastle Darras Hall

PB0003954/1432
New GO NORTH EAST LIMITED 317 (317) Wallsend Whitley Bay

PB0003954/769
Variation GO NORTH EAST LIMITED 50 (50) Durham South Shields

(29 Feb 2024, 10:55 pm)Ambassador wrote Yes anyone in the employ of GNE mocking GCT is in glass house territory

I see the north Tyneside expansion worked as well as most of us predicted

As a paying "customer" of GCT I can tell you they are the only operator I've felt reason to contact the Traffic Commissioner about and I'm not a busybody. They are beyond atrocious. They are abysmal and it's quite fitting that they are a contractor of NEXUS. They deserve each other

Wts the changes to 50

(01 Mar 2024, 7:24 pm)DeltaMan wrote As a paying "customer" of GCT I can tell you they are the only operator I've felt reason to contact the Traffic Commissioner about and I'm not a busybody. They are beyond atrocious. They are abysmal and it's quite fitting that they are a contractor of NEXUS. They deserve each other

Probably the only operator that takes cash and doesn’t issue tickets half of the time too, sure it must have an impact on the viability of some services. Probably not as bad now they have contactless though.

(01 Mar 2024, 7:24 pm)DeltaMan wrote As a paying "customer" of GCT I can tell you they are the only operator I've felt reason to contact the Traffic Commissioner about and I'm not a busybody. They are beyond atrocious. They are abysmal and it's quite fitting that they are a contractor of NEXUS. They deserve each other

I would say GCT are a joke, but jokes are usually funny

Has anyone done a FOI request regarding secured services regarding complaints... loss milage any fines been issued punctuality etc?

Are they still refusing to accept the various Nexus rover tickets? I understood that was a basic requirement of the contract?

(02 Mar 2024, 7:24 am)Ianthegoon wrote Are they still refusing to accept the various Nexus rover tickets?  I understood that was a basic requirement of the contract?

Don't think nexus care at this point imo. They don't seem to care about the complaints you tell them. They turn a blind eye

(02 Mar 2024, 7:50 am)Aaron21 wrote Don't think nexus care at this point imo. They don't seem to care about the complaints you tell them. They turn a blind eye

Looks like Gateshead have the 653.

(03 Mar 2024, 7:53 am)MVK500R wrote Looks like Gateshead have the 653.

Where in the hell are they getting these extra buses. That's 6 extra buses they need in total for North Tyneside now

Never mind the extra buses, they don't have enough drivers for the current fleet.

I think it is wonderful to see independently owned local bus companies with a young average fleet age winning contracts for new services.

(02 Mar 2024, 7:50 am)Aaron21 wrote Don't think nexus care at this point imo. They don't seem to care about the complaints you tell them. They turn a blind eye

Institutional blindness. GCT are cheap. There is literally no other explanation

(03 Mar 2024, 8:59 am)Aaron21 wrote Where in the hell are they getting these extra buses. That's 6 extra buses they need in total for North Tyneside now

They usually lease buses, I believe, so they'll just get some more if they need more. Similar to the PR1/PR2 in Durham and 71 contract which they ordered the Iveco's. Little risk since it's all covered within the contract.

Edit: 100% they do and they come from Mistral Group - see https://mistral-group.com/gateshead-cent...nviro200s/