Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - January 2017

(31 Dec 2016, 11:45 am)S813 FVK wrote Its not a significant item but 5378 has gained a Colour RN front display: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dansnorthe...ateposted/

Zooming in also shows the annoyance with this type of display in Helen - the colour of the route number doesn't seem able to be changed on its own and the background colour must be changed too which, in this case, would be black.

This is actually just a standard 144x19 display - not Colour RN.

The 144x19 displays are split up into four different panels. The original display in 5378 was found to be defective so returned to Hanover for repair, and replaced with a colour RN display which has had its colour RN panel replaced by a standard white LED panel (ie similar to the one which is in Versa 5390).

The colour of the boards is slightly lighter on the Colour RN and white displays, compared to the standard amber, which is why it appears to have a black background.

The Colour RN displays are more susceptible to faults, and as Go North East only use the Colour RN displays to show a white route number now (excluding Quaylink - although that's likely to change soon), these are now just being replaced with standard white panels. These show the white route numbers more clearly as it's not a multicoloured LED trying to 'mimic' the white colour. Other buses to have received the white panels recently include 5246 and 6089:

Go North East 5246 NK56KHR by R855 PRG, on Flickr

Go North East: 6089 / NL63 YHS by Lee  Calder, on Flickr

Looks like we have more new coaches arriving this year, as Dan has wrote on his picture of  7098.

"This vehicle is still allocated to Go North East's Coaching Unit and carries National Express fleet names. It is destined to be replaced next year, with the arrival of further new Volvo B11R/Caetano Levante 2 coaches".

https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgrah...ateposted/

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Any idea when the first set of "Blue" Streetlite's will arrive?, the ones at Heysham Docks, i know somewhere spotted at Wrights too.

I was thinking last night:

What is the PVR of the X6/X7? I'm tempted to say 4 but i'm wondering if it is just 3 like the X7 was before the changes.

If 4, this leaves Peterlee with just 2 spare vehicles, the two indiGo vehicles, unless one of these has been added to the 202 etc following the extension to Station Town in which case, it would only be one spare and it isn't like they can use 603 either. I would, therefore, suggest that two of the indiGo SRs are repainted into the corporate livery to reduce the number of 'wrong brand' allocations happening on the services without having to loan buses from Deptford.

(01 Jan 2017, 12:13 pm)Michael wrote Any idea when the first set of "Blue" Streetlite's will arrive?, the ones at Heysham Docks, i know somewhere spotted at Wrights too.

I hope Santa has provided enthusiasts with new tents - they'll need to be pitching them up outside of Saltmeadows Road Depot next week!

(01 Jan 2017, 12:23 pm)S813 FVK wrote I was thinking last night:

What is the PVR of the X6/X7? I'm tempted to say 4 but i'm wondering if it is just 3 like the X7 was before the changes.

If 4, this leaves Peterlee with just 2 spare vehicles, the two indiGo vehicles, unless one of these has been added to the 202 etc following the extension to Station Town in which case, it would only be one spare and it isn't like they can use 603 either. I would, therefore, suggest that two of the indiGo SRs are repainted into the corporate livery to reduce the number of 'wrong brand' allocations happening on the services without having to loan buses from Deptford.

indiGo East Durham - 12
Wear Xpress - 4
Nexus 168 - 1

There is no longer a dedicated spare bus for the Wear Xpress - in the event that a branded vehicle is unavailable for service, it should be covered by an indiGo branded Optare Solo until Deptford is able to provide Peterlee a bus.

5336 has been on loan to Peterlee since 29/12/2016, and 628 has also been on loan to Peterlee since 30/12/2016, for that purpose.

Although it's unlikely to happen; I personally would prefer to see two of Peterlee's "indiGo" branded Optare Solos to be exchanged with two of Percy Main's former "Nexus" branded Optare Solos, with these two undergoing repaint into the new corporate livery. This would reduce the need for Deptford to provide spare vehicles on the day as quickly as possible, and it would mean that Percy Main would have sufficient 'correct spec' vehicles to cover the PVR, with two of the older former "Nexus" branded examples being the spares.

(01 Jan 2017, 12:34 pm)Dan wrote I hope Santa has provided enthusiasts with new tents - they'll need to be pitching them up outside of Saltmeadows Road Depot next week!

Me too!

Do you know how many will arrive?

(01 Jan 2017, 12:40 pm)Michael wrote Me too!

Do you know how many will arrive?

I would assume the three which are at Heysham Docks at the moment.

(01 Jan 2017, 12:34 pm)Dan wrote I hope Santa has provided enthusiasts with new tents - they'll need to be pitching them up outside of Saltmeadows Road Depot next week!

I'll just go round after college one day

(01 Jan 2017, 12:42 pm)Dan wrote I would assume the three which are at Heysham Docks at the moment.

Ah right, thought those at Wrights might of made the journey to Heysham docks too.

(01 Jan 2017, 12:46 pm)Michael wrote Ah right, thought those at Wrights might of made the journey to Heysham docks too.

I believe the factory is shut down over the Christmas period - so they won't have been worked on since Friday 23rd December.

(01 Jan 2017, 12:34 pm)Dan wrote indiGo East Durham - 12
Wear Xpress - 4
Nexus 168 - 1

There is no longer a dedicated spare bus for the Wear Xpress - in the event that a branded vehicle is unavailable for service, it should be covered by an indiGo branded Optare Solo until Deptford is able to provide Peterlee a bus.

5336 has been on loan to Peterlee since 29/12/2016, and 628 has also been on loan to Peterlee since 30/12/2016, for that purpose.

Although it's unlikely to happen; I personally would prefer to see two of Peterlee's "indiGo" branded Optare Solos to be exchanged with two of Percy Main's former "Nexus" branded Optare Solos, with these two undergoing repaint into the new corporate livery. This would reduce the need for Deptford to provide spare vehicles on the day as quickly as possible, and it would mean that Percy Main would have sufficient 'correct spec' vehicles to cover the PVR, with two of the older former "Nexus" branded examples being the spares.

Thought it was probably 4 - the X6 seems to take too long for them to get away with 3.

In an ideal situation, yes, it would be good to see the indiGo North Tyne services to have a full allocation with the same features. Either that or, once the changes are deemed to be successful, at least 2 of the ex-Nexus vehicles are fitted with WiFi with the possibility of Next Stop Announcement systems.

My nephew got more lego than he could ever need for Xmas....just in case the GNE engineers need any spares for the Streetlite

(01 Jan 2017, 5:06 pm)Ambassador wrote My nephew got more lego than he could ever need for Xmas....just in case the GNE engineers need any spares for the Streetlite

*yawn*

(01 Jan 2017, 5:06 pm)Ambassador wrote My nephew got more lego than he could ever need for Xmas....just in case the GNE engineers need any spares for the Streetlite

The majority of them are made of Plastic, So it would come in handy

(01 Jan 2017, 5:10 pm)Michael wrote *yawn*

Past your bedtime dear?

(01 Jan 2017, 5:55 pm)Ambassador wrote Past your bedtime dear?

Well i was out till 5am this morning............ but no, sick of hearing about the Streetlites, the forum has read about that they're rubbish about a 100 times now, it's getting boring....

But it was quite funny and there's nowt wrong with a bit of humour. Happy New Year.

(01 Jan 2017, 8:40 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote But it was quite funny and there's nowt wrong with a bit of humour. Happy New Year.

Wasn't saying that, there's nothing wrong with humour but when people say the same stuff about the Streetlites over and over..  It gets really boring......

6004 is being recovered from Eldon Square Bus Station by Ian Bradley. Stands A & B are out of service while 6004 is being uplifted.

(03 Jan 2017, 3:31 pm)GuyParkRoyal wrote 6004 is being recovered from Eldon Square Bus Station by Ian Bradley. Stands A & B are out of service while 6004 is being uplifted.

A question that has always bugged me is why do GNE use private recovery contractors such as Ian Bradley or Alpha Recovery, when they have their own fully equipped Scania recovery vehicle based at Riverside. Unless, of course that is VOR too.

(03 Jan 2017, 3:50 pm)a718abb wrote A question that has always bugged me is why do GNE use private recovery contractors such as Ian Bradley or Alpha Recovery, when they have their own fully equipped Scania recovery vehicle based at Riverside. Unless, of course that is VOR too.

The only depot that seem to use the own recovery truck is the riverside buses. Even on boxing day my friend saw alpha towing in a bus to percy main. Surely it would be cheaper to use there own wrecker

(03 Jan 2017, 7:33 pm)dannygee wrote The only depot that seem to use the own recovery truck is the riverside buses. Even on boxing day my friend saw alpha towing in a bus to percy main. Surely it would be cheaper to use there own wrecker

Only a handful of Riverside engineers are trained on using the Scania recovery truck.

Whether 1001 will attend to another depot's vehicle will depend on if Riverside have sufficient staff to release one of their engineers to attend to another depot's vehicle - that engineer would be away for a very long period of time, as they would have to drive the recovery truck to the place where the bus has broken down, return that bus to its home depot, and then return back to Riverside.

On Boxing Day; Riverside operated with skeleton engineering staff, so it definitely wouldn't have been practical for Riverside to attend to a Percy Main breakdown.

(03 Jan 2017, 8:05 pm)Dan wrote Only a handful of Riverside engineers are trained on using the Scania recovery truck.

Whether 1001 will attend to another depot's vehicle will depend on if Riverside have sufficient staff to release one of their engineers to attend to another depot's vehicle - that engineer would be away for a very long period of time, as they would have to drive the recovery truck to the place where the bus has broken down, return that bus to its home depot, and then return back to Riverside.

On Boxing Day; Riverside operated with skeleton engineering staff, so it definitely wouldn't have been practical for Riverside to attend to a Percy Main breakdown.

Surely it would be a lot more cost effective by training more people on the truck so it can attend any go north east break down

(03 Jan 2017, 9:36 pm)dannygee wrote Surely it would be a lot more cost effective by training more people on the truck so it can attend any go north east break down

But you still only have 1 tow truck.

Bishop depot used to have its own wrecker (breakdown truck) from OK days. Which I've been both towed in by and driven it to breakdowns. Think it was WAJ 600Y or something like that

(04 Jan 2017, 1:25 pm)pdiddy wrote Bishop depot used to have its own wrecker (breakdown truck) from OK days. Which I've been both towed in by and driven it to breakdowns. Think it was WAJ 600Y or something like that

I remember the days of central bus station when OK occupied the entrance bus stand and the OK breakdown truck towing the bus away on regular basis, especially when VOSA was visiting.


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(03 Jan 2017, 9:36 pm)dannygee wrote Surely it would be a lot more cost effective by training more people on the truck so it can attend any go north east break down

You've got the initial expense of the training, releasing more fitters at once. This continual training cost would offset the one-off instances of hiring another breakdown wrecker out; especially if it's infrequent - with an ever decreasing average fleet age I would say there would be less breakdowns too?

5439 has been repainted into the new corporate livery:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/31...ateposted/

What are the passenger numbers like on the X6/X7?

(04 Jan 2017, 7:59 pm)Michael wrote What are the passenger numbers like on the X6/X7?

I used the X6 today and it was almost full leaving Hartlepool (one of the indiGo Solos was allocated).

Leaving Peterlee, it had myself and a few others on. Leaving Seaham towards Sunderland, just two.

Early days yet but impressive on the Hartlepool stretch by all accounts. Have a feeling it's taking away from the X5 though.

(04 Jan 2017, 8:01 pm)Dan wrote I used the X6 today and it was almost full leaving Hartlepool (one of the indiGo Solos was allocated).

Leaving Peterlee, it had myself and a few others on. Leaving Seaham towards Sunderland, just two.

Early days yet but impressive on the Hartlepool stretch by all accounts. Have a feeling it's taking away from the X5 though.

That's good, wonder if it's taking people away from Arriva too? 

I haven't seen the X5 so can't comment on the numbers, maybe the Citaro's will bring more people to use it, will the X5 gain WIFI like the X6/X7?