Bus Related Outings and Reviews

**Dan** · 24 Jul 2015, 4:36 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 4:34 pm)S813 FVK wrote Updating all of the destinations ready for the changes to kick in? Good look

Next Stop Announcements certainly don't update themselves either: 5377 - 5390 and 8310-8318/8328-8338 all have to be re-programmed! Bit of a pain to say the least - the older vehicles aren't fitted with easy access fly leads - so panels have to come down, the lot!

As we regularly say - you would not believe how much goes on behind the scenes to get a bus on the road with everything working hunky-dory...

Tom · 24 Jul 2015, 4:42 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 4:36 pm)Dan wrote Next Stop Announcements certainly don't update themselves either: 5377 - 5390 and 8310-8318/8328-8338 all have to be re-programmed! Bit of a pain to say the least - the older vehicles aren't fitted with easy access fly leads - so panels have to come down, the lot!

As we regularly say - you would not believe how much goes on behind the scenes to get a bus on the road with everything working hunky-dory...

Why do the Citylink ones have to be re-programmed?

citaro5284 · 24 Jul 2015, 5:02 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 4:36 pm)Dan wrote Next Stop Announcements certainly don't update themselves either: 5377 - 5390 and 8310-8318/8328-8338 all have to be re-programmed! Bit of a pain to say the least - the older vehicles aren't fitted with easy access fly leads - so panels have to come down, the lot!

As we regularly say - you would not believe how much goes on behind the scenes to get a bus on the road with everything working hunky-dory...

For Quaylink, we have decided to try the line plan for the Next Stop slides.....any views?

Tom · 24 Jul 2015, 5:04 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 5:02 pm)citaro5284 wrote For Quaylink, we have decided to try the line plan for the Next Stop slides.....what is your views?

Looks incredibly smart!

S813 FVK · 24 Jul 2015, 5:04 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 5:02 pm)citaro5284 wrote For Quaylink, we have decided to try the line plan for the Next Stop slides.....what is your views?

That looks absolutely fantastic...certainly going up in the world with technology now.

**Adrian** · 24 Jul 2015, 5:05 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 5:02 pm)citaro5284 wrote For Quaylink, we have decided to try the line plan for the Next Stop slides.....what is your views?

I like it. I don't know if it's within the realms of possibility, but it'd be nice for the 'next stop' to change to 'bus stopping' if a bell is pressed. Even if it's just visual, rather than a voice announcement.

~~Davie~~ · 24 Jul 2015, 5:08 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 5:02 pm)citaro5284 wrote For Quaylink, we have decided to try the line plan for the Next Stop slides.....what is your views?

That looks great!

**Dan** · 24 Jul 2015, 5:18 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 4:42 pm)Tom wrote Why do the Citylink ones have to be re-programmed?

(24 Jul 2015, 5:02 pm)citaro5284 wrote For Quaylink, we have decided to try the line plan for the Next Stop slides.....what is your views?

This is the reason why.

Currently, vehicles fitted with Next Stop Announcements are only programmed with the relevant announcements for the service for which the vehicle is branded. As such, if 5389/90 were allocated to the "Quaylink" services (which they regularly will be), they would have shown the generic "Citylink" slide. If the vehicles are re-programmed, we can get them to show the announcement regardless of the brand of the bus. If any of these vehicles are allocated to a service which does not feature Next Stop Announcements, I believe they will show a generic Go North East slide instead of a branded slide. There have also been some minor changes to the "Citylink" slides in general so that they look similar to those on the Quaylink, minus the line plan.

I really like the line plan; not only does it look very professional, but it provides another element of assistance to passengers on-board. Lothian Buses have used the line plan on their Next Stop Announcements for a while now, and what I particularly like about their announcements is that they give approximate journey times (based on the timetable) below the upcoming stops. As citaro5284 said; we are just trying this out for the first time, but if it works as well as we anticipate, there's no reason why we can't look into implementing this on other services with Next Stop Announcements, and using the technology to its full extent by adding things such as approximate journey times, promotional slides in between stops which are of a long distance, and suchlike.

You wouldn't have dreamt of this sort of technology ten years ago... Imagine what it'll be like in 2025!

Tom · 24 Jul 2015, 5:27 pm,

(24 Jul 2015, 5:18 pm)Dan wrote This is the reason why.

Currently, vehicles fitted with Next Stop Announcements are only programmed with the relevant announcements for the service for which the vehicle is branded. As such, if 5389/90 were allocated to the "Quaylink" services (which they regularly will be), they would have shown the generic "Citylink" slide. If the vehicles are re-programmed, we can get them to show the announcement regardless of the brand of the bus. If any of these vehicles are allocated to a service which does not feature Next Stop Announcements, I believe they will show a generic Go North East slide instead of a branded slide. There have also been some minor changes to the "Citylink" slides in general so that they look similar to those on the Quaylink, minus the line plan.

I really like the line plan; not only does it look very professional, but it provides another element of assistance to passengers on-board. Lothian Buses have used the line plan on their Next Stop Announcements for a while now, and what I particularly like about their announcements is that they give approximate journey times (based on the timetable) below the upcoming stops. As citaro5284 said; we are just trying this out for the first time, but if it works as well as we anticipate, there's no reason why we can't look into implementing this on other services with Next Stop Announcements, and using the technology to its full extent by adding things such as approximate journey times, promotional slides in between stops which are of a long distance, and suchlike.

You wouldn't have dreamt of this sort of technology ten years ago... Imagine what it'll be like in 2025!

Ah right, good idea with 5389/5390 showing the Quaylinks too. Cheers Dan.

South Tyne Lad · 24 Jul 2015, 8:16 pm,

Only a short outing today but at least it was a varied one.........

I start off my day at my local bus stop on Perth Avenue in Brockely Whins knowing that the board for the 88 im catching was a Versa operated board..
And im sure everyone will know now that I hate all the Versas on the 88 apart from 8294 well something different came...

Journey 1 Brockely Whins Perth Avenue - Jarrow Bus Station Scania L94UB Wright Solar GNE 4961

Well at least a Versa didn't turn up! This Scania will be covering for 8298 which as usual is VOR. The bus was 8 mins late and because of that the driver didn't hesitate in shutting the doors and pulling off before I showed him my Pop card. This service had quite a good load and id say was about 15 seats taken .
One thing that I did notice is that its ZF Gearbox was slipping Changing gear too early in the first 3 gears. Apart from that the journey was smooth and a OAP had her minute rant at the driver for missing her stop, One mistake I done was not getting off at the stop before the bridge over the Bus Station and catching the 27 from there.....
Yes I missed the 27 but of course it had to be a B10, 4915 to be exact.

So I for the next 27 which was operated by a Citaro....

Journey 2 Jarrow Bus Station - Gateshead Interchange Evobus O530 Mercedes Benz Citaro GNE 5318?

I get on the bus show my Pop Card and take my seat at the back on the Engine, I was expecting a ZF scream when the driver done a really powerful kickdown to get through the traffic lights just in time but no, The engine was so loud ( louder than any other Citaro ) I could barely hear the ZF Gearbox.
The driver was very rough on the pedal, keep putting his foot to the floor and a second later taking it off and the repeating again and again and again.......
But apart from that it was a good journey , driver was friendly but it was really busy with most seats taken by the time I alight at Gateshead Interchange.

I have a look round the bus station to find a B7 Vyking pulling into the resting stand in the middle of the station, It was showing A2 park and ride presumably for the Airshow
I also see my favourite Scania L94 arrive 5220, If anyone has had a ride on it youll no what I mean.....its a beast!

Journey 3 Gateshead Interchange - Metrocentre Interchange Scania L94UB Wright Solar GNE 5227

Like 5220, this Scania has a hell of a god ZF gearbox with the whining being heard from the other end of the bus station before arriving on its stand
I decide to sit right at the back on the engine and gearbox to get the full experience. We got heald in a traffic from the bus station all the way to Lobley Hill.
A brief encounter with my stalker 4967 at Lobley Hill roundabout and where off and up Lobley Hill, I have to say the Scania struggled a bit up the Hill but not a lot
I have to say for being on this service for around 3 years, They have done really good for being on this very challenging route and are still in good condition.......
Not like the Prince Shitops don't get me started on them!!!
Overall a very packed journey but that was made up by the quality of this built to last Scania, The last buses Built to last?

I run up the escalators to get a packet of crisps and run back down to find a Venture Solo on the 44A ( Possibly covering a late working and would get replaced at Stanley)
I see 4899 on the 96 but was full to the brim with chavs so decided against it and caught the X66......

Journey 4 Metrocentre Interchange - Gateshead Interchange Wright Streetshite GNE 5393

The bus was full and standing with me wishing the Bendys would come back and whisk me away comfortably to Gateshead but that was not the case...
We picked up around 6 or 7 Drivers from Riverside and that was it, Straight down the Centrelink and in Gateshead in 10 mins....
And of course it was a Streetshite so everyone will know how much I enjoyed this. laugh laugh laugh laugh.........

A quick dash to the Metro Station to find what I though was my train departing but no I was going to South Hylton today not South Sheilds so I was relived...
I needed to get the metro to Shields today...

Journey 5 Gateshead Metro - South Shields Metro Metrocar 4018 and 4038

Just a normal metro ride, Packed........ A far cry from when I was young and was surprised to find 10 people on the metro!
But then what do you expect from a bustling city like Newcastle and its surrounding suburbs ( Gateshead , Wallsend , North Sheilds ETC )
There was a strange OAP on this metro eyeing up girls which made me uncomfortable, actually he did look like Jimmy Saville....It makes me sick mentioning his name but anyways.....
By Jarrow the Metro was quieter than usual and 10 mins later I reach Shields and go and meet my Dad in Subway for a Sub and a Coke....
And then my Mam picks me and my Dad up and we go home and that is todays Outing........

Didn't go far today cause I had to be home early today to get ready for my holiday to America tomorrow, and because of that I will probably not be posting for a while though I will try and find the time to look at NEB and all of your posts. I will be the first person to read NEB on Clearwater Beach and the top of the State of Liberty!!

its also been nearly 2 months since I first posted on NEB and id like to thank you all for making me welcome and correcting me if I post something which isn't right Smile

Anyways thanks for reading Smile

See yous in 18 days!!

R852 PRG · 25 Jul 2015, 5:04 pm,

Today, I bought a North East Explorer and had an adventure with Adrian. The plan was to get photographs of the ''East Durham'' branded Mini Pointer Darts, then in Sunderland, photos of the shuttles being operated by Go North East and Stagecoach, for the Sunderland International Airshow. Read on for more;

#21 – Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station – (08:55 --- 09:14) – Go North East 6064 – Volvo B5HL/Wright Gemini 2
As I got ready, citaro5284 messaged me saying that the bus we planned to catch, the 08:48 21 from Chester-le-Street to Durham, was being operated by 6064 and running six minutes late. I walked into Chester-le-Street, where I met Adrian, and we sat down to talk for a while, until the bus was due. When it did arrive, we boarded and sat near the back upstairs. We discussed the preservation movement for just about the entirety of the journey. Like any other ''Angel'', I've travelled on 6064 many times before, and now don't pay much attention to the journey. Around five other passengers were sat upstairs, with a similar number downstairs I would imagine. I have to say, even though the 21 is a demanding route, and the Volvo B5s have been allocated to the route for coming up to three years now, they're still in pretty good condition. It handled the A167 between the top of Chester-le-Street and Pity Me without any problems. When we arrived in Durham, we noticed it was mayhem at the entrance to the bus station. Several other Go North East buses were queueing to get in, but the line slowly moved on. We walked back up to the North Road roundabout, and we were astonished to see the E400MMC demonstrator on the X21 was still doing it's rounds, we were led to believe that yesterday was it's final day in service. We took a few photos of various buses on the North Road roundabout, before moving on to our next journey.

#265 – Durham Bus Station to Low Pittington Village Centre – (09:41 --- 09:56) – Go North East 564 – Transbus MPD/Transbus Mini Pointer
I'd never used any of the ''East Durham'' routes prior to today; we were originally going to get the 204 to Low Pittington, then wait for it to loop back around and return to Durham, before making our way across to the coast. However, there were two yellow MPDs in the layover, and the first to pull into the stand was 564. We decided to board this rather than stick around. Leaving Durham Bus Station with quite a healthy load, this little minibus only had a few seats spare after we'd passed through Belmont. Before long, our stop, Low Pittington, was around the corner, so Adrian pressed the bell to alight. I thought this bus was alright, I don't usually ride MPDs, so this was a nice change from the norm. My only problem with them is their lack of legroom; had the back seats been available, we would have sat there, however we ended up just sitting beyond the step up towards the rear. After watching 564 depart for Seaham, I walked to the other bus stops in the village to photograph the timetables and send them to Adrian via Facebook Messenger ( Big Grin

). During this time, I had my camera in my bag. The moment I got back to Adrian, I saw the 204 coming... Due to being unprepared, I totally missed my shot of it. With the 208 to Durham due soon, I was determined to not let it get past me. When I saw it coming, I got my camera ready and stood on the other side of a junction; everything was focusing, the bus was clear and all in-shot; the moment I hit the trigger, a lorry crosses the junction... That shot was completely ruined as well. Then the 204 coming back to Durham was going extremely fast and came out blurred. As I looked back to where we'd came from, I saw a red MPD coming...

#208 – Low Pittington Village Centre to Peterlee Bus Station – (10:24 --- 11:10) – Go North East 562 – Transbus MPD/Transbus Mini Pointer
Our next ride was red MPD 562, on the 208 to Peterlee. A few elderly men were sat at the front, so we made our way towards the back seats. The legroom was great, and I can't help but give credit to how comfortable the seats were. This, along with 564, was clearly refurbished not long ago. While the journey went by, Adrian and I commented on some of the places the 208 served. I have to say, some parts of East Durham really are disgusting... Horden, for example; a couple of chavs came out of the newsagents and just randomly started giving us hand gestures. The only other pedestrians I saw in that area were young couples with pushchairs... I'm saying nothing. While it is nice to see different areas every now and then, there are some things that you do once and never do again, such as the 208. When we finally got to Peterlee, I noticed what a dreadful place it was. The bus station was littered with rough people. Adrian had told me before how he wasn't keen on taking photos in Peterlee, as the people there always made him feel slightly intimidated. I could see what he meant. When we exited; there was a bike tied up to a fence. It had had it's rear wheel and seat nicked. Adrian slyly took some photos, I got a shot of an ''East Durham'' MPD in the layover bays, and we awaited the next bus to Sunderland. We had seen two X7 services leaving; one to Sunderland and one to Middlesbrough, both were packed and had several standees.

#22 – Peterlee Bus Station to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange – (11:26 --- 12:05) – Arriva North East 1518 – VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2
I sat on the side of the doors, at the very back, for this ride. Adrian sat in front of me, just about every seat was taken when we left Peterlee. The power in this VDL beast was very sufficient; it had no problems with the route that I could see. As the bus was so packed, we decided to listen to music through our earphones, rather than converse with others clearly listening. About five passengers alighted at Dalton Park, while some others boarded in Ryhope, either way, we still reached Sunderland with a full load. Must say, I do enjoy a ride on an Arriva Pulsar. I found the seating on these was much nicer than what I would find on the ''Coast & Country'' Streetlites found on my local route. Although I generally prefer fabric seating as it is, some of the ''Sapphire'' and ''MAX'' seats are extremely comfortable. But I find it hard to compare anything to the seats in the Enviro40MMC demonstrator used on the X21. Once we were finally in Sunderland, we took photos of the shuttles before moving on to Fawcett Street to see what Stagecoach had to offer. Adrian was pleased to see one of the recently acquired E400s was out on it's shuttle duties, then even more so when Alexander-bodied Volvo Olympian 16839 appeared. We then decided to catch a Gas Bus to the Wheatsheaf depot for some photographs there.

#16 – Sunderland, Fawcett Street to Wheatsheaf, Stagecoach Bus Depot – (13:26 --- 13:32) – Stagecoach North East 28012 – Scania K270UB/Alexander Dennis Enviro300NG
I confess to never riding one of the distinctive ''Gas Buses'' that roam the streets of Sunderland, until today. After much contemplation as to which of the services went to the Wheatsheaf, I asked the driver of 28012, on the 16 service, if he went there. He nodded and I showed him my Explorer, before I walked to the back. As we departed, we saw Dave the Rave. I noticed how clean the interior of the bus was, and the blue and orange colours really stood out as smart. The seating was exceptionally comfortable, I would take this over an e-leather seat without question. I have to say, I have always found the seating on a Stagecoach bus to be extremely comfortable. When I was at the Built in Workington event on Sunday, I sat down on the Enviro300 that Stagecoach sent to the event, and it was very comfortable. My only nag was while we sat at the back, we couldn't actually see clearly what was coming next; due to the seats being higher up. One other thing to note, was how spacious the gangway was. After getting off at the Wheatsheaf, we photographed 16833, and a line-up of various single deckers, before I walked down to the bottom of the depot to see if anything good was there. Unfortunately, all I found was 20551; the B10M driver training vehicle. With our quick session at Wheatsheaf done, we walked back to the Sunderland-bound bus stop.

#4 – Wheatsheaf, Stagecoach Bus Depot to Sunderland, Vine Place – (14:10 --- 14:16) – Stagecoach North East 36089 – Dennis Dart SLF 4/Alexander Enviro200
While we sat in the bus stop, taking photographs of whatever went past, a woman asked us about the 20/20A. After helping her out and sending her on her way, we decided to catch one of the next Stagecoach buses back to Sunderland. This turned out to be the 4, which was not a Gas Bus. Instead, we had a standard Enviro. I've always liked how smart the Enviro200s and Enviro300s look in the Stagecoach livery, and the interior goes very well too. Like our trip on 28012, it was very spacious inside and the seating was extremely comfortable. I wish Go North East could have opted for something similar, rather than that disgraceful e-leather... Rather than alight on John Street, we stayed on until Vine Place, before walking back up to Park Lane Interchange. I can't decide which Stagecoach rides I enjoyed the most, but they were both very good. I might start riding Stagecoach buses a bit more...

#78 – Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to Chester-le-Street Durham County Cricket Ground – (14:32 --- 15:14) – Go North East 5408 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
I'm worried that this ''Coast & Country'' is stalking me... I had it on Wednesday when I made a trip to Sunderland in the morning, on the journey back. I also had it at a couple of weeks ago as well. 6059 also seems to be a regular ''Angel'' that I am landed with. This particular service arrived in Park Lane very early, so we sat waiting for a while before our departure time of 14:37. I sat on the offside, the row just before the back seats. I was listening to my music when I felt somebody tap my shoulder; a man asked me if I could let him know when the Royal Hospital came up. I happily obliged, however I couldn't help but think ''what do you think the Next Stop Announcements are for?''. Several people alighted throughout, with some boarding in Bournmoor and Great Lumley. When my stop finally came, I jumped off and walked home.

It was a really great outing; granted, I didn't really milk the Explorer, however I did visit a few places I've never been to before, and rode a few vehicles I'd never experienced prior to today. My photographs from today will be uploaded to my Flickr later tonight; thanks Adrian, for the company today. Thanks for reading. Smile

Marcus

**Dan** · 26 Jul 2015, 12:08 pm,

With many of us now putting together in-depth reviews of our weekend outings, I had started to feel that the novelty of my own was wearing off somewhat. As such, I decided to avoid typing up a review for the past few outings I've made. With very few enthusiasts making outings on Sundays, I thought I would put something together to give you all something to read on this fine Sunday afternoon (in addition to the news, I hope, when it is published!)

As usual; my journey log is given first, and the commentary follows it.

08:57 #9: Newcastle Road to Boldon - Go North East 5274
09:21 #35A: Boldon to Heworth - Go North East 5306
09:30 #Q1: Heworth to Market Street - Go North East 8333
11:28 #Q2: Quayside to Gateshead Interchange - Go North East 8316
12:00 #28: Gateshead to Wrekenton - Go North East 4960
12:44 #56: Wrekenton to Stadium of Light - Go North East 6087

I'd had a very good night's sleep (presumably unlike Michael), and I was feeling rather fresh. I looked at the weather forecast and saw that it was due to be sunny until around mid-day, so I decided to set out just before 9 o'clock in an attempt to catch the sun. With the sound of airplanes making their way to Seaburn Beach for the Sunderland International Airshow prevalent, I made my way to the bus stop on Newcastle Road, Sunderland. It's always really quiet in this area on a Sunday morning, so the sound of airplanes was certainly a little unusual.

After a little while of waiting at the bus stop, 5274 turned up on service 9, running about five minutes late. Whilst I'm not particularly fond of the Scania OmniCitys, aside from Arriva North East's 4653 and 4660-64, I do quite like to ride them on service 9. The dual-door Volvo B10BLEs are frequently allocated Monday - Saturday as these four red OmniCitys cover for branded vehicles on "Coaster" service 1 to keep the allocation consistent. Despite the Scania OmniCitys being more comfortable than the dual-door Volvo B10s, the latter is far superior in terms of performance. It wasn't long before we reached Boldon; in fact, I barely had time to finish typing this section of the review up on this journey!

After alighting 5274, I realised that the sun was behind me and this would be perfect for photos of buses heading towards Sunderland. Thankfully, a Mercedes Citaro turned up on the 35A heading towards Low Moorsley, which allowed me to make the most of the sun being in the right spot for photos. I didn't get to enjoy the sun for too long, though, as I only had a ten-minute connection and my 35A to Heworth arrived one minute early. I boarded and took my seat towards the back near the emergency exit, and when the driver pulled away, I remembered why I love the Mercs so much: they have an abundance of power, they're comfortable, and they're always the perfect temperature. The driver put his foot down when we got onto the Felling Bypass, and certainly demonstrated the first point. We passed a Middlesbrough-bound X10 service basking in the sun on the Felling Bypass - it never ceases to amaze me how fantastic this livery looks from a distance! Before I knew it, we were pulling into Heworth Interchange, and it was time for me to get off.

When I alighted, I walked to the opposite side of the Interchange. My plan of action was to catch up with the all-new Quaylink, and of course, I wanted to see what the Next Stop Announcements looked and sounded like, as I was in a meeting when my fellow colleague had arranged to test them prior to the launch of the new Quaylink services. Not long after I walked across, I saw the striking yellow and purple livery approaching, so I decided I would get a photograph of this bus and then ride it to the Quayside. The bus was about half-full - impressive for a Sunday morning - and I took my seat at the very back to put the TFT monitors to the ultimate test. When stationary, the screens show a large "Welcome on board Quaylink" screen. It looks incredibly well designed and much better than the screens designed in the past, in my opinion. When we pulled away, the oh-so-familiar voice of Alan Robson started to play. It was crystal clear, and on the perfect volume level (well done, citaro5284!) I must say, however, that I was slightly disappointed with the line map. This, and the Metroradio logo in the bottom left hand corner, were barely legible from the back seats. The scrolling ability on the new LED screens means the font can be larger and scroll, allowing the text to be seen easily from the very back of the bus, but sadly this was not the case on the TFT screens (which comes as a major blow, given that I much prefer these to the LED screens as they allow for a decent design!) The change to the route number certainly seemed to cause some confusion to elderly passengers, with many stopping the bus to ask the driver what had happened to the old 51/52 services. No doubt the drivers had expected this though, and were armed with answers to get passengers on their way! There did seem to be some troubles with issuing through tickets to Newcastle, and one young woman argued with the driver for a good five minutes to (quite rightly) state that there should be an option to purchase single and return tickets to Newcastle. I'm not entirely sure of what happened in the end, as I couldn't quite hear what the driver was saying from the back of the bus, but here's hoping she got the ticket she wanted!

I jumped off at Market Street and decided, after taking a few photos, I would walk down to the Quayside and get some more scenic shots. A few walks over the Millennium Bridge later, I took a photo of 8316 on the Q2 posing underneath the Tyne Bridge and then hopped on-board. The bus was full! This was intended as a short hop to Gateshead only, so I've not a great deal to comment on this journey.

After alighting, I'd intended to get a photo of the pride bus on the Q1. Foolishly, I forgot the route out of Gateshead that the Q1 service takes, and stood waiting on the Q2 route waiting for a bus that wasn't going to turn up. I took the walk of shame back to Gateshead Interchange, where I decided that I would catch the vehicle on Davie's turf instead: Wrekenton. A Scania L94 on service 28 pulled in just as I got into the Interchange, so I made a run for it to catch it. On-board, I found that the vehicle was more or less full, and I didn't have a great deal of choice where to sit. The bus pulled away after I sat myself down, and proceeded to climb the Old Durham Road bank. My preferred choice when making this journey is to use service X1, so I was quite surprised at how the Scania L94 struggled to climb up the bank (with the Fab56 Scania L94s a distant memory - best forgotten!) We pulled into Wrekenton where I alighted, and I checked the times of service Q1 towards Newcastle outside of the Co-op. It was due in five minutes, but I knew it was running about ten minutes late. I found a half decent spot round the back of the Co-op car park, where I killed time by reviewing some of the photographs I'd taken earlier in the day. After getting my desired photograph of the pride bus, I popped into the Co-op to buy a drink before getting the 56 home.

The weather had (thankfully) stayed surprisingly good by 1 o'clock and it was still quite warm. The residents of Wrekenton must have started to get somewhat suspicious - it's not often 'outsiders' spend half an hour hanging around the High Street! I was pleased to see a fabulous orange double decker pull in on-time and I made my way upstairs where I would enjoy my 50-minute journey home. Unfortunately, the bus was quite full, which meant I didn't immediately get my usual front seat. By the time we arrived at Concord, this seat became available, so I quickly moved forward to enjoy the views for the remainder of my journey.

I've had a fantastic day out; perhaps it would be worthwhile having a few more 'rare Sunday outings', as today was quite enjoyable. I hope you've enjoyed reading what I have got up to today - I anticipate that the photographs will be on Flickr later this afternoon! Wink

~~Davie~~ · 26 Jul 2015, 2:12 pm,

(26 Jul 2015, 12:08 pm)Dan wrote After a little while of waiting at the bus stop, 5274 turned up on service 9, running about five minutes late. Whilst I'm not particularly fond of the Scania OmniCitys, aside from Arriva North East's 4653 and 4660-64, I do quite like to ride them on service 9. The dual-door Volvo B10BLEs are frequently allocated Monday - Saturday as these four red OmniCitys cover for branded vehicles on "Coaster" service 1 to keep the allocation consistent. Despite the Scania OmniCitys being more comfortable than the dual-door Volvo B10s, the latter is far superior in terms of performance. It wasn't long before we reached Boldon; in fact, I barely had time to finish typing this section of the review up on this journey!

I think I'd have a dual door renown over any Omnicity, especially that thing. Great review though, Dan.

Jimmi · 26 Jul 2015, 3:21 pm,

My journeys yesterday:

0941 21/X21 Newton Aycliffe - Peterlee - Sunderland (ANE 4814)
1240 510 Fawcett Street - Chichester Road [Airshow] (SNE 19643)
1415 510 Chichester Road [Airshow] - Fawcett Street (SNE 16839)
1505 510 Fawcett Street - Chichester Road [Airshow] (SNE 16839)
1540 510 Chichester Road [Airshow] - Fawcett Street (SNE 16833)
1720 X21/21 Sunderland - Peterlee - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 4813)

Started the day off on 4814 which made me happy as this example actually has WiFi that works so I wouldn't go stir crazy from the lack of internet connection as the signal on O2 especially on this route is terrible, normally on a EcoCity with no WiFi I get reception until Rushyford then non until Peterlee then weak signal again until Ryhope. The seats in this example are alright although are nothing on the fabric seats on 4812/4813. This is a long journey and was made even longer by some moron in a removal van not wanting to move to let us through in Wingate so he just proceeded to shout and swear at the driver of the 21. We ended up leaving Peterlee late as there was actually a fair few passengers boarding the service also because the driver was making a phone call.

Once I arrived in Sunderland I got some photos around Park Lane then later headed towards Fawcett Street for some photos before taking my place in the queue for the 510, sadly the queue was to long for me to jump on 16833 so I ended up getting lumbered with Enviro 400 19643 which did annoy me a little although at least I got to sample one of these examples and it was actually quite a decent bus I thought and it had free WiFi.

Got photos around where the Airshow shuttles were heading to/from, there was a few other enthusiasts around when I arrived including Lee Calder and there was others although I am not totally sure who some of the rest were although I did recognise one or two others including Peter Barclay but was too nervous to go over and talk to any of them so I ended just creepily lurking. 16839 eventually turned up behind an E400 but as there wasn't many waiting for the 510 the passengers all got on the E400 and 16839 went straight back to Sunderland much to my annoyance so I ended up waiting for 16833 which didn't come back so ended up waiting until 16839 came back and I managed to get the front seat with the brilliant amount of leg room. Quite enjoyed my journey on this especially as this is only the second time I've been on one of these examples and this would likely to be my last opportunity to ride one so I couldn't turn it down. Saw 16833 back out on the road so decided I would ride that as well.

After having some lunch went back round to Fawcett Street and saw an Olympian turn up although annoyingly it was 16839 again not that it was a bad thing as when I got upstairs I saw 16833 just behind us so I would try and get that back to Sunderland. Got back to the Airshow site and hung around for a few minutes until later joining the queue when 16833 turned up behind an Enviro 400, thankfully I was at pretty much the back of the queue so once I was the front the E400 was full so I was pretty much the first person to board 16833 back to Sunderland grabbing the front seat again for this journey back to Sunderland. Whilst in the queue waiting for 16833 I spotted Dan and someone else getting photos.

Got a few photos around the Stadium of Light and Wearmouth Bridge areas with mixed results, just my luck a cyclist would ruin my photo of 3943 round by the Stadium of Light although many of the other photos turned out well. Got back into the City Centre to wait for a photo of SimpliCity 8323 on the 20 and was surprised to see a Prince Bishops Solar 5215 turn up at that time instead although thankfully for me it was actually on the 35 so I got a snap of that closely followed by 8323 on the 20. Then I went to Poundland to get myself a packet of Haribo's for the journey home. Headed back to Park Lane for more photos as I would have just been stood bored in the queue for the X21 otherwise.

After slagging it off for it's lack of WiFi on here earlier in the day of course 4813 would end up being my journey home wouldn't it! Another pretty busy journey, hopefully not just a novelty because of the Airshow. The seats are so comfortable on 4813 (and 4812) puts the Sapphire and MAX e-leather seats to shame. This one actually went down the A19 at a fairly decent speed even doing a spot of overtaking. The lacking of internet made this a long boring journey it has to be said and was glad I was on the bus rather than being outside in the pouring rain.

Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow I am considering getting Quaylink photos although the weather forcast tomorrow is well, awful and I am trying to think of ideas for photo locations although I am struggling to think of slightly more unique ideas and I don't know the Quaylink routes very well (hopefully I won't find myself mistakenly ending up in Wrekenton or anyone else I don't really know). Also going to try and get a shot of the JH Coaches 23 in Birtley. All of this depends on time and weather and also if I can be bothered to stand in the rain getting photos although annoyingly I have to go out tomorrow.

R852 PRG · 29 Jul 2015, 6:27 pm,

Today, I bought a Get Around day ticket and had a little adventure with Adam. He asked me if I fancied meeting him for an outing last night, so I decided I'd make the effort to go out. Here is how the day went;

#36 – Chester-le-Street Durham County Cricket Ground to Houghton-le-Spring Church – (09:49 --- 10:11) – Go North East 5203 – Scania L94UB/Wright Solar
While my dad works Monday to Friday, my mam has Tuesdays and Fridays off. On the other days, the puppy goes along to my grandma's, as do I (in the holidays), for my lunch at least. His usual routine is to be walked at around 09:30, so I walked with my grandma and the puppy towards the area of the bus stop, before leaving them. I didn't have to wait long until the 36 was due, at 09:50. Before I knew it, I rolled my eyes at the sight of a red Wright Solar coming down Ropery Lane. I know it's hardly preventable, and not really blameable, but it does annoy me when I am landed with a red spare vehicle, as opposed to a gold Mercedes Citaro (the allocation). I wouldn't mind in the slightest if it was a Wright Renown, but I keep having to make do with the Solars... About five passengers were already on board when I boarded, a couple of whom alighted in Great Lumley. A few more passengers joined us in Fencehouses, and we pulled into Houghton-le-Spring with a load of around fifteen passengers. I'm not sure, but I think the driver was one of the Polish drivers employed at Deptford. He seemed to have quite an Eastern European accent when I boarded and said hello, to which he responded. The bus itself was alright; I've travelled on Wright Solars countless times before and know for a fact that the majority are nothing special.

#X1 – Houghton-le-Spring Church to Gateshead Transport Interchange – (10:24 --- 11:18) – Go North East 6029 – Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President
When I alighted at Houghton-le-Spring Church, I noticed how quiet it was. Only a couple of old aged pensioners were hanging around for their buses, and I saw a Wright Renown, 4908, was standing with it's engines turned off, on the 38 to Rainton Bridge. I decided I would take a photo. At the risk of sounding a bit pathetic, I'm very uncomfortable taking photos on my own. I don't know what it is, but it's just a fear of being approached by the wrong person... Nevertheless, I snapped a few pictures of it. Then, a ''Prince Bishops'' branded Scania came in, I got a few photos of that, before I snapped a Wright Solar on the 4, then I put my camera away. As I watched the 4 go past; I saw a fat little teenage charver at the back; brandishing the stereotypical blue and white hoodie, bang on the window and stick his fingers up at me. My response was the same straight back to him. Chubby little scruff. Before long, a Volvo President appeared, working the ''Red Arrows'' X1 service to Newcastle. Here, I would be meeting Adam, so I boarded. I sat at the back upstairs. There were decent passenger numbers throughout; I had the same driver as last time, with the Tyne and Wear PTE badges on his blazer. He was very helpful to one woman, who asked for a return to Newcastle and explained she would be using the Metro from there. After he couldn't work out what it was she wanted, he stopped the bus and came upstairs; handing her a North East Explorer and apologising for the inconvenience. It's quite rare to have a driver be so helpful, I know some of them couldn't care less...

#X71 – Gateshead Transport Interchange to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station – (11:20 --- 11:30) – Go North East 6122 – Scania N94UD/East Lancs OmniDekka
After a driver changeover at the Galleries, it was a smooth journey until Gateshead Interchange, when the driver turned the engine off and asked us all to board the bus behind... He was quite a pleasant guy as well, smiling at me and giving me a wink as I thanked him when I alighted. It turned out ''the bus behind'' was Scania OmniDekka 6122, working the X71 service to Newcastle. A NEXUS employee was guiding confused passengers on board. The entire lower saloon was packed, so I headed upstairs. The seats most forward on the saloon were all taken, but it was rather quiet towards the rear, so I sat a few rows from the back. Even though it was a very short journey, I was impressed with the power of the OmniDekka. 6122 was one that I had needed prior to today, so I was quite happy. My next goal in terms of the OmniDekkas is either 6131 or 6133 (both of which are refurbished with blue Go North East seating). When we finally pulled into Eldon Square, I walked up to the ''Red Arrows'' stand to find Adam sitting awaiting my arrival. We headed out of Eldon Square, and made our way down to Market Street.

#27 – Newcastle, Market Street East to Gateshead Transport Interchange – (12:00 --- 12:12) – Go North East 4903 – Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
Upon arrival at Market Street, I took a few photographs while Adam hung around patiently. On his ''hit list'' was 5380, the only ''Citylink'' branded Optare Versa he required. He asked if we could stick around to see if it showed at all; we observed 5386, 5385 and I think 5379, but no 5380. After we decided to head to Gateshead next, I was treated with the sight of Wright Renown 4903 (W903 RBB); a former Stanley-based vehicle. It was once a ''Lime'' vehicle, in years gone by when the services served Castleside (and thus requiring a higher PVR – I believe the other vehicles were 4904 and 4905). Once we'd boarded, and sat ourselves down at the quadrant; we sat for about five minutes, leaving the city centre with a load of about fifteen passengers. It was only a short trip to Gateshead, granted, but nevertheless this machine got us there in no time. 4903 was filled with power and speed, I was quite disappointed to alight. I recall it was always quite a good ride when it was based at Stanley, and used to creep out onto the ''Lime''.

#96 – Gateshead Transport Interchange to MetroCentre Transport Interchange – (12:20 --- 12:53) – Go North East 4914 – Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
We observed the various stand alterations in Gateshead Interchange, it's going to take me a while to be able to completely figure out where everything is. I quite liked how things were; I'm disappointed that Stand H has got some of the mainstream Old Durham Road ''money pit'' services, as that corner will be mayhem at peak times. Heaven forbid something breaks down on that corner... After a quick trip somewhere for lunch, we decided to board Renown 4914 on the 96 across to the MetroCentre. Left Gateshead Interchange with a decent number of passenger aboard; we ate until we hit Lobley Hill; most passengers had alighted by then, but others were starting to board, intent on heading to the MetroCentre. One thing I like about the 95/96/64A services, is that they're ideal for bashing the Renowns. I was impressed with how this Gateshead native managed the route, even though it is far from demanding, having a powerful bus is always going to be good. Initially, we were going to alight at Riverside to have a wander around the perimeter of the depot, however we decided to just go to the MetroCentre instead. We saw a Weardale Motor Services ALX400 parked up in the coach park, so I went across to get some photos of that. Adam pointed out the trains running quite frequently, so I got a few photos over the course of around twenty minutes. After I was finished, we made our way back into the MetroCentre Interchange.

#31 – MetroCentre Transport Interchange to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station – (13:40 --- 14:03) – Go North East 4918 – Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
I told Adam he could pick our next move. As he watched for anything of interest, I saw a B10BLE come in with the 31 to Newcastle. Instinctively, I led him towards it. I listened to two drivers talking as we queued to board; the older looking one commented that the younger looking driver had only been driving for twenty weeks, while he had been a driver for twenty years. He did seem like quite a skilled driver, it has to be said. We left the MetroCentre with between fifteen and twenty passengers. A handful boarded along the road; Adam and I sat at the seats just above the step up from the OAP section. It was quite a smooth runner, although it seemed to sound a little bit dodgy. I can't pinpoint what it was, but it wasn't as nice as 4903 and 4914 earlier today. I'd scored a hatrick by riding three B10BLEs in one go. My personal favourite was 4903, it just provided the best journey. Once we'd pulled into Eldon Square, I asked Adam where he had in mind for our next move. We had seen a Lolyne on the X43 when at the railway station earlier, so he asked if we could double back to the MetroCentre and catch it from there.

#46 – Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station to MetroCentre Transport Interchange – (14:07 --- 14:23) – Go North East 5413 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
As we needed to be at the MetroCentre for 14:30; we boarded the first thing we could see that would take us there. This was ''Red Kite'' branded 5413; which was seemingly running late. Leaving Eldon Square as the next run entered, we kept our eyes on the time. At 14:17, we crossed the Redheugh Bridge, and thankfully made it to the MetroCentre for 14:23. We had a few minutes until the X43 was due, rather than a risky two-minute connection. As ever, the Wright Streetlite had an annoying ''whingey'' noise whenever it decelerated. It lacked power on one or two clear stretches of road. It was comfortable enough inside, but it was very warm. One problem I have with the Streetlites is the fact that there are only three windows, and they are at the front of the bus. Why? I don't see why they can't fit more windows, surely having only three windows, all of which are focused on one area of the buses, is treading water in terms of Health & Safety? Somebody could pass out at the back in boiling hot weather.

#X43 – MetroCentre Transport Interchange to Stanley Bus Station – (14:29 --- 15:01) – Go North East 3873 – Dennis Trident/East Lancs Lolyne
Within a few minutes, 3873 appeared on the X43. It was one that Adam needed, having not made a journey since it left it's duties on the X25 in Chester-le-Street, and headed up to Stanley. Quite a queue was waiting to board, when we pulled away from the MetroCentre, I would say around twenty five passengers were on board, around ten of whom were upstairs with us. At the back, was a very rowdy family. They weren't very pleasant. The Trident really struggled getting up the Whickham Bank; I'm not exaggerating, but it was going at 10mph at best, and had a long queue of cars forming behind it. On other banks on the route, it kept struggling. However, the melodious and beastly engine of the Lolyne was nice to listen to. When we got to Stanley, more-or-less on time, I headed onto the Front Street to see what was going on. I met a woman outside of the bus station, I asked her if she was working - she said it was 30 for oral; 50 for full sex. I heard a group of young teenage charvers rambling on with their cigarettes, at the entrance to the bus station. As I headed down towards Greggs, I saw a few civilians running for their lives, as a squadron of pigeons opened fire from above. Two of them were hit, while the other two made it indoors. Unfortunately, the pigeons saw this, and bombed the building they hid in. Outside of ''£ stretcher''; I saw a young teenage girl giving birth, unaided. A yobbo charver then threw a bottle of alcohol through a shop window, causing a series of fires and a massive mushroom cloud. In the midst of the chaos, shots were fired; and I retreated back to the bus station. Stanley really is a god-forsaken place.

#8 – Stanley Bus Station to Chester-le-Street South Burns – (15:10 --- 15:40) – Go North East 5408 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
When we re-entered the bus station, it was rather quiet. The mayhem going on outside could not be heard from inside of the bus station. Within moments, I saw a ''Coast & Country'' Streetlite come around the roundabout, I knew this was going to operate the 8 service back to Chester-le-Street. As it pulled in, I noticed it was 5408 – I've had this particular example countless times over recent weeks. Like any other Streetlite, it was a rather boring journey. Adam and I just talked throughout, the passenger numbers weren't bad. It got quite intense when we reached Chester-le-Street; it was creeping up to 15:40, and Adam's X25 was due at 15:42... Fortunately, he made it. My mam had headed up to do some shopping, so I received a lift home. The weather had made a turn for the worst while we were on the 8, and to be honest, I didn't fancy the long walk home from my bus stop on the Chester-le-Street to Durham route.

It was a nice little outing, I enjoyed it very much. I got three B10 rides out of it, so I was obviously very satisfied. Thanks Adam for the company. I'll continue uploading my photos to Flickr later this evening, thank you for reading. Smile

Marcus

Charles41 · 30 Jul 2015, 10:12 am,

I saw a young teenage girl giving birth, unaided. A yobbo charver then threw a bottle of alcohol through a shop window, causing a series of fires and a massive mushroom cloud. In the midst of the chaos, shots were fired; and I retreated back to the bus station.

Reminds me of a typical night in Toxteth when I used to live there in the mid 1990s.

Charles

Kuyoyo · 03 Aug 2015, 6:33 pm,

No review but I might as well list my last two Explorers

Saturday 1st August 2015
0750 Stagecarriage 84 Stillington-Stockton E200 11 (MX14 FUH)
0843 Go North East X10 Stockton-Gateahead B9TL 6043
0958 Go North East Q1 Gateshead-Quayside Guildhall Versa 8338
1029 Go North East Q3 Quayside Guildhall-Haymarket Versa 8314
1055 Go North East Q3 Haymarket-Regent Centre Versa 8313
1113 Arriva North East X15 Regent Centre-Haymarket E400 7513
1130 Go North East X70 Eldon Square-Gateshead OmniDekka 6133
1142 Go North East X66 Gateshead-MetroCentre Citaro 5332
1233 Go North East 46 MetroCentre-Central Station StreetLite 5411
1428 Metro Green Central Station-Regent Centre Car 4014
1603 Arriva North East X11 Regent Centre-Haymarket Gemini 7615
1915 Go North East X10 Newcastle Eldon Square-Stockton B9TL 6043
2052 Stagecoach on Teesside 37 Stockton-North Tees Hospital E300 27174

Monday 3rd August 2015
0750 Stagecarriage 84 Stillington-Stockton E200 11 (MX14 FUH)
0833 Go North East X10 Stockton-Gateahead B9TL 6043
1007 Metro Yellow Heworth-Jarrow Car 4078
1029 Metro Yellow Jarrow-South Shields Car 4031
1145 Shields Ferry South Shields-North Shields Pride of the Tyne
1158 Go North East 19 North Shields Ferry-North Shields Metro OmniCity 5274
1220 Go North East 310 North Shields-Newcastle Haymarket B9TL 6111
1324 Go North East Q2 Newcastle Market Street-Quayside Guildhall Versa 8334
1353 Go North East Q1 Quayside Guildhall-Central Station Versa 5390
1407 Stagecoach in Newcastle 100 Central Station-MetroCentre Dart 35195
1424 Go North East 47 MetroCentre-Eldon Square B9TL 6119
1450 Arriva North East X11 Haymarket-Regent Centre Gemini 7608
1504 Arriva North East X21 Regent Centre-Haymarket E400 7501
1600 Go North East X10 Newcastle Eldon Square-Stockton B9TL 6043
1722 Stagecarriage 84 Stockton-Stillington E200 11 (MX14 FUH)

omnicity4659 · 03 Aug 2015, 6:54 pm,

(29 Jul 2015, 6:27 pm)R852 PRG wrote When we got to Stanley, more-or-less on time, I headed onto the Front Street to see what was going on. I met a woman outside of the bus station, I asked her if she was working - she said it was 30 for oral; 50 for full sex. I heard a group of young teenage charvers rambling on with their cigarettes, at the entrance to the bus station. As I headed down towards Greggs, I saw a few civilians running for their lives, as a squadron of pigeons opened fire from above. Two of them were hit, while the other two made it indoors. Unfortunately, the pigeons saw this, and bombed the building they hid in. Outside of ''£ stretcher''; I saw a young teenage girl giving birth, unaided. A yobbo charver then threw a bottle of alcohol through a shop window, causing a series of fires and a massive mushroom cloud. In the midst of the chaos, shots were fired; and I retreated back to the bus station. Stanley really is a god-forsaken place.

What the hell? Big Grin

**tyresmoke** · 03 Aug 2015, 8:47 pm,

Well I was required to do a taxi run for mum & dad to Newcastle Airport this morning, so I dropped them off at the layby outside Premier Inn and then a quick drive down the line to Callerton Parkway where I dumped the car and set off on a day out.

1006 Callerton Parkway - Kingston Park TWM 4030
Impressed by the new NSA's on these now, much better than the previous effort. Not a lot else to say on this quick two stop hop.

1030 Kingston Park - City Centre X47 22413
Waited for the Tesco free bus to turn up but it didn't show (due 1020) so I jumped on the X47 into town. Fairly quiet mid morning journey, around half a bus load by the city. Nexus survey bloke on too. Asked me if I was going anywhere after the town... "err yeah but I don't know where yet".

1105 Newcastle - Chester-le-Street X21 9119
Casually hanging around on Pilgrim Street/Market Street junction when I spotted this in the distance coming in via the hole in the wall... so I walked round to Eldon Square to have a ride on it. Was ok on the towny stuff through Gateshead & Low Fell etc but it lacked a bit of power especially heading onto the A1, and the limited top speed (50mph presumably) seemed epically slow!

1145 Chester-le-Street - Stanley 8 5395
Well my first ride on one of GNE's new Streetlites (yeah I don't get out much these days...) - the new NSA LED screens look good, in a slightly weird position (to me) but I suppose everyone on the bus can see them so it makes sense! Selected the extra legroom seats at the emergency door position, which I immediately regretted! Even at this age they still suffer from the "Streetlite" disease of rattling emergency doors.... God knows what these are going to be like in 10 years time Dodgy

1227 Stanley - Gateshead X30 6123
My first ride on an Omnidekka for a few years, last one I had was in Sheffield with Stagecoach. The bus was great, plenty of power for the hills (even though its mostly downhill into Gateshead, will have to try one the other way!) but I wasn't a fan of the seats, almost felt like the backrest was facing forwards it was that upright!

1320 Gateshead - Metrocentre X66 5391
Well this was your typical X66 journey - completely rammed with around 15 standing from what I could count... 9 were drivers though so I suppose that's not too bad. I don't suppose anyone is going to moan about standing on the 10 minute journey time and given the X66 isn't a massive revenue puller (given the amount of transfer passengers from other services) it makes sense to remove as much cost as possible from the operation. Despite all that, the Streetlites are still the wrong buy for a service like this. Christmas should be interesting.

1355 Metrocentre - Eldon Square 10B 60??
Standard B9 journey, not a lot to say!

1418 Haymarket - Cramlington 43 7493
Wandered aimlessly around Haymarket trying to decide what to do next, this former Redcar B7 was sat on the stand waiting to go to Cramlington so I hopped onboard. I still can't get over the fact they still smell new inside, considering their refurb was well over a year ago now?! Well looked after by Jesmond? It sounded in pretty good health. Can't help but wonder how tight the 43 is for time though, as this was getting abused! Probably more fun than a MAX journey on a geriatric Gemini though...

1457 Cramlington - Killingworth 52 1499
Was hoping for a B10 to turn up but no, standard Pulsar journey down to Killy.... Fairly quiet given it was a late afternoon journey on a route that doesn't really go anywhere massively useful. This Pulsar must have the slowest doors to close too, with the handbrake buzzer being an all too often sound. Annoys me when drivers just sit with the doors open with the buzzer going too... What sort of impression does that give?

1533 Killingworth - Four Lane Ends 62 19673
Well this E400 came in about 5 mins before departure time, and parked up over the far side to layover. Driver jumped out and I presumed was going to the loo. Came back with a handful of shopping and departed about 5 mins late. I assumed that would be fine as an afternoon journey going towards town is usually very slackly timed but this seemed to get to FLE with another 63 right behind so presumably still late...!?

1633 Four Lane Ends - Haymarket TWM 4068?
Well I fancied catching another E400 back to town, they always sound very worn and I'm going to spend a day just riding around the E400 routes as I've barely covered any of Stagecoach's city network, but after photographing a DFDS Trident (391) and Omnidekka (794) at the roundabout, I came back to find a 1 and 62 both pulling away. Facing another few minutes wait and knowing I wanted to get back to photograph the 808 at 1720 and some other peak departures, I opted for the quicker option. Fairly busy considering this was heading into town at this time, but a quick 10 min journey soon saw me at the very smart Haymarket station, hopefully in a few years they'll all be upgraded to this standard.

1740 Eldon Square - Callerton Parkway X77 22041
My journey back to Callerton was provided by a typically heavily (ab)used MAN on a typically Stagecoach-timed route that doesn't take account of the traffic, nevertheless it wasn't too bad and only got to Callerton around 4 mins late after a bit of spirited running should we say! Still a journey time of just 19 (scheduled 15) mins is competitive with the Metro point to point, its a shame it wasn't well used.... Though all peak buses were(perhaps understandably being summer holidays) quiet tonight. I stood around at Callerton hoping to photo 22667 heading the other way back to the city having worked out it would be on that journey but as of due time +10 mins it hadn't turned up so I gave up and headed back to the car and set off home.

Not sure when my next one will be but I hope you enjoyed my (rare) review! It ended up being a proper random selection of destinations, routes and buses but I think I managed a good mix and some places I never normally get to. Bit of route learning on the 43 sussing out new places so I feel confident going there maybe to change buses (Dudley etc)

Jimmi · 04 Aug 2015, 7:42 pm,

Today I thought I'd go out and try and find the See it Do it Sunderland Merc 5303 for a photo.

0932 Newton Aycliffe - Ferryhill (ANE 1516)
Starting the day of with a Sapphire Pulsar. Didn't enjoy this journey much as the driver had his foot burried on the accelerator and left Chilton Wheatsheaf 3 minutes late.

1011 7 Ferryhill - Durham (ANE 1515)
Recently I've been splitting some of my trips to Durham at Ferryhill, not really sure why though. This journey arrived in Ferryhill with very few seats left and I hate having to sit next to randoms on the bus, thankfully I managed to get the single seat behind the drivers cab. I later discovered that the reason it was so busy was because it will was full of walkers who got off at the stop after the Coach and Horses pub which not many normally get on/off at so imagine my surprise to see about 20 people getting off! We arrived in Durham about a minute or two late.

1052 Durham - Houghton-le-Spring (GNE 5214)
Was originally going to get the 1042 20A but that journey was allocated 4992 which I am not the biggest fan of and have had it a few times recently so didn't fancy riding that again, and if by some miracle it isn't 4992 it's usually 5213 but thankfully 5214 turned up instead. Pretty standard journey on the 20 not the fastest bus in the world but still alright and wasn't too bad for rattles unlike some Solar's. The plan was originally to go to Sunderland to catch 5303 as I thought I'd have more chance of spotting it there, fortunately though just as we were entering Houghton I saw it just behind the 20 on the 35 to Boldon so I made sure to alight pretty sharpish. I got my photo of 5303 https://flic.kr/p/wUacty

1133 X1 Houghton-le-Spring - Hetton-le-Hole Interchange (GNE 6052)
As I got what I wanted I didn't see the point in carrying on to Sunderland so I ended up jumping on this. As we left Houghton I thought "oh **** I've got on the wrong X1!" was originally going to go to Washington then head back to Durham but rather than let on that I got on the wrong bus I styled it out by heading to Hetton-le-Hole Interchange. This turned out to be a good mistake as it meant I got a shot of Arriva North East 1762 on Nexus service 168. Went to Coopland's for four Sausage Rolls because it's four for a pound and I am greedy!

1202 X35 Hetton-le-Hole - Peterlee Bus Station (GNE 4955)
Decided I'd get this to Peterlee then get a 22/24 to Durham. Pretty friendly driver on this journey which was nice. Can't really think of much else to say about this journey as I kind of zoned out.

1220ish 24 Peterlee Bus Station - Shotton Colliery (ANE 15??)
Was hoping for an Enviro 400 or even a StreetLite but I got a 63 reg Pulsar, apologies I can't remember the fleet number or exact time I jumped on this. Didn't enjoy this journey as I was sat near the back and felt like I was in the holding penn for the Jeremy Kyle Show, one thing in particular that annoyed me was the lass sat behind me pressing her knees against the back of the seats, I hate this, I can excuse this if the person is tall but she wasn't, I moved to the outside seat but then she just started pressing her kness against this seat. I got a bit wound up so I got on the Arriva Live Map to see how long it would be until the next 22 to Durham and because the 24 was late it was just behind the 24 so I made the decision to abandon ship at a random stop in Shotton Colliery.

1256 22 Shotton Colliery - Durham Millburngate Bridge (ANE 1595)
Fortunately I only had about a minutes wait, can't say I'd fancy waiting here any longer than that! Again disappointed it wasn't an Enviro 400 but oh well, at least it wasn't another Pulsar, don't have anything against Pulsars but that's pretty much the only sort of bus I've had in the last week. Pretty disappointing that it was lacking Sapphire interior branding and the next stop announcements were just showing Sapphire and promotional stuff, I know 1595 is the spare StreetLite but still. Not too bad for rattles this one thankfully, certainly better than Red Kite 5412 which I had on the 45 last week! Oh Durham is quieter with the Millburngate Bridge roadworks, yeah right! Try and ride any of the services that go through Gilesgate this would have arrived in Durham Bus Station over 15 minutes late the traffic was that bad, I know it's fine on the X12 route and on Millburngate Bridge itself but the traffic through Gilesgate is horrendous!

Whilst on the 22 I saw a post in the Arriva Rare Workings thread saying that MAX Omnicity 4657 was on the 7, so I waited for that to turn up, unfortunately it turned up over 15 minutes late and even more disappointingly the driver changed the screen to "Not In Service" before arriving in Durham which kind of ruined my photo. Then annoyingly according to the screens in Durham Bus Station the 1422 7 left over 30 seconds early resulting in me just missing it.

1437 7 Durham - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 7540)
I was at the front of the queue but some ignorant chavy arse and his kids came onto the 7 stand via the outside of the bus station! This meant I didn't get the front seat on an Enviro once again! The kids were sitting on the handrails above the panel for the LED screen, so it's a good job the bus didn't have to break sharply or they may have gone straight through the window. Not a great deal else to say.

After heading home for a few minutes I went back out for a shot of 4657 on service 7.

So a mixed day today then.

Thanks for reading, I may head to the GNE See it Do it event on Friday at Barnes Park, Sunderland as I haven't been to one of Go North East's events recently. If I do go I'm likely to be there early.

Charles41 · 05 Aug 2015, 8:50 am,

On Monday this week, I had one of my best bus outings by far. I decided to try out the new North Tynedale services operated by Go Ahead and PCL travel. This was the first day of operations for Go Ahead and PCL on the new routes. My first bus of the day was GNE 5229. This was a Wrightbus bodied Scania operating the 8.00 X85 from Newcastle to Hexham.

The bus left on time with only a small number of passengers, however we picked up further people along the way. The bus was very clean and performed well, especially on the motorway section. The sound of the transmission when accelerating reminded me of a Leyland National. The weather looked and good and I had the feeling it was going to be an interesting day.

We arrived promptly in Hexham at 8.47, my next bus was not until 9.10. I went and got some breakfast and took some photos at Hexham bus station. Hexham depot seems to be becoming a stronghold for Dennis Darts. I was therefore able to get some decent photos of these at the bus station, including vehicles branded for the Hadrian’s Wall summer season AD122 service. I was concerned however that the bus station timetables had not been changed by Northumberland County Council. They still showed Howard Snaith and Tyne Valley as the operators of the Bellingham (pronounced Bell-ing-jam) route with the old timings.

My next bus was the 680 Hexham to Bellingham service. This was operated by Scania 5229 and left with only 2 passengers; an old guy and myself. The journey was excellent with amazing views of the North Tyne Valley. The most people on the bus during the entire journey was only 4. I was surprised that a smaller vehicle such as a Dart had not been used. I was the only passenger who was not a pensioner, the driver had to explain to each person how to use the ticket machine with their concessionary passes. At Acomb there was a small group of irate commuters. They were waiting for the Hexham bus to get to work. It would appear that they were not aware of the change in timetable or operator. We passed through the village of Wark (pronounced Waalk), I was heartened to see that all 3 pubs in the village are still open.

My bus arrived at Bellingham on time and I asked the driver about the Kielder service. To my dismay he said that this service only runs on a Tuesday. I showed him the new timetable with details of PCL’s service but he was none the wiser. With some trepidation I stood outside the Heritage Centre waiting for my connection with PCL Travel. A healthy number of passengers were waiting for the return bus to Hexham.

If you have not visited the Heritage Centre, I strongly recommend it. There are many interesting exhibits on the Border Counties Railway along with the area’s farming and industrial history. The adult admission cost is £4.50 per adult or £8 for a family group. Make sure you check out the phone booths where you can listen to the North Tyne accent. Also ask the staff about the “Robson face”. There is an old railway coach next to Heritage Centre which is used as a café.

Its also worth taking a walk to Hareshaw Lynn which is a beautiful waterfall at the end of a wooded gorge. The path can be pretty muddy though, so take an old pair of boots. If you visit the waterfall, you can walk back into Bellingham down the route of the old mineral railway. You should not attempt this if you are at all afraid of cattle. The beasts have little human contact in this isolated location and come running over the fields towards you in an urge to satisfy their curiosity.

At 10.05 Walton’s Mercedes Benz 614D, SF06YNG pulled into the Heritage Centre car park. I went and asked the driver if this was the Kielder service or if it was just a day trip. It was indeed the Kielder service; PCL had borrowed the bus for the day. This was the driver’s first trip to Kielder, he had just worked the Byrness to Bellingham service. I was the only passenger and we left Bellingham on time. It soon became apparent that the driver did not know the route as we started heading towards to Wark. I had travelled this route a long time ago with Snaiths and had my Ordinance Survey map with me. So with me navigating, we returned to Bellingham and took the correct road.

The journey to Kielder was good and the countryside amazing. The driver was a really friendly guy and we had a good chat on the way. PCL currently have one coach and one minibus. They also operate a fleet of courier vehicles. The owner, Mr Cowell was away on business, sourcing a new vehicle to operate the 5 year contract obtained from Northumberland County Council. This covers a number of former Snaith’s routes and will keep one easy-access minibus busy for most of the working week. We arrived at Kielder on time but could not find the Post Office which is the terminal point of the service. We parked up opposite the remote filling station which I was surprised to see is still open.

I had 45 minutes in Kielder so set out to explore the village. I visited the Forest Enterprise depot where I got some photos of their 16 seat Transit. This operates on a Section 19 Permit and takes visitors on tours of the forest, reservoir and observatory during summer months. Next I found the Post Office and had a look around Kielder Castle which Forest Enterprise use as offices and a visitor centre. The village is in a beautiful location but there’s no mobile phone signal. I also visited former the operating centre of the Kielder Trust. This charity used to run a shopping service to Hawick for the locals using a Ford Transit minibus. The garage has since been converted into a community gym operated by the charity.

We left Kielder on time at 11.25, the driver had in the meantime found a phone box and contacted his boss via landline to get further instructions. I took a short journey to Cranehaugh where I visited the Calvert Trust. This is a charity which provides outdoor adventure holidays for disabled persons. Its set in a lovely valley about half a mile from the reservoir and has numerous wooden chalets. It also has a large climbing wall, zip wires and an aerial assault course. I had such an urge to try the assault course but instead went looking for the charity’s minibus fleet. I was not disappointed; they have 3 minibuses and a midibus which operate on Section 19 Permits. The charity hires out it’s facilities to a number of community groups and schools.

I then walked down to the reservoir and took the waterside path to Tower Knowe visitor centre. This entailed a leisurely walk of about 2 miles. On the way I enjoyed my packed lunch and got some excellent photos of the reservoir. SF06YNG arrived on time at Tower Knowe Road End at 13.37. Again I was the only passenger; the driver had taken a single Eastern European passenger on the outward journey to Kielder. He tried to pay his fare with Mars Bars!

We arrived back at Bellingham on time and I changed to GNE 5229 which was operating the 14.03 680 to Hexham. There were more passengers using this service than in the morning. Again the driver had to keep explaining to each passenger how to use the concessionary pass system. After a pleasant journey in the afternoon sunshine, I alighted at Chollerford and visited the premises of coach operator Jewitts. There were 3 vehicles present which I was able to spot, however the staff did not permit me to take any photos.

I decided to walk to Acomb which was about 3 miles away. I crossed the Tyne at Chollerford and got some good pictures of the majestic broad river. I then walked into the village of Wall using the roadside path. At Wall, I struck across fields teeming with cattle and reached the hamlet of Fallowfield. Next I walked downhill into Acomb along a quiet country lane. At Acomb my first port of call was charity Daybreak Centres. This charity has in the past successfully tendered for contract bus work from NCC. They operate a small fleet of minibuses. They also have facilities at Minsteracres and at Cowgate Peoples’ Centre in Newcastle. They operate Transits in an all over white livery on a Section 19 Permit.

Next I visited the Primrose Coaches (Ian Plumley) garage. The staff were OK about me looking around the yard and I was able to get some good photos. Their yard was full and they have some interesting withdrawn stock at its rear. I walked around to Tyne Valley Coaches and was able to have a good look around the garage. Tyne Valley Coaches is a great place to visit with an interesting fleet. The proprietor is always friendly and welcoming. A number of the vehicles present have now been sold to Mr Plumley but are still kept at the Tyne Valley garage.

My next bus was Dennis Dart 555 operating the 16.10 682 service from Acomb Garage to Hexham. I was the only passenger on this service. When I checked the timetables at Acomb, I noted they had not been amended by NCC to reflect the service changes. The Dart performed OK on the short journey and I alighted at Hexham railway station. From the station I made the short walk to Burn Lane Industrial Estate. Firstly I visited Ecocabs, this operator has expanded markedly recently and there were 9 vehicles at the operating centre. However the premises were locked up and protected by a large bulldog so I could not get any photos. Bateys Taxis was my next port of call, their operating centre is a couple of minutes walk from Ecocabs. There were 4 minibuses present. They have a all over white livery and would appear to used on scholars contracts. One of the minibuses looked like it was withdrawn from service.

ADAPT’s garage was next on my list and I was pleased to see their premises were open. I was able to get some good photos of fleet which is parked in a central courtyard with a number of small business units situated along two sides. GNE’s Hexham depot was my final stop on the industrial estate. There were not many vehicles present, however I did get some shots of Darts and the former training vehicles which are now used on scholars services. I headed into the town centre and walked through the grounds of historic Hexham Abbey on my way.

I did a bit spotting at the bus station and then walked to Priory School. This special school operates two minibuses and I was able to get OK photos as a path runs right past their parking place. I boarded the 17.04 service 10 close to the school. This was operated by |GNE 6076, a Wrightbus bodied Volvo B9. This was a comfortable journey which I took to Prudhoe. On the way we passed Johnson’s operating centre at Mickley Square which had two vehicles present. These were a Mercedes and a Transit.

At Prudhoe, I alighted at the town centre and walked down to Hilary’s operating centre on Castle View. This was the first time I’d visited this operator’s premises and it took some finding. It comprises three separate parking places opposite a row of houses which overlook fields. Mr Hilary was surprised to see someone taking photos of his fleet, but was OK when I explained I was an enthusiast. The fleet comprises 5 vehicles including a King Long. I got directions from Mr Hilary and headed to Rowell Coaches’ depot on the Princess Way Industrial Estate.

Finding Rowell’s depot was easy enough, (its opposite the large Thompsons haulage yard) but it was locked up. I was able to spot the 3 Bovas present through the gates. Ian Plumley of Primrose Coaches also owns Rowells via a limited company. I then walked back upto town through a new housing estate on the site of the old colliery. I passed Prudhoe East Community Centre on the main street. The youth club based there used to operate a small fleet of minibuses, but there were no vehicles present on this occasion.

My final bus of the day was GNE 3963, a Wrightbus bodied Volvo which I took back to Newcastle on the 18.27 10B service. On the way we passed a number of Gateshead Central Taxis Bluebird bodied Fiat Ducatos operating Nexus secured services. There were no problems with the 10B and I arrived back in Newcastle exhausted but on time.

This was an amazing day, with excellent bus journeys, weather and scenery. I would definitely do this trip again and wish GNE and PCL Travel best of luck with their new services. You need a day to recover after it though; the clean air at Kielder knocks you out!

Sorry if this review seemed a bit long, so much to fit into one day. I hope you enjoyed it though.

PS. PCL Travel should have the new vehicle by next week.

Jimmi · 07 Aug 2015, 8:13 pm,

Seem as Go North East were holding a family fun day with See it Do it 5303 in attendance I'd thought I'd make a day of it. Here's what went down.

0823 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham (ANE 7540)
Starting the day on the accidental Sapphire 7 branded Enviro 400. Annoyingly a bin lorry pulled up just in front of the bus stop I was waiting at so I had to stand in the middle of the road to ensure the driver saw me, thankfully he did although had to pull slightly further up the road. When I jumped on there was no-one else on upstairs so for once I got the front seat on the drivers side with the brilliant amount of legroom, two lasses decided to join me at the front who I think were already on the bus (someone must like me!). Pretty standard E400 journey on the 7 although we did arrive in Durham a little late.

0941 20A Durham Bus Station - Sunderland, Barnes Park (GNE 3982)
Well I say 0941, he didn't actually pull on the stand until 0942 and we left Durham Bus Station at 0944! Michael is probably going to think I'm on something here but I thought it was actually fairly fast on straight flat roads which was a good thing thanks to our late departure. Now the thing you are all wondering, how did it get up Houghton Cut? Well, it was struggling to begin with and to make matters worse there was passengers wishing to board at the stop here so we had to set off from a standstill to get up here and it was a pretty poor attempt really. Seemed like everybody was upstairs on this journey, when I jumped off there was only a few on downstairs.

1131 3 Sunderland, Barnes Park - Sunderland, Vine Place (SNE 28009)
After getting some photos in the area including 5303 in Barnes Park I headed for the stop so I could have my first ride on a Stagecoach gas bus, I enjoyed it but it was a really short journey so I can't think of much to say about it really I'm afraid but it seemed nice and also sounded pretty quiet. Hopefully I will be able to get more of a bashing of these another day although it's tricky when you don't know any of the Stagecoach Sunderland routes.

1210 9 Sunderland, Fawcett Street - Jarrow Bus Station (GNE 3879)
Another Vyking on this run, was quite liking this journey as Vyking's are a novelty for me as they don't tend to appear on the Go North East services I normally use so they do provide some novelty factor so I don't normally see them at their worst, I'd hate to have them on a regular basis, someone I know who lives in Chester-Le-Street said he hated the "Pink Angel" buses and claimed they regularly broke down. Anyway back to this journey, I sat at the front upstairs on this journey and I had the whole top deck to myself for the entire journey to Jarrow. Was surprised to see the driver open the centre doors in Jarrow Bus Station, especially as I went out of them and had to shuffle off the stand sideways because of the glass stands giving us not a great deal of space to use.

1332 9 Jarrow Bus Station - North Shields, Rudyerd Street (GNE 5154)
Spent around 45 minutes in Jarrow as I wanted a shot of SimpliCity 8326 on the 9 and to my relief it came back to Jarrow so I got so photos of that and other buses, the things I do for this hobby! Anyway after seeing BusLoverMum's post saying a bus that was on the 9 to North Shields had been taken off in Sunderland I was fearful that I was going to have to throw my plan out of the window as I didn't want to spend another half an hour here, but thankfully 5154 turned up bound for North Shields. Bit shaky when stationary but other than that it wasn't too bad although the seats were a bit hard. Question - do Go North East get charged to have service 9 run through the Tyne Tunnel?

1422 333 North Shields, Rudyerd Street - North Shields Ferry (Phoenix Coaches A20 OJD)
Pretty standard short journey on a Solo really so not a great deal to say although the driver seemed friendly. Was a few passengers on this journey but still plenty of space to sit.

1430 North Shields - South Shields Ferry
Look I know some of you will call it by some fancy name but I don't actually know what you call it. My first time on here so was pretty keen to see what it was like, I sat on the top deck so I could clearly see the views although it was a bit nippy especially as I only had a polo shirt on today but I didn't let the breeze get to me. I decided to tke a photo of a cruise whilst I was on here, not sure if I'll ever bother uploading it to Flickr. Quite enjoyed my journey on this, will have to do it again sometime.

1515 20 South Shields - Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange (GNE 6100)
Saw 3982 enter South Shields at around 1450 and I knew that 6100 was around 20 minutes behind (providing it hadn't been removed) which thankfully it hadn't so I got to have the joy of this back to Sunderland, deep cushioned fabric seats and free WiFi, bliss! Bit shaky on some of the roads out of South Shields but the road surface is terrible, much preferable to my last journey on this section of the 20 route with a branded Solar which sounded like it was going to drop to pieces.

1615 X21/21 Sunderland - Peterlee - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 4812)
Was quite pleased to have this as my ride for the long journey home as this has some brilliant high backed fabric seating was is good when you are spending 90 minutes on this and it also has the provisions of free WiFi (which actually works!). Sad to say this journey left Park Lane with only 3 passengers (including myself) although it arrived with a decent amount though, in fact this whole journey was pretty quiet, I was the only passenger on the 21 at one point.

Well that was my review for todays trip, please make sure to view the photos I got today:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...015/08/07/

Thanks for reading (if you made it this far).

Tom · 07 Aug 2015, 8:22 pm,

I won't quote the whole thing, but Nexus fund the 9 through the tunnel so GNE won't get charged.

Jimmi · 07 Aug 2015, 8:24 pm,

(07 Aug 2015, 8:22 pm)Tom wrote I won't quote the whole thing, but Nexus fund the 9 through the tunnel so GNE won't get charged.

Ah right, was just intrigued as to how that worked. Was a pretty quiet journey to North Shields.

Tom · 07 Aug 2015, 8:28 pm,

(07 Aug 2015, 8:24 pm)Jimmi wrote Ah right, was just intrigued as to how that worked. Was a pretty quiet journey to North Shields.

Yeah, my journey to Sunderland was quite quiet (had 5249 so was happy about that!), and my journey back was pretty busy through the tunnel. Quite a few got off at Percy Main though.

I'm not sure if it would be in operation without the funding from Nexus!

BusLoverMum · 07 Aug 2015, 8:43 pm,

I think that 9 must have dashed off towards Jarrow, empty to make up time.

We're trying again, tomorrow. I'll just have the big one, so waiting around bus stations will be less torturous. No having to leg it after a boy who has just remembered where he saw a lift (lifts have bell buttons in and bell buttons make a great stim, it seems)

I think the X21 portion of that Peterlee-Darlo route suffers from buses to destinations along the route leaving fairly close together. The 61 (which does busiest art of the route before heading off to Murton) the 22 and the X7 all leave in the 10-15 minutes before the X21. The 22 often runs fairly empty along that stretch late afternoon, even on a Saturday (I was going to say quiet, but that's often not the case, even with just a handful of passengers! And those ones always stay on all the way to Wheatley Hill!)

Tom · 07 Aug 2015, 8:46 pm,

(07 Aug 2015, 8:43 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I think that 9 must have dashed off towards Jarrow, empty to make up time.

We're trying again, tomorrow. I'll just have the big one, so waiting around bus stations will be less torturous. No having to leg it after a boy who has just remembered where he saw a lift (lifts have bell buttons in and bell buttons make a great stim, it seems)

I think the X21 portion of that Peterlee-Darlo route suffers from buses to destinations along the route leaving fairly close together. The 61 (which does busiest art of the route before heading off to Murton) the 22 and the X7 all leave in the 10-15 minutes before the X21. The 22 often runs fairly empty along that stretch late afternoon, even on a Saturday (I was going to say quiet, but that's often not the case, even with just a handful of passengers! And those ones always stay on all the way to Wheatley Hill!)

They do that quite often! It's not on really, it'd be okay if it was a Jarrow one, but if your waiting for a North Shields one and it was only five minutes late you shouldn't have to wait 25 minutes for the next one.

BusLoverMum · 07 Aug 2015, 8:55 pm,

(07 Aug 2015, 8:46 pm)Tom wrote They do that quite often! It's not on really, it'd be okay if it was a Jarrow one, but if your waiting for a North Shields one and it was only five minutes late you shouldn't have to wait 25 minutes for the next one.

It left a couple of people pretty confused.

Back to what you mentioned about the Stagecoach bses in Sunderland, Jimmi, when we popped into the See It Do It bus in the park, we were given maps for both GNE and Stagecoach routes. There's a copy of the stagecoach one on their (awful) website, if it's any good to you.

Jimmi · 07 Aug 2015, 8:58 pm,

(07 Aug 2015, 8:43 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I think that 9 must have dashed off towards Jarrow, empty to make up time.

We're trying again, tomorrow. I'll just have the big one, so waiting around bus stations will be less torturous. No having to leg it after a boy who has just remembered where he saw a lift (lifts have bell buttons in and bell buttons make a great stim, it seems)

I think the X21 portion of that Peterlee-Darlo route suffers from buses to destinations along the route leaving fairly close together. The 61 (which does busiest art of the route before heading off to Murton) the 22 and the X7 all leave in the 10-15 minutes before the X21. The 22 often runs fairly empty along that stretch late afternoon, even on a Saturday (I was going to say quiet, but that's often not the case, even with just a handful of passengers! And those ones always stay on all the way to Wheatley Hill!)

The numbers on the 22/23/X21 between Sunderland and Peterlee always seem a bit hit and miss with passenger numbers, some journeys can carry a fair few and others can carry next to nothing, not really done the 22/23 since the X21 was introduced as I no longer have to change in Peterlee so I can't say much about the numbers here these days but the X21 is definitely the worst of the 3 and it is probably largely down to the amount of buses that operate between Peterlee and Sunderland and the Ryhope to Sunderland section will only pick up concession pass holders as many fare paying passengers opt for the more frequent Go North East services.

(07 Aug 2015, 8:46 pm)Tom wrote They do that quite often! It's not on really, it'd be okay if it was a Jarrow one, but if your waiting for a North Shields one and it was only five minutes late you shouldn't have to wait 25 minutes for the next one.

I think it is totally unacceptable that this is happening on North Shields trips with the service only operating this far every half an hour and is the only service to North Shields in these areas so I think to leave passengers in Sunderland because it was running about 5 minutes late is **** poor really!

Tom · 07 Aug 2015, 9:03 pm,

(07 Aug 2015, 8:58 pm)Jimmi wrote I think it is totally unacceptable that this is happening on North Shields trips with the service only operating this far every half an hour and is the only service to North Shields in these areas so I think to leave passengers in Sunderland because it was running about 5 minutes late is **** poor really!

Yeah I could understand if it was 20+ minutes late!

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