4659:

Arriva North East: 4659 / NK05 GXO by Jimmi's Bus Photos, on Flickr

Hate the new destination blinds. They are so confusing!

The X18 displays four separate blinds on it's way to Berwick; Morpeth, Alnwick, Seahouses and Berwick. Not great for people who think the bus is terminating at Morpeth or Alnwick etc.

Hate the new destination blinds. They are so confusing!

The X18 displays four separate blinds on it's way to Berwick; Morpeth, Alnwick, Seahouses and Berwick. Not great for people who think the bus is terminating at Morpeth or Alnwick etc.

Don't understand why they changed them, been like that for as long as I can remember 

Don't understand why they changed them, been like that for as long as I can remember 

Me neither.

Are the X15 ones the same?

Me neither.

Are the X15 ones the same?

Required when you split the registrations unfortunately. X93 is the same displaying Guisborough then Whitby & Scarborough

Required when you split the registrations unfortunately. X93 is the same displaying Guisborough then Whitby & Scarborough

I'm sure it has been covered at some point, but why split the routes?

They've never been split in the past, from what I can remember, and there has never been an issue. 

No idea if it's related, sure it can't be direct anyway, but the X18's punctuality has been dreadful this week

Hate the new destination blinds. They are so confusing!

The X18 displays four separate blinds on it's way to Berwick; Morpeth, Alnwick, Seahouses and Berwick. Not great for people who think the bus is terminating at Morpeth or Alnwick etc.

I don't think they're too bad when you only have one split in the middle, but when you've got the amount of splits Arriva have on the X15 and X18, it's not great.

I see tyresmoke got his wish with the use of the word "then" opposed to "for"..!

I'm sure it has been covered at some point, but why split the routes?

They've never been split in the past, from what I can remember, and there has never been an issue. 

No idea if it's related, sure it can't be direct anyway, but the X18's punctuality has been dreadful this week

The reliability is always dreadful during the summer on the X18.

They only get five minutes layover at Berwick, and seven at Newcastle which isn't really enough.

I'm sure it has been covered at some point, but why split the routes?

They've never been split in the past, from what I can remember, and there has never been an issue. 

No idea if it's related, sure it can't be direct anyway, but the X18's punctuality has been dreadful this week

By spliting the route, in addition to removing the tachograph requirement, it brings the drivers onto domestic UK driving hours rather than the more-complex European Hours. 

I don't think they're too bad when you only have one split in the middle, but when you've got the amount of splits Arriva have on the X15 and X18, it's not great.

I see tyresmoke got his wish with the use of the word "then" opposed to "for"..!

The font used is very small though, and the actual destination is not emphasised any more than the "for", I passed 7513 the other day on an X15, with the destination "Alnwick for Berwick", as the Alnwick is above, that's the first thing people will look at, and I know I would be quite confused as to why it didn't simply say "Berwick" (if I was a regular passenger) 

The reliability is always dreadful during the summer on the X18.

They only get five minutes layover at Berwick, and seven at Newcastle which isn't really enough.

One I saw on the map today was 26 minutes late, most others were over 5. Bearing in mind this was around 4PM

By spliting the route, in addition to removing the tachograph requirement, it brings the drivers onto domestic UK driving hours rather than the more-complex European Hours. 

Seems like an awful fuss though, is there a better way to implement it than three/four different splits?

The reliability is always dreadful during the summer on the X18.

They only get five minutes layover at Berwick, and seven at Newcastle which isn't really enough.

I guess there's not much you could do with it other than implement another bus into the schedule. The possibility for getting held up enroute is enormous on a route like the X18 with the amount of places it had to pass through between Berwick & Newcastle. Providing a robust schedule covering a route that length is nigh on impossible I'd expect (I have limited experience of these routes mind!) - from my experience down in my area, the X93 is a similar sort of operation, albeit on a much shorter route, where the possibilities for being held up are endless with the territory they serve. A 2 or 3 minute delay in 4 or 5 places enroute would soon add up to 15+

I guess there's not much you could do with it other than implement another bus into the schedule. The possibility for getting held up enroute is enormous on a route like the X18 with the amount of places it had to pass through between Berwick & Newcastle. Providing a robust schedule covering a route that length is nigh on impossible I'd expect (I have limited experience of these routes mind!) - from my experience down in my area, the X93 is a similar sort of operation, albeit on a much shorter route, where the possibilities for being held up are endless with the territory they serve. A 2 or 3 minute delay in 4 or 5 places enroute would soon add up to 15+

Could they not split the X18 totally, and have a different route running that way?

For example:
X17 - Newcastle-Morpeth-Widdrington-Alnwick
X18 - Alnwick-Bamburgh-Berwick

I guess there's not much you could do with it other than implement another bus into the schedule. The possibility for getting held up enroute is enormous on a route like the X18 with the amount of places it had to pass through between Berwick & Newcastle. Providing a robust schedule covering a route that length is nigh on impossible I'd expect (I have limited experience of these routes mind!) - from my experience down in my area, the X93 is a similar sort of operation, albeit on a much shorter route, where the possibilities for being held up are endless with the territory they serve. A 2 or 3 minute delay in 4 or 5 places enroute would soon add up to 15+

Sounding like someone from the Schedules Department there like Scott....a robust schedule eh.....!!

Seems like an awful fuss though, is there a better way to implement it than three/four different splits?

Not unless it could be split into 2 bits which are both less than 50km (about 30-34 miles).

I guess there's not much you could do with it other than implement another bus into the schedule. The possibility for getting held up enroute is enormous on a route like the X18 with the amount of places it had to pass through between Berwick & Newcastle. Providing a robust schedule covering a route that length is nigh on impossible I'd expect (I have limited experience of these routes mind!) - from my experience down in my area, the X93 is a similar sort of operation, albeit on a much shorter route, where the possibilities for being held up are endless with the territory they serve. A 2 or 3 minute delay in 4 or 5 places enroute would soon add up to 15+

What puzzles me with the X18 is that everytime I've used it from Berwick to Morpeth, or vice versa, it's on time for pretty much the entire route, and if it does get late, by say Bamburgh, it's made it up by Seahouses.

There are huge sections of route, that if the driver really pushes, they'll make up minutes easily. The past few times we've had to wait at Belford, again at Bamburgh, then Seahouses, Craster, before generally arriving in Alnwick a good few minutes early, giving a very long changeover time there.


I remember once we got stuck behind a few cyclists on the way into Craster, and we were back on time quickly after leaving. Now I'm not saying that the run I usually use is the busiest in the world, but downstairs especially is pretty busy, and the past few times I've had a fair few comrades joining me on the upper deck.  

4663 was on the first 185 of the day from Haltwhistle to Carlisle earlier.

#missing685omnicities
#hashtagsonNEB

Long routes are very delay prone:

- X15 / X18: Difficult road / traffic conditions, tourists, high loads, small and sometimes congested towns and villages, poor weather in the winter.
- X93: Pretty much same as above.
- X9 / X10: High loads, Newcastle / Gateshead traffic, Testo's roundabout, A19 incidents, High Winds.

Sounding like someone from the Schedules Department there like Scott....a robust schedule eh.....!!

Haha can you tell who I talk to a lot...

4653 has returned from Thornton's and now carries "Quick links to Newcastle" branding.

Some of them were polished to try and get rid of the old vinyls, but obviously the paintwork has faded badly so it's hard to cover up.

1517 looks the worst as it has nothing applied above it.

Also saw 1520 yesterday and it looked to still have Barclays? bank Darlington behind the drivers cab.

1464 and 1465 have gone temporarily to Blyth to help flush their Quorum Geminis out for MAX refurbishment (X4/X5)

A number of VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2 vehicles are currently on loan to Blyth Depot. The confirmed examples to have entered service temporarily at Blyth are as follows:

- 1457 (NK10 CGF)
- 1464 (NK61 CXV)
- 1465 (NK61 CXW)
- 1491 (NK61 CZE)
It is thought that these vehicles are being allocated to Blyth Depot temporarily to allow their "Quorum Express" liveried VDL DB300/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 vehicles to be converted to "MAX" specification. It is thought that they will continue to be allocated to services X4/X5.

Just to flag this up, 1457/64/91 have not left Stockton for Blyth. The actual vehicles at Blyth are reportedly 1465/6.

1517 looks the worst as it has nothing applied above it.

Also saw 1520 yesterday and it looked to still have Barclays? bank Darlington behind the drivers cab.

It wasn't the exterior sub-branding I was worried about - it was the interior branding. I had anticipated that any anything not Durham related would be removed in favour of something Peterlee or Sunderland related, but this is clearly not the case...

4653 has returned from Thornton's and now carries "Quick links to Newcastle" branding.

Don't really see the point in that branding to be honest, would a simple "MAX" branding not do? Maybe with route numbers?

I find it quite hard to read the following "Quick Links" on the following:
Arriva North East: 4650 / NK05 GXD by Jimmi's Bus Photos, on Flickr

And I find the text on this to stand out far better:
Arriva North East: 4659 / NK05GXO by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

So maybe something to highlight the routes instead, as if a "Quick Links into Newcastle" bus passed you'd have no idea what service you were looking for in the future, as opposed to a "X14 X15 X18" branded one?

Just to flag this up, 1457/64/91 have not left Stockton for Blyth. The actual vehicles at Blyth are reportedly 1465/6.

That's my bad. I used the information on this post, forgetting (at the time) that Stockton had an X5 service too. Clearly put two and two together with others being reported to have migrated up north.

Shall change it at some point this evening.

It wasn't the exterior sub-branding I was worried about - it was the interior branding. I had anticipated that any anything not Durham related would be removed in favour of something Peterlee or Sunderland related, but this is clearly not the case...

Yeah sadly it looks to be the case.

If they swapped the Pulsars around so all the ones with Durham based landmarks were based at Belmont and have examples with Darlington and Aycliffe landmarks stay on the 7 they probably wouldn't have had to remove any of them but it would of meant the fleet numbers would have been a mess with different Sapphire brands.

Don't really see the point in that branding to be honest, would a simple "MAX" branding not do? Maybe with route numbers?

I find it quite hard to read the following "Quick Links" on the following:
Arriva North East: 4650 / NK05 GXD by Jimmi's Bus Photos, on Flickr

It's easier to read the text on 4650 if you actually see it in person rather then viewing photos but it still doesn't stand out very much.

It's easier to read the text on 4650 if you actually see it in person rather then viewing photos but it still doesn't stand out very much.

I just don't think the whole idea of the "Quick links into x" is a very good branding idea, you're not telling people the service number or where else it goes to. I still think it would have a better impact with just the "MAX" logo, or "MAX" with route numbers.

I appreciate they do have a map with route numbers on the back of the Darlington Omnicities, but I'd struggle to read this after it passed me:
Arriva North East: 4650 / NK05GXD by Daniel Graham, on Flickr


I think my opinion of the "Quick Links" branding was immediately bad, as I find the application on 7515 dull and with no real MAXimum inpact, that awful blue backing makes it look even worse:
Arriva North East: 7515 / NK09 FNA by Jimmi's Bus Photos, on Flickr

I just don't think the whole idea of the "Quick links into x" is a very good branding idea, you're not telling people the service number or where else it goes to. I still think it would have a better impact with just the "MAX" logo, or "MAX" with route numbers.

I appreciate they do have a map with route numbers on the back of the Darlington Omnicities, but I'd struggle to read this after it passed me:
Arriva North East: 4650 / NK05GXD by Daniel Graham, on Flickr


I think my opinion of the "Quick Links" branding was immediately bad, as I find the application on 7515 dull and with no real MAXimum inpact, that awful blue backing makes it look even worse:
Arriva North East: 7515 / NK09 FNA by Jimmi's Bus Photos, on Flickr

But surely it's better than this:
Arriva North East: 7609 / NK59DMO by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

I just don't think the whole idea of the "Quick links into x" is a very good branding idea, you're not telling people the service number or where else it goes to. I still think it would have a better impact with just the "MAX" logo, or "MAX" with route numbers.

I appreciate they do have a map with route numbers on the back of the Darlington Omnicities, but I'd struggle to read this after it passed me:

I think my opinion of the "Quick Links" branding was immediately bad, as I find the application on 7515 dull and with no real MAXimum inpact, that awful blue backing makes it look even worse:

Problem with having MAX with route numbers on Darlington's Omnicitys is you'd probably struggle to fit something short and sweet above the windows for the X26/X27 & X66 to grab people's attention but not confusing them at the same time as the X26/X27 & X66 both go to Darlington but that's the only place they all go to as the X26/X27 head to Richmond and beyond whilst the X66 goes to Middlesbrough. It is likely to get worse once Darlington also make the X75/X76 MAX branded with the X1 now also being MAX branded too.

Anyone know if 1416 is going to get any form of MAX branding anytime soon?

I don't like the branding as we can see in my photo of 7515, would have much preferred to have a MAX logo here instead of the quick links box.

The one I really don't like is the "branding" 7609 has which says something like: "Your usual bus is in for a service so enjoy our spare" it just looks cheap, tacky and half arsed.

The one I really don't like is the "branding" 7609 has which says something like: "Your usual bus is in for a service so enjoy our spare" it just looks cheap, tacky and half arsed.

It's not even "MAX" branding. It would have made more sense having the blithering corporate livery on it, it'll still make its way onto the 1.