(09 Feb 2017, 4:14 pm)Tom wrote They are cutting the Newcastle services more than Sunderland it seems!
18 getting removed from Wallsend doesn't surprise me though, everyone seems to get on the Q3 now. And they should be making changes to the 22 as that service is a joke, should swap the 12 and 22 around so they aren't running in 2s as much (i.e have the 12 going to Cobalt instead of the 22) and have a longer layover.
(09 Feb 2017, 4:36 pm)Dan wrote It seems the rumours were true last year that Newcastle facing cuts would follow after Sunderland!
I've heard that the service which Arriva put into Cobalt late last year is to be removed from Cobalt again in their next set of service changes.
It seems Arriva and Stagecoach both underestimate the volume of traffic in the Cobalt area and their timetables don't allow a great deal of recovery time.
(09 Feb 2017, 4:14 pm)Tom wrote They are cutting the Newcastle services more than Sunderland it seems!
18 getting removed from Wallsend doesn't surprise me though, everyone seems to get on the Q3 now. And they should be making changes to the 22 as that service is a joke, should swap the 12 and 22 around so they aren't running in 2s as much (i.e have the 12 going to Cobalt instead of the 22) and have a longer layover.
(09 Feb 2017, 8:10 pm)Michael wrote Had a proper look through the changes and i don't really know Newcastle so that's why i'm not giving feedback.
Is there any positive proposed changes?
(09 Feb 2017, 8:50 pm)markydh wrote No is the short answer to that one. Not a single change could be deemed as positive. The peripheral routes are having a sythe taken to them and the truck routes are seeing reductions or nonsensical route changes. M
(09 Feb 2017, 8:57 pm)HarryCowans4041 wrote These changes when you look closely are actually incredible in terms of the scale of the cuts. Here is my very rough calculation of PVRs before and after the changes. To describe this as a major cull would be an understatement.
Service 1: 15 to 14
Service 6/7/8: 9 to 8 (despite the extension)
Service 15: 4 to 2
Service 18: 4 to 3
Service 32: 7 to 4
Service 39/40: 11 to 10
Service 62/63: No change or possibly minus 1
Service 71: 3 to 3 (n/c)
Service 72: 2 to 1
Service 87: 1 to 1 (n/c)
Service 88: 1 to 0
Service 100: 4 to 3
Service X47: 5 to 3
Service X82: 3 to 2
So looks like at the very least, minus 15 PVR - making Sunderland's recent cuts seem like a drop in the ocean.
Some of the above make sense - for example the 1 between Coach Lane and FLE is not well used, and the eastern section of the 32 tends to be less well used than the western section. Nevertheless, regulars on the X47/X82 and 71/72/87/88 will notice the difference. Quite staggering that Benton Park Road between South Gosforth and FLE (past DWP Benton Park View) will be unserved by any Stagecoach service. At one time in the early 1990s this section had 2bph on the 7, 2bph on the 16 and 6bph on the 38.
If Stagecoach are determined to make such a radical cull, I would suggest that putting it out to public consultation will have very little effect on the eventual outcome.
(09 Feb 2017, 9:09 pm)Andreos1 wrote I can't remember the depot allocation for these routes off the top of my head.
What is the depot split like? Is one losing more than the other?
(09 Feb 2017, 9:09 pm)Andreos1 wrote I can't remember the depot allocation for these routes off the top of my head.
What is the depot split like? Is one losing more than the other?
(09 Feb 2017, 8:59 pm)Michael wrote , not good then.
Hopefully they all don't go ahead but that seems unlikely because all of the Sunderland ones went ahead.
(09 Feb 2017, 11:49 pm)markydh wrote The one proposal that may get binned is the plan to reroute the 63 via Cowgate. The wording in the consultation suggests even Stagecoach aren't totally sure about that one. We'll see. I've already spoken to a couple of councillors who are flabbergasted. Buses Bill can't come soon enough!
(09 Feb 2017, 11:36 pm)Ambassador wrote The changes aren't a huge surprise. Newcastle has a fairly untouched and unchanged stale network in Stagecoach terms.
It's never really had a full change since the Busways takeover. A few cosmetic snips here and there.
The likes of the 22 and X63 being left alone probably says more for commercial partnership with Cobalt and Quorum more than anything.
The huge issue is the traffic around Newcastle that barring huge investment in infrastructure you aren't going to solve, Newcastle is a growing big city and it's beginning to show as commuters move out towards subabrbs to live and work in but still commute through the city centre. Sunderland just doesn't compare
(10 Feb 2017, 12:14 am)markydh wrote The reason the 63 is a strange one is because they are giving Fenham no direct link to the city centre. There are several schools and a uni hall of residence. The 63 is always packed at peak times and many do use it as a through service. It isn't saving any buses by rerouting so it's strange. Not only are they leaving parts of Fenham with no (fast) route to the centre, they are leaving Cowgate with no link to the station! There's no logic to it, really. These are the first major changes proposed since 2003. Incidentally, there's a difference between interregional hub and spoke of GNE and trying that concept within a relatively small city. We shall see what happens.
Oh, as a taxpayer and a bus user, I am more than happy to 'subsidise' routes that my council has full control over but that is a debate for the other thread ;-)