(10 May 2017, 12:59 pm)Venturego wrote Timetable also includes service no. M6 along with M7 & M8 under this brand.

I think it looks amateurish (as do many GNE brands) IMO should have extended Venture, with maybe a sub/tag line for these services: "Venture into the Metro Centre" and include "intu Metro Centre" brand within this cant strip if intu are paying advertising monies/promotional spend.

I disagree. I think Go North East's brands have actually improved, no more of that awful branding we saw a few years ago on the Crusader when the Mercs first transferred over (which still served its purpose, that must be said!).

I don't think the services wouldn't work in the Venture brand unless they were to be renumbered V6/V7/V8. I admit it would have been a good opportunity to tidy the Venture vehicles up. I would like to see service 30 removed from the brand meaning that it was present in Consett only but this is unlikely to happen any time soon.

(10 May 2017, 2:57 pm)Michael wrote But isn't that the point of the brand to promote the Metrocentre?

I would say the branding is designed to promote the M6/M7/M8 rather than the Metrocentre itself but as it basically tells customers what they can do ('Shop' and 'Dine'), it could be classed as promotion of the Metrocentre itself, much like the X66/S1 brands have cinema tickets and other relevant details.

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On another note, what is up with 5282's WiFi symbols on the front?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/34...731642@N23

(10 May 2017, 12:59 pm)Venturego wrote Timetable also includes service no. M6 along with M7 & M8 under this brand.

I think it looks amateurish (as do many GNE brands) IMO should have extended Venture, with maybe a sub/tag line for these services: "Venture into the Metro Centre" and include "intu Metro Centre" brand within this cant strip if intu are paying advertising monies/promotional spend.

How it looks is always going to be down to personal preference, and we'll never have an instance whereby every single person on this forum agrees whether it's cosmetically pleasing or not, but I disagree entirely with your opinion that the "Venture" brand name should have been retained.

The "Venture" brand in its present guise was set up to promote 'venturing' further afield, a pun based on the connections the "Venture" network of services make available at Stanley and Consett. Since then, the services within the brand have been changed such that they are no longer the services which allow people to connect onto other services which venture afield, rather they are the services which go further afield (i.e. to the Metrocentre).

The changes to the minibus network at Stanley isn't really a bad thing at all (compare the new M6/M7/M8 to the old X43 - they've come on leaps and bounds!); and I think it makes perfect sense to remove the V7/V8 services away from the "Venture" brand, prefix them with the 'M' letter to connote 'Metrocentre', and have a brand which focuses on the main selling point of the route. As I said before, this allows Go North East to sell some pretty clear messages to the people of Stanley and Consett, and it's really easy to promote which bus goes where, under the new branding scheme.

I highly doubt bus operators are paid to have Metrocentre on the side of the bus - this is something the bus operators want to do, as it'll be the main selling point of the route in many cases (i.e. Stagecoach's 100, Go North East's X66, etc).

(10 May 2017, 3:39 pm)S813 FVK wrote On another note, what is up with 5282's WiFi symbols on the front?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/34...731642@N23

Not sure why they were fitted like that, but it has been pencilled in for repair as soon as possible.

Making things pretty and engaging marketing is absolutely GNEs greatest forte.

Even when they get it wrong it's still normally a good effort

(10 May 2017, 4:59 pm)Dan wrote Not sure why they were fitted like that, but it has been pencilled in for repair as soon as possible.

The one on the nearside has probably been put on the bottom. Because if it was on the top like the other side it would obstruct drivers view of mirror. Don't know why the aren't both on the bottom like

(10 May 2017, 9:00 pm)pdiddy wrote The one on the nearside has probably been put on the bottom. Because if it was on the top like the other side it would obstruct drivers view of mirror. Don't know why the aren't both on the bottom like

You're probably right. Maybe it is why 5280s near-side blue blob is not there? They could have just put the WiFi symbols in the same place as 5280 too - they have with 5279:

Go North East: 5280 / NK07KPP by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

(10 May 2017, 9:13 pm)S813 FVK wrote You're probably right. Maybe it is why 5280s near-side blue blob is not there? They could have just put the WiFi symbols in the same place as 5280 too - they have with 5279:

Go North East: 5280 / NK07KPP by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

Yes, that's why the blue blob was removed by Riverside's engineers after being branded.

That is planned to be moved up slightly so it's not within the driver's vision.

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(11 May 2017, 4:49 am)Dan wrote Yes, that's why the blue blob was removed by Riverside's engineers after being branded.

That is planned to be moved up slightly so it's not within the driver's vision.

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May I ask why "Red Arrows" is still visable on the rear windows of the 07 reg ones? Is it just hard to remove this without replacing the glass? On one of the Blaydon Racers it sticks out quite harshly in daylight, would have thought they'd have fettled it, but that's just my inexperienced view.

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(09 May 2017, 4:35 pm)Dan wrote Go North East tends to repaint buses/refresh its brands every four years - I would expect all vehicles ordered as part of the centenary year in 2013 would be up for repaint soon.

I think they could get away with leaving the Connections4, Saltwell Park and Fab Fifty Six vehicles as they are for now as from what i have seen, they seem to be in a good condition externally. It is only the Citylink 58, Venture and Cobalt Clipper that I think need a bit of a tidy up (and hopefully the Cobalt Clipper branding is altered to acknowledge the fact that it also goes to Blyth).

(11 May 2017, 4:28 pm)S813 FVK wrote I think they could get away with leaving the Connections4, Saltwell Park and Fab Fifty Six vehicles as they are for now as from what i have seen, they seem to be in a good condition externally. It is only the Citylink 58, Venture and Cobalt Clipper that I think need a bit of a tidy up (and hopefully the Cobalt Clipper branding is altered to acknowledge the fact that it also goes to Blyth).

Agree on that, the Connections4, still looks new.... Fab 56, get rid of the flowers and add something different

Just noticed that all the refurbed mercs appear to be having manual ramps installed while down in Blackburn. Are GNE still carrying this out in the fleet or is it only the refurbs that are getting them done?

(11 May 2017, 4:28 pm)S813 FVK wrote I think they could get away with leaving the Connections4, Saltwell Park and Fab Fifty Six vehicles as they are for now as from what i have seen, they seem to be in a good condition externally. It is only the Citylink 58, Venture and Cobalt Clipper that I think need a bit of a tidy up (and hopefully the Cobalt Clipper branding is altered to acknowledge the fact that it also goes to Blyth).

Rather than having the usual stuff about Newcastle and North Shields, would it not be better to have the following.

Between upper and lower deck panels on nearside and offside: Frequent links from the Heart Of The Blyth Valley and North Tyneside to Cobalt and Newcastle.

Also, if the 19 was to ever get treated to some refurbished Mercs, would it not make sense to put the 19 under the Cobalt Clipper brand with the follwing tagline:

Links from the Heart of Northumberland and North Tyneside to Cobalt

It would also allow some flexibility on Sundays (or even during the evenings if a swap could happen in Shields for the 310's) allowing single deckers to be allocated to services 309 / 310 alongside 4x B9TLs due to lower passenger numbers as long as there isn't any major events on or any particular weekends such as the run upto Christmas which attracts shoppers.

The V9 timetable is wrong.
The last trips as "45" are "45E" and are minutes out.

2308 on Friday, not 2315.
2320 on Saturday, not 2315. These were changed a year ago, now.

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(11 May 2017, 6:23 pm)JP6004 wrote Just noticed that all the refurbed mercs appear to be having manual ramps installed while down in Blackburn. Are GNE still carrying this out in the fleet or is it only the refurbs that are getting them done?

I think all buses are meant to have manual ones as the automatic ones are problematic in more than on sense.
*I think*.

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Are the NSAs up and running on the refurbished mercs out on the Blaydon Racer 12s and Citylink57s?

(11 May 2017, 8:48 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Are the NSAs up and running on the refurbished mercs out on the Blaydon Racer 12s 

5277 has NSAs on not sure about the others

(11 May 2017, 8:54 pm)Ds1197 wrote 5277 has NSAs on not sure about the others

Has anyone noticed if they've removed the long delay between "Next stop," / "This is," and "[stop name]".

The gap is terrible on some routes. Fab56's suffer from a very long pause.

(11 May 2017, 4:49 am)Dan wrote Yes, that's why the blue blob was removed by Riverside's engineers after being branded.

That is planned to be moved up slightly so it's not within the driver's vision.

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5280 has had Cross City Service and blue blob removed, and rear now has the same destinations as on current branded 5321/22 (no mention of Hadrian Park).

5277 has been branded today, with correct rear (no Hadrian Park) and no 'cross city service'.

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before, are the Omnishambles due for a refurb, or even a clean at any point.

6140 my bouncing ride home tonight was worse than 6134/5 et al. Cigarette burns into the plastic coving of the seats, most of the upper deck had red seats worn away to just...black seats, food stains across seating. It wasn't pretty. Weird musty smell throughout too. If these things are seeing regular service on major flagship routes, surely you need to clean them at least?

At least on their 21 runs the B7s, Tridents and Vykings were clean. I'd be embarrassed to take a tourist or visitor to the Angel or DURHAM on a Omnishambles

(11 May 2017, 11:22 pm)Ambassador wrote Apologies if this has been asked and answered before, are the Omnishambles due for a refurb, or even a clean at any point.

6140 my bouncing ride home tonight was worse than 6134/5 et al. Cigarette burns into the plastic coving of the seats, most of the upper deck had red seats worn away to just...black seats, food stains across seating. It wasn't pretty. Weird musty smell throughout too. If these things are seeing regular service on major flagship routes, surely you need to clean them at least?

At least on their 21 runs the B7s, Tridents and Vykings were clean. I'd be embarrassed to take a tourist or visitor to the Angel or DURHAM on a Omnishambles

Better than 713 and 697 or whatever it was!

I think the omnidekks will be the last to receive attention, as clear by the fact that only a handful have received working thermal mods, even then they're not lasting long. Also, only half received rear-end fixes before work was stopped. A couple have began sliding about again, even after the fix.

This is of no real fault to GNE, I feel like there is too much going on to be touching up buses to be perfect. Once all of the older vehicles have finally become displaced, I think there'll be a lot more free room to perfect buses at all costs. A bus that's in a state is better than no bus at all.

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(11 May 2017, 9:32 pm)park5354 wrote 5280 has had Cross City Service and blue blob removed, and rear now has the same destinations as on current branded 5321/22 (no mention of Hadrian Park).

5277 has been branded today, with correct rear (no Hadrian Park) and no 'cross city service'.

It's not the same as 5321/22 - 5277 and 5280 now have Coast Road on the map as an additional calling point.

Cross City Service has been removed entirely as it would be within the wiper sweep.

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(12 May 2017, 5:24 am)Dan wrote Cross City Service has been removed entirely as it would be within the wiper sweep.

Will they just make it higher up like on the seeit doit mercs? They don't seem to have had any problems.

(12 May 2017, 6:10 am)S813 FVK wrote Will they just make it higher up like on the seeit doit mercs? They don't seem to have had any problems.

It was made higher up on 5277, and Riverside still didn't agree with the positioning, so had to be removed.

Pity, when it's been no bother at Deptford!

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(12 May 2017, 6:15 am)Dan wrote It was made higher up on 5277, and Riverside still didn't agree with the positioning, so had to be removed.

Pity, when it's been no bother at Deptford!

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That is disappointing. I thought it was a nice touch and i rather liked the font that it is in.

Has the New demo 9097 Mercedes Benz Sprinter City 45 - been out in service yet?

Is it still to be used on the Tynedale Links services X81/681/185 - I presume these services do not require a bus as big as a Solo or MPD.


Also talking of MPDs - Are the MPDs which are based at Hexham to be withdrawn in the near future, in line with the other MPDs, just Hexham's are Newer being 55 reg vehicles and are also Euro 5?
I presume if they are to be withdrawn, these will be replaced by Solo's, or possibly a 16 seater Merc if trials go well.

4990 now branded for Black Cats, and 6125 for Toon Link.

5283 now back from refurbishment in GNE's corporate livery, 5321 has left for refurbishment.

5292 now back at Saltmeadows Road fot repair. Will be MOT'd and then sent for refurbishment.

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(12 May 2017, 10:13 am)Dan wrote 4990 now branded for Black Cats, and 6125 for Toon Link.

5283 now back from refurbishment in GNE's corporate livery, 5321 has left for refurbishment.

5292 now back at Saltmeadows Road fot repair. Will be MOT'd and then sent for refurbishment.

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Do you know if it is back at Deptford yet?

(12 May 2017, 10:33 am)Dans_bus_photos wrote Do you know if it is back at Deptford yet?

Should be later this afternoon.

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(12 May 2017, 12:20 am)Jamie M wrote Better than 713 and 697 or whatever it was!

I think the omnidekks will be the last to receive attention, as clear by the fact that only a handful have received working thermal mods, even then they're not lasting long. Also, only half received rear-end fixes before work was stopped. A couple have began sliding about again, even after the fix.

This is of no real fault to GNE, I feel like there is too much going on to be touching up buses to be perfect. Once all of the older vehicles have finally become displaced, I think there'll be a lot more free room to perfect buses at all costs. A bus that's in a state is better than no bus at all.

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Really? For a passenger who may have an alternative mode of transport, why would they sit in a dirty and unpleasant environment? There will be passengers who have a car, but chose a route that is advertised as being environmentaly friendly and with features such as WiFi. What is to stop them using the car? Then there are those who rely on transport and definately have alternative options - whether it be another GNE bus, an ANE bus or in some locations, the train. 

Reputation and passenger numbers are at stake here.

(12 May 2017, 11:16 am)Andreos1 wrote Really? For a passenger who may have an alternative mode of transport, why would they sit in a dirty and unpleasant environment? There will be passengers who have a car, but chose a route that is advertised as being environmentaly friendly and with features such as WiFi. What is to stop them using the car? Then there are those who rely on transport and definately have alternative options - whether it be another GNE bus, an ANE bus or in some locations, the train. 

Reputation and passenger numbers are at stake here.

If the company has nothing but a broken bus to send out, it will. They have to, or it causes sanctions in the long run, amongst the degrade of respect from the council.

There should be a suitable bus to send out, but needs must, right?

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(12 May 2017, 11:43 am)Jamie M wrote If the company has nothing but a broken bus to send out, it will. They have to, or it causes sanctions in the long run, amongst the degrade of respect from the council.

There should be a suitable bus to send out, but needs must, right?

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Are passengers really bothered about TC fines, VOR etc.?
Or do they want a bus turning up with all of the advertised features?

If we look at it from a passenger perspective (which is often forgotten about), they're making financial sacrifices and decisions based on a service offer and promise. Not often getting the things they have paid for.