(01 Jan 2016, 10:01 pm)GMitchelhill wrote Hey I managed to go from Newcastle to Antwerp for a £12 return on the Megabus in 2014.

As for Notts and Derby, they only look down at heel because they're Wellglades low cost unit in the Derby area.

Yes, I see your point about Notts and Derby.

They are the cheap alternative. Kind of along the same corridor as Trent on most routes, I thing the lack of funding from their parent company (TrentBarton - Who bought out the Wellglade Group) is a deliberate thing, to try and make TB look even better.

As for YourBus, the less said about them the better. I seen one driver yesterday wearing a top hat and another a flat cap and t-shirt.

(01 Jan 2016, 10:05 pm)Adrian wrote You deserve a medal for spending that long on a coach.

Worst I ever did was when I went to see The Killers at Wembley, left Middlesbrough Bus Station at around 09:15 in the morning, arrived at Wembley at around 15:00, left Wembley at around midnight as one of the passengers didn't return to the coach, so we ended up leaving her and the bloke she was with behind. We arrived back in Middlesbrough at around 05:15, so apart from a few brief dozes off I was pretty much awake for 24 hours, ugh! It wasn't owt fancy either, it was a slightly old small Mercedes coach, apparently all the good coaches that day were at Robbie Williams

(01 Jan 2016, 10:08 pm)LeeCalder wrote Yes, I see your point about Notts and Derby.

They are the cheap alternative. Kind of along the same corridor as Trent on most routes, I thing the lack of funding from their parent company (TrentBarton - Who bought out the Wellglade Group) is a deliberate thing, to try and make TB look even better.

As for YourBus, the less said about them the better. I seen one driver yesterday wearing a top hat and another a flat cap and t-shirt.

If you are down that way again, maybe worth coming back up the A1.

These have a decent set up.
http://www.marshallscoaches.co.uk/services.html

(01 Jan 2016, 7:48 pm)Jimmi wrote I do have to admit I was intrested in lampposts when I was younger (not sure why) but I was fascinated when a bulb would go and always eager to see them be replaced. Yeah, I was a strange child, I'm still pretty strange now.


I'm not a fan of the show, as I've made clear in the past, but even people I know who do like the show thought the film was terrible.

Ditto.

Not a fan of the show at all.

(01 Jan 2016, 10:15 pm)Andreos1 wrote If you are down that way again, maybe worth coming back up the A1.

These have a decent set up.
http://www.marshallscoaches.co.uk/services.html

Yes, I've seen a bit of Marshall's in the past and it appears they do have a cracking set up!

One thing I noticed yesterday, whilst taking a 'minor' detour via Barnsley was Tates Travel. Most companies will try and cover up their problems... not Tate'ss though. I seen an MPD with Green, White, Blue and Red panels!

(01 Jan 2016, 10:30 pm)Andreos1 wrote Ditto.

Not a fan of the show at all.

Watched it once and wasn't particularly keen on it, after seeing it I was in the mindest of 'I don't like it but other people will', but I went on to full on hate it once people who like the show wouldn't respect my opinions for not liking the show, some people even thought that there was seriously something wrong with me mentally because I didn't like it, they'd be right by saying there is something wrong with me mentally, but it does not really relate to my taste in TV shows.

(01 Jan 2016, 10:37 pm)Jimmi wrote Watched it once and wasn't particularly keen on it, after seeing it I was in the mindest of 'I don't like it but other people will', but I went on to full on hate it once people who like the show wouldn't respect my opinions for not liking the show, some people even thought that there was seriously something wrong with me mentally because I didn't like it, they'd be right by saying there is something wrong with me mentally, but it does not really relate to my taste in TV shows.

In any situation, calling someone's intellect or mental health into question for not enjoying a particular TV program is overkill, at best.

I can see why some people enjoy the Irish mammie aspect, but it leaves me cold.

Now romesh ranganathan as Donald trump...

(01 Jan 2016, 11:09 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Now romesh ranganathan as Donald trump...

Is that on again or is it just a repeat? The second repeat if it is.

(01 Jan 2016, 11:07 pm)BusLoverMum wrote In any situation, calling someone's intellect or mental health into question for not enjoying a particular TV program is overkill, at best.

I can see why some people enjoy the Irish mammie aspect, but it leaves me cold.

I remember loads of people kicking right off when the beeb opted out of a (Repeat) episode to announce the death of Nelson Mandela.

(01 Jan 2016, 11:14 pm)S813 FVK wrote Is that on again or is it just a repeat? The second repeat if it is.

It's on 4seven right now, chances are it has been on several times.

(01 Jan 2016, 10:05 pm)Adrian wrote You deserve a medal for spending that long on a coach.

Had to change in London and each wait in London was a few hours. Plus coach between London and Antwerp, we got to wander around the Le shuttle train, I even got photos of the coach onboard the train.

Mind we had plenty of time off the coach coming back to blighty because it took that long to go through customs.

(01 Jan 2016, 10:08 pm)LeeCalder wrote As for YourBus, the less said about them the better. I seen one driver yesterday wearing a top hat and another a flat cap and t-shirt.

As I've said before - all operators have good sides, and bad sides too.

I know enthusiasts who live further down that way who can give a list as long as their arm about how bad Trent Barton are, and regularly make fun of their "really good" slogan. Their 'mango' ticketing system used to be (not sure if it still is) an absolute farce, according to these enthusiasts.

 I can't really comment having never experienced either operation for myself, but Yourbus have a fairly modern and presentable fleet. I see fewer photos of Yourbus' fleet looking scruffy than I do Trent Barton's. Trent's investment last year into new coaches and Volvo B8RLEs was, for lack of a better compliment, 'really good', though, and these buses really do look the part. I'd imagine it would massively improve reliability of the services, too.

(02 Jan 2016, 9:32 am)Dan wrote As I've said before - all operators have good sides, and bad sides too.

I know enthusiasts who live further down that way who can give a list as long as their arm about how bad Trent Barton are, and regularly make fun of their "really good" slogan. Their 'mango' ticketing system used to be (not sure if it still is) an absolute farce, according to these enthusiasts.

 I can't really comment having never experienced either operation for myself, but Yourbus have a fairly modern and presentable fleet. I see fewer photos of Yourbus' fleet looking scruffy than I do Trent Barton's. Trent's investment last year into new coaches and Volvo B8RLEs was, for lack of a better compliment, 'really good', though, and these buses really do look the part. I'd imagine it would massively improve reliability of the services, too.

Of course they do, that's common knowledge.

I can list many of TrentBarton's negatives having lived a few years in Tutbury in Hatton. However, in my opinion the positives outweigh the negatives. I could list negatives for each operator in the North East arm long if I wanted to, however, I won't because it will give you something else to criticise me about ;-)

I myself have a Mango card and use it every time I am down there, including on Thursday, have I ever had any problems with it? No.

YourBus if I'm honest to appear to be flagging. They run a service down every coridor TB do, including 'indigo', 'Red Arrow' and Heanor's H1' (Which won Brand of the Year)

Their fleet is quite tatty, and their drivers presentation doesn't appear to be too good. Let's have a comparison....

I'd also like to point out that I didn't see a single 'odd' panel whist in Nottingham, Hucknall, Heanor or Derby.

(02 Jan 2016, 9:59 am)LeeCalder wrote Of course they do, that's common knowledge.

I can list many of TrentBarton's negatives having lived a few years in Tutbury in Hatton. However, in my opinion the positives outweigh the negatives. I could list negatives for each operator in the North East arm long if I wanted to, however, I won't because it will give you something else to criticise me about ;-)

I myself have a Mango card and use it every time I am down there, including on Thursday, have I ever had any problems with it? No.

YourBus if I'm honest to appear to be flagging. They run a service down every coridor TB do, including 'indigo', 'Red Arrow' and Heanor's H1' (Which won Brand of the Year)

Their fleet is quite tatty, and their drivers presentation doesn't appear to be too good. Let's have a comparison....

I'd also like to point out that I didn't see a single 'odd' panel whist in Nottingham, Hucknall, Heanor or Derby.

You wouldn't be criticised - but you would undoubtedly see a difference of opinion, with others giving opposing views.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with competing corridors. Competition, more often than not, delivers benefits to customers. You can use your local knowledge to back that up - Go North East implemented a competing service on the Tyne Valley corridor with free Wi-Fi and cheaper fares for anyone coming into Hexham or Newcastle on another Go North East service; and more recently, all of Go North East's "Coaster" branded Scania OmniCitys being given a deep clean (however substandard you think this this treatment is - it cost money!) and free Wi-Fi. You could suggest that, without competition on the route, this may not have been implemented as soon as it has been.

You can't do anything about accident damage - especially when it's not blameworthy of the company. The location of the missing branding on the Yourbus vehicle would certainly suggest a third party collided with the vehicle. I can only comment on Go North East's internal process for recording and re-applying missing branding, but it all takes time (and costs money!) I was really referring to the cleanliness of Yourbus' fleet and comparing that to Trent Barton's - I'm not sure whether it's to do with Trent's buses being brightly coloured drawing greater attention to dirt, but they really do seem to have the same problem as Go North East in that respect.

To be fair, YourBus take competition to a new level. All of their commercial services, apart from service Y10, are competition to another route...

Y1 - Competition to TrentBarton's H1
Y3 - Competition to TrentBarton's Ilkeston Flyer
Y4 - Competition to the Nottingham - Sandiacre/Stapleford (where some of TrentBarton's i4 services also terminate) section of TrentBarton's i4
Y5 - Competition to TrentBarton's indigo (the 5 coming from the fact that the TrentBarton service was called rainbow 5 before receiving the B7RLEs it uses today)
Y28 - Competition to Nottingham City Transport's 28
Y36 - Competition to Nottingham City Transport's 36

The competition against TrentBarton's Red Arrow, Citylink, was withdrawn simply because it wasn't doing well - other things will be included too.

I have checked the websites to make sure they are pretty much a match and they are - all other services that are operated by YourBus are contracted, hence why i haven't included those if any are indeed competitive routes.

(01 Jan 2016, 8:59 pm)Jimmi wrote I'm bad enough talking to one person at times, never mind a group!

I am a quiet person, as two enthusiasts I know were discussing between themselves yesterday. If they are reading this, I'm not bothered, I know that I say very little but the truth is I want to be more talkative but struggle to do so. Oh and I still haven't done anything to my Facebook, as I still seem to be unable to go and find my friends on there.

Took you long enough to talk to me when we met at Dalton Park earlier in the year, you hardly said more than 2 words to me on the 202

(01 Jan 2016, 9:25 pm)Adrian wrote Best way. You get to see a lot more interesting stock by travelling around a bit! Unfortunately there'll always be people that don't appreciate what's not on their door step.

I'd love to do Dublin one day. I was down Derby not so long ago, and found things a bit average. Arriva had some interesting stock down there, but I'd probably want to do it again in the summer and explore a bit more.

Hoping to get some pics in Belfast this year if I go for my uncles half century

(01 Jan 2016, 10:37 pm)Jimmi wrote Watched it once and wasn't particularly keen on it, after seeing it I was in the mindest of 'I don't like it but other people will', but I went on to full on hate it once people who like the show wouldn't respect my opinions for not liking the show, some people even thought that there was seriously something wrong with me mentally because I didn't like it, they'd be right by saying there is something wrong with me mentally, but it does not really relate to my taste in TV shows.

I cant believe you don't like Mrs Brown, you must be mental...

Kidding...Each to there own

(01 Jan 2016, 11:15 pm)Jimmi wrote I remember loads of people kicking right off when the beeb opted out of a (Repeat) episode to announce the death of Nelson Mandela.

Bloody Mandela disrupting TV schedules

(01 Jan 2016, 11:29 pm)GMitchelhill wrote Had to change in London and each wait in London was a few hours. Plus coach between London and Antwerp, we got to wander around the Le shuttle train, I even got photos of the coach onboard the train.

Mind we had plenty of time off the coach coming back to blighty because it took that long to go through customs.

I used to goto France, Belgium and Luxembourg 4 times a week on a coach, did it for months...

Was not exactly legal as I was smuggling cigarettes, baccy and alcohol into the Country...

I pretty much lived on one coach or another for about 6 month

(02 Jan 2016, 10:26 am)S813 FVK wrote To be fair, YourBus take competition to a new level. All of their commercial services, apart from service Y10, are competition to another route...

But my point still stands - what, from a customer perspective, is bad about this? The only thing I can come up with is that, if the service doesn't come off, it will ultimately be withdrawn (a local comparison would be Go North East's OK1).

Trent Barton and Nottingham City Transport must have been doing something wrong on these corridors, for the powers that be at Yourbus to spot a big enough gap in the market to take a risk in operating a competing service on this corridor.

Go North East spotted a gap in the market for an express service between Newcastle and Hexham, because their established services weren't particularly fast and Arriva's 685 service suffered from reliability issues (be that related to timing with services regularly running late or vehicles suffering breakdowns and leaving passengers stranded). Stagecoach's offering on the 685 service at the time was operated by high-floor coaches, too, so the services weren't always accessible. The company took the risk on the basis that they had local 'feeder' services in the area already, and it definitely does seem to have paid off given that the service is still around over two years later, with relatively few timetable changes...

(02 Jan 2016, 10:26 am)S813 FVK wrote To be fair, YourBus take competition to a new level. All of their commercial services, apart from service Y10, are competition to another route...

Y1 - Competition to TrentBarton's H1
Y3 - Competition to TrentBarton's Ilkeston Flyer
Y4 - Competition to the Nottingham - Sandiacre/Stapleford (where some of TrentBarton's i4 services also terminate) section of TrentBarton's i4
Y5 - Competition to TrentBarton's indigo (the 5 coming from the fact that the TrentBarton service was called rainbow 5 before receiving the B7RLEs it uses today)
Y28 - Competition to Nottingham City Transport's 28
Y36 - Competition to Nottingham City Transport's 36

The competition against TrentBarton's Red Arrow, Citylink, was withdrawn simply because it wasn't doing well - other things will be included too.

I have checked the websites to make sure they are pretty much a match and they are - all other services that are operated by YourBus are contracted, hence why i haven't included those if any are indeed competitive routes.

I remember not so long ago, BBC East Midlands Today done a piece on YourBus, and how they had an almost identical timetable to that of TrentBarton.

I remember YourBus declined to comment... so the Beep slated the hell out of them on the piece.

(02 Jan 2016, 10:36 am)LeeCalder wrote I remember not so long ago, BBC East Midlands Today done a piece on YourBus, and how they had an almost identical timetable to that of TrentBarton.

I remember YourBus declined to comment... so the Beep slated the hell out of them on the piece.

The article that I believe you're referring to is below - when Trent Barton had a marketing campaign which involved giving commuters free breakfast:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-der...e-23663131

A link to this article was originally posted here. Funny looking back at Andreos1's comment, with the knowledge that Go North East have had a 'coffee bike' for marketing events at bus stations along the routes of services which received investment in 2014. Comments regarding coffee being allowed on buses were made at the time of these events, if I remember correctly, and Go North East stated that hot drinks were permitted on buses as long as it has a lid.

Go North East: #Fab56 Coffee by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

(02 Jan 2016, 10:36 am)LeeCalder wrote I remember not so long ago, BBC East Midlands Today done a piece on YourBus, and how they had an almost identical timetable to that of TrentBarton.

I remember YourBus declined to comment... so the Beep slated the hell out of them on the piece.

Is it this one? 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OLvUuVGDdrE

(02 Jan 2016, 10:39 am)Dan wrote The article that I believe you're referring to is below - when Trent Barton had a marketing campaign which involved giving commuters free breakfast:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-der...e-23663131

A link to this article was originally posted here. Funny looking back at Andreos1's comment, with the knowledge that Go North East have had a 'coffee bike' for marketing events at bus stations along the routes of services which received investment in 2014. Comments regarding coffee being allowed on buses were made at the time of these events, if I remember correctly, and Go North East stated that hot drinks were permitted on buses as long as it has a lid.

Go North East: #Fab56 Coffee by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

I would want a Full Monty Full English if our bus companies offered free breakfast being the big fat greedy bastard I am

(02 Jan 2016, 10:30 am)MrFozz wrote Took you long enough to talk to me when we met at Dalton Park earlier in the year, you hardly said more than 2 words to me on the 202

If I remember rightly, I was awfully quiet when I first met you at Dalton Park that day, but I think I got better as the day went on.

If I end up on a outing with two or more other enthusiasts, I tend to say not as much, for example I thought I was a bit quiet when I was up in Edinburgh back in September with Adrian and Marcus plus we later bumped into Malarkey and I just couldn't seem to get a word in edgeways, although it can be tricky if you are on a outing with Marcus

---

Well I woke up at 8am and my legs were still not feeling the best, so I ended up going back to bed. May still go out later if I feel like it, but it's not looking like I will be.

(01 Jan 2016, 11:14 pm)S813 FVK wrote Is that on again or is it just a repeat? The second repeat if it is.

It was on 4 7. Watched it after my dad went to bed. My mum giggles at it, but dad simply doesn't get it!

And thanks to this thread I dreamt last night that, after dropping little'un off at school, I somehow ended up in uttoxeter, so walked to the bus station ( didn't think to stop and check if the rude butcher was still there) to take some pics for big'un. My hopes of catching the TB bus to Derby were scuppered by a load of school buses, including, mysteriously, a pygalls one

People on Flickr today.

Had all sorts of randoms favouring my photo of 7412 today, the ones doing it purely to boost their views. Plus I've been getting invitations to add pretty much all my photos of Pulsars to a new group, and Pulsars feature very heavily on my Flickr so it is really annoying pressing 'accept invitation' for every photo and I know for a fact he hasn't found all of them yet!

My sister. I'm trying to watch the Everton VS Tottenham match but she keeps walking in front of me and when she isn't she won't shut her gob!

Fifa 16 is a rip off! For Christmas, my parents bought me a "Deluxe Edition" which meant I was suppost to be getting 40 free Premium Gold Packs, and as I redeemed the code on a Sarurday, and the fact I recived two packs last Saturday (Not yesterday, Saturday last week) but I've not recived yesterday's yet!

Not more annoying, just find it distressful really. Just a lad I was chatting to, as decided to block me, I know i can post a lot of stuff especially when boredom gets to me. But argh *bangs head off wall*

First day back to work, and lo and behold... Delays systemwide on the the Tyne & Wear Metro network.

12 minutes late at 0615 in the morning is an absolute farce - technical fault or no technical fault!

(04 Jan 2016, 6:18 am)Dan wrote First day back to work, and lo and behold... Delays systemwide on the the Tyne & Wear Metro network.

12 minutes late at 0615 in the morning is an absolute farce - technical fault or no technical fault!

Guess it could be worse...