(18 Dec 2017, 8:12 am)markydh wrote The X87/88 don’t interwork with anything else and haven’t since the changes in April. Until very recently, the X47 interworked with the X77/78/79 and X82. This has now changed, with the X47 being self-contained for most of the day. There are a couple of boards on the X77/78/79 that need to be E400 operated due to school and college numbers.

Hopefully it improves i have noticed less interworking lately it became a nightmare when all Xs were interworking.

(18 Dec 2017, 3:06 pm)Cock Robin wrote 23 for Newcastle on the second X55 on Saturday. No-one for Doxford.

I'd imagine 23 passengers would still only generate about £100 in fares, considering the mix of concessions. Unfortunately not worth Stagecoach's time.

Especially not for a coach sat about six days a week.

22014 has been collected by Alpha Recovery today.

34611 at newcastle monument in use as Santa's grotto. Smart Christmas livery side and rear.

Charles

(23 Dec 2017, 9:24 am)Charles41 wrote 34611 at newcastle monument in use as Santa's grotto. Smart Christmas livery side and rear.

Charles

Yeah been there most of this week, last day today. Grotto is raising money for the Toma Fund which is a charity dedicated to the memory of Jordan David Thompson and Sophie Ela Atay, who were cousins that tragically died from childhood cancers. Top marks to Busways again this year, many Walkergate drivers also dressed festive raising money for Tiny Lives Trust and Children North East.

34611 NK04NPX Newcastle by Matt Williamson, on Flickr

Anyone see the last X55 today?

(23 Dec 2017, 10:15 am)Cock Robin wrote Anyone see the last X55 today?

I gather the last southbound carried 6 in total, with 1 remaining into Stockton from Billingham.

(23 Dec 2017, 10:15 am)Cock Robin wrote Anyone see the last X55 today?

With the last journeys operating on at 07:16 from Stockton, 10:12 & 15:46 from Greatham and 09:00, 14:30 & 17:15, this results in no direct service between Greatham, and Hartlepool to Newcastle... Oh well, better luck next time. Still got the X10 though

(23 Dec 2017, 10:57 pm)RBZ 5459 wrote I gather the last southbound carried 6 in total, with 1 remaining into Stockton from Billingham.

The 14:30 trip southbound carried 5 people in total, myself included. It picked up nobody at Dalton Park (the Go North East X6 which followed immediately after the X55 picked up all intending passengers to Hartlepool).

I was the first to alight at ASDA in Hartlepool, so I'm unsure where the others got off (whether it was Victoria Road in Hartlepool, or they travelled onwards towards Greatham).

It's always a pity when services are withdrawn when they don't work out, but I still can't help but feel that this one was always destined to fail. It had a lot of potential, but a seemingly poor execution? A Saturday-only service, with just a few trips in either direction at odd times... A streamlined timetable with cheaper fares and faster journey times than the X10 between Stockton, Dalton Park and Newcastle, would have definitely been interesting...

Obviously stood no chance against the Go North East X10 when this was finally re-routed to serve Dalton Park - something which had been on the cards for a very long time - offering a streamlined timetable which was easy to understand.

Does anyone know what's going to happen with the coach now? Back to UK disposals?

(18 Dec 2017, 8:12 am)markydh wrote The X87/88 don’t interwork with anything else and haven’t since the changes in April. Until very recently, the X47 interworked with the X77/78/79 and X82. This has now changed, with the X47 being self-contained for most of the day. There are a couple of boards on the X77/78/79 that need to be E400 operated due to school and college numbers.

So does the X47 now have 15 minutes layover in Eldon Square, on paper? Adding 1 PVR?

The X47 has always interested me in that whatever Stagecoach try and do to improve the reliability of the service, it never seems to work. You don't tend to see them bunching up and running in threes now, but there still is some obvious issues with the timekeeping. The traffic in Kingston Park is just so unpredictable, paired with the Metro level crossing (also running at unpredictable times!) causing chaos.

The allocations to the X47 still seem a bit manic too. Not sure if this will be resolved if they're getting an extra bus on paper? But over the last few weeks, it seems like pretty much anything has been thrown on... ADL E400s, E400MMCs, E200MMCs, rather than the ALX300s which should be on.

How do the X77/78/79/82 work now? Without interworking with the X47, are these services going to have an increased amount of layover now too, and will that result in a PVR increase? A guess looking at the timetable would suggest an inbound X78 during the day would have 20 minutes layover, then running an outbound X82 (that, or no layover at all on the X78 and 3 minutes layover on the X82). This would make this group of services quite inefficient too, though commendable if it does solve the reliability issues!

(24 Dec 2017, 10:14 am)Dan wrote The 14:30 trip southbound carried 5 people in total, myself included. It picked up nobody at Dalton Park (the Go North East X6 which followed immediately after the X55 picked up all intending passengers to Hartlepool).

I was the first to alight at ASDA in Hartlepool, so I'm unsure where the others got off (whether it was Victoria Road in Hartlepool, or they travelled onwards towards Greatham).

It's always a pity when services are withdrawn when they don't work out, but I still can't help but feel that this one was always destined to fail. It had a lot of potential, but a seemingly poor execution? A Saturday-only service, with just a few trips in either direction at odd times... A streamlined timetable with cheaper fares and faster journey times than the X10 between Stockton, Dalton Park and Newcastle, would have definitely been interesting...

Obviously stood no chance against the Go North East X10 when this was finally re-routed to serve Dalton Park - something which had been on the cards for a very long time - offering a streamlined timetable which was easy to understand.

Does anyone know what's going to happen with the coach now? Back to UK disposals?


So does the X47 now have 15 minutes layover in Eldon Square, on paper? Adding 1 PVR?

The X47 has always interested me in that whatever Stagecoach try and do to improve the reliability of the service, it never seems to work. You don't tend to see them bunching up and running in threes now, but there still is some obvious issues with the timekeeping. The traffic in Kingston Park is just so unpredictable, paired with the Metro level crossing (also running at unpredictable times!) causing chaos.

The allocations to the X47 still seem a bit manic too. Not sure if this will be resolved if they're getting an extra bus on paper? But over the last few weeks, it seems like pretty much anything has been thrown on... ADL E400s, E400MMCs, E200MMCs, rather than the ALX300s which should be on.

How do the X77/78/79/82 work now? Without interworking with the X47, are these services going to have an increased amount of layover now too, and will that result in a PVR increase? A guess looking at the timetable would suggest an inbound X78 during the day would have 20 minutes layover, then running an outbound X82 (that, or no layover at all on the X78 and 3 minutes layover on the X82). This would make this group of services quite inefficient too, though commendable if it does solve the reliability issues!

I don't think anyone thought the X55 would survive, even before the Dalton Park go thrown in by Go North East.


The previous round of changes saw the X47/X78/X82 begin to interwork which was why the allocations were a bit all over the place, as the Darras and Throckley express allocations have always appear to be thrown together last minute... So with the X47 removed from the chaos it is indeed a 15 mins layover at Eldon Sqaure - which should make layover bays great fun. So the new X78 and X82 diagram will see the long layover after coming back from Darras Hall (X78) before going onto the X82. Going the other way as you point out, back to a smooth transition of how it used to - suspect the extra bus is directly into the X47. X47 and X88 will though be interworking on Boxing Day.

The Slatyford boards are a bit of a minefield, the likes of 30/31/36 for example, which you would think would be simple inter-working are vastly different depending on the board - you basically think how do you follow that when you need to look at it quickly!

Another one I've just thought of for newsworthiness, sections of the 35 between Red House Farm and Gosforth High Street are now secured during the week.

(24 Dec 2017, 5:27 pm)RBZ 5459 wrote I don't think anyone thought the X55 would survive, even before the Dalton Park go thrown in by Go North East.


The previous round of changes saw the X47/X78/X82 begin to interwork which was why the allocations were a bit all over the place, as the Darras and Throckley express allocations have always appear to be thrown together last minute... So with the X47 removed from the chaos it is indeed a 15 mins layover at Eldon Sqaure - which should make layover bays great fun. So the new X78 and X82 diagram will see the long layover after coming back from Darras Hall (X78) before going onto the X82. Going the other way as you point out, back to a smooth transition of how it used to - suspect the extra bus is directly into the X47. X47 and X88 will though be interworking on Boxing Day.

The Slatyford boards are a bit of a minefield, the likes of 30/31/36 for example, which you would think would be simple inter-working are vastly different depending on the board - you basically think how do you follow that when you need to look at it quickly!

Another one I've just thought of for newsworthiness, sections of the 35 between Red House Farm and Gosforth High Street are now secured during the week.

You have to wonder if higher management at Stagecoach like making the running boards overly complicated. There's a few of the Saturday ones in Middlesbrough that make you wonder if the drivers know if they are coming or going. And that's before starting on the overly complicated evening turns where the Stockton lads now take a bus over mid afternoon and kept the same one all night (resulting in the drivers on the late 36s having their breaks at Hartlepool depot)

(24 Dec 2017, 5:42 pm)Kuyoyo wrote You have to wonder if higher management at Stagecoach like making the running boards overly complicated. There's a few of the Saturday ones in Middlesbrough that make you wonder if the drivers know if they are coming or going. And that's before starting on the overly complicated evening turns where the Stockton lads now take a bus over mid afternoon and kept the same one all night (resulting in the drivers on the late 36s having their breaks at Hartlepool depot)

Their intention probably isn't to make them complicated, but to make them as efficient as possible.

The recent changes in Newcastle to the X47 and X77/78/79/82 come as a surprise to me - it seems very out of character for them not only to add extra buses to the PVR to improve reliability, but also making other services less efficient by doing so. That's why I was querying if they definitely were having them have such a large layover period in Eldon Square.

All these crazy interworking patterns will make sense to someone, somewhere!

(23 Dec 2017, 10:57 pm)RBZ 5459 wrote I gather the last southbound carried 6 in total, with 1 remaining into Stockton from Billingham.

(24 Dec 2017, 10:14 am)Dan wrote The 14:30 trip southbound carried 5 people in total, myself included. It picked up nobody at Dalton Park (the Go North East X6 which followed immediately after the X55 picked up all intending passengers to Hartlepool).

I was the first to alight at ASDA in Hartlepool, so I'm unsure where the others got off (whether it was Victoria Road in Hartlepool, or they travelled onwards towards Greatham).

It's always a pity when services are withdrawn when they don't work out, but I still can't help but feel that this one was always destined to fail. It had a lot of potential, but a seemingly poor execution? A Saturday-only service, with just a few trips in either direction at odd times... A streamlined timetable with cheaper fares and faster journey times than the X10 between Stockton, Dalton Park and Newcastle, would have definitely been interesting...

Obviously stood no chance against the Go North East X10 when this was finally re-routed to serve Dalton Park - something which had been on the cards for a very long time - offering a streamlined timetable which was easy to understand.

Does anyone know what's going to happen with the coach now? Back to UK disposals?

Having fortunately finished work early on Saturday, I was able to make it into Stockton to witness the last departure from the town. Having work on the Sunday morning, I just had a quick trip from Stockton to Billingham - the driver being an acquaintance of many of us Teesside enthusiasts. There was only myself until Norton when an older couple boarded bound for Hartlepool.
Stagecoach on Teesside 54045 (SF57 DRV) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Having travelled back on the service a few Saturdays ago, the Driver that day hinted his annoyance at the withdrawal of the service as well as the decision to duplicate the 36 between Hartlepool Marina and Greatham.

As for 54045's future, on Sunday morning it was parked nose into the fence in the 'Dead' row nearest to Flowers. Longer term, I don't think anyone knows 100% - there have been rumours from the two X55 lads that it might be staying at Stockton for another attempt at a Saturday shopper service, except this time heading south from Teesside

With Walkergate being the only Newcastle depot open today will they have loaned any single deckers from Slatyford in order to operate the 7 and 100

(26 Dec 2017, 11:53 am)Kuyoyo wrote Having fortunately finished work early on Saturday, I was able to make it into Stockton to witness the last departure from the town. Having work on the Sunday morning, I just had a quick trip from Stockton to Billingham - the driver being an acquaintance of many of us Teesside enthusiasts. There was only myself until Norton when an older couple boarded bound for Hartlepool.
Stagecoach on Teesside 54045 (SF57 DRV) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Having travelled back on the service a few Saturdays ago, the Driver that day hinted his annoyance at the withdrawal of the service as well as the decision to duplicate the 36 between Hartlepool Marina and Greatham.

As for 54045's future, on Sunday morning it was parked nose into the fence in the 'Dead' row nearest to Flowers. Longer term, I don't think anyone knows 100% - there have been rumours from the two X55 lads that it might be staying at Stockton for another attempt at a Saturday shopper service, except this time heading south from Teesside

Would this be the rumour that was mentioned on here of the possibility of a service to York? Would be an interesting one, according to Google Maps you would only be roughly 10-15 minutes longer from Middlesbrough or Stockton than the TransPennine Express service (if going direct). Think it would need bargain fares to entice fare paying custom on-board otherwise it probably won't last long. May be an idea to have it call at Thirsk as I think it would just be short enough to avoid having to use Tachographs.

All this is subject to whether there is any truth in this. If it is, just hope they would run it at more sensible times than the X55 did.

(26 Dec 2017, 12:13 pm)Jimmi wrote Would this be the rumour that was mentioned on here of the possibility of a service to York? Would be an interesting one, according to Google Maps you would only be roughly 10-15 minutes longer from Middlesbrough or Stockton than the TransPennine Express service (if going direct). Think it would need bargain fares to entice fare paying custom on-board otherwise it probably won't last long. May be an idea to have it call at Thirsk as I think it would just be short enough to avoid having to use Tachographs.

All this is subject to whether there is any truth in this. If it is, just hope they would run it at more sensible times than the X55 did.

Thornaby station on a Saturday is just as busy (if not busier), than Hartlepool.
There's obviously a demand for transport to Newcastle from Hartlepool. Just as there is from Teesside to York.

The transport (whether it train or bus), needs to meet the demands and needs of the people. Not the other way around.
As it stands, the train is doing that from Hartlepool. Buses (of whatever colour) haven't been able to meet the demands or entice enough people to switch.

Gonna take an awful lot of effort again, if the rumoured service to York is going to work.
I would suggest that last service out of York on a Saturday afternoon is a little later than the last one out of Newcastle.
It may not be appealing for drivers, but if they wan't to get enough people to use the service TO York. It needs to work so that they can get back FROM York.

(26 Dec 2017, 12:26 pm)Andreos1 wrote Thornaby station on a Saturday is just as busy (if not busier), than Hartlepool.
There's obviously a demand for transport to Newcastle from Hartlepool. Just as there is from Teesside to York.

The transport (whether it train or bus), needs to meet the demands and needs of the people. Not the other way around.
As it stands, the train is doing that from Hartlepool. Buses (of whatever colour) haven't been able to meet the demands or entice enough people to switch.

Gonna take an awful lot of effort again, if the rumoured service to York is going to work.
I would suggest that last service out of York on a Saturday afternoon is a little later than the last one out of Newcastle.
It may not be appealing for drivers, but if they wan't to get enough people to use the service TO York. It needs to work so that they can get back FROM York.

I'd personally make the first departure from Teesside later than the X55 departed (which was about 07:15), I'd think the absolute earliest it should depart is around 08:30 arriving into York around 10am, ideally you would want the last trip from York to be sometime after 6pm (the 18:32 CrossCountry service towards Newcastle and beyond is usually fairly busy). If you were going to do multiple trips a day, I would run it from Middlesbrough rather than Stockton to potentially entice a few people from York to travel to Teesside as well (Middlesbrough sounds more appealing than Stockton to most), if you went with my idea of calling at Thirsk, you could possibly possibly do something like this:

Middlesbrough Bus Station
08:30 - 12:00 - 15:45
Thirsk Market Place
09:02 - 12:32 - 16:17
York, Station Avenue
09:45 - 13:15 - 17:00


York, Station Avenue
09:55 - 14:25 - 18:25
Thirsk Market Place
10:38 - 15:08 - 19:08
Middlesbrough Bus Station
11:10 - 15:40 - 19:40

I'd also have it stop at Exhibition Square before/after Station Avenue in York as Station Avenue would allow somewhere to lay over and turn the bus round.

Didn’t stagecoach operated a service from Darlington to York before with the old x90 service that used to operate between Darlington and Newcastle and extended to York but ended up withdrawn to low patronage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are also National Express journeys from Middlesbrough to York albeit need advance booking and are more costly but with a timetabled one hour is a reasonable alternative

(26 Dec 2017, 1:28 pm)Jimmi wrote I'd personally make the first departure from Teesside later than the X55 departed (which was about 07:15), I'd think the absolute earliest it should depart is around 08:30 arriving into York around 10am, ideally you would want the last trip from York to be sometime after 6pm (the 18:32 CrossCountry service towards Newcastle and beyond is usually fairly busy). If you were going to do multiple trips a day, I would run it from Middlesbrough rather than Stockton to potentially entice a few people from York to travel to Teesside as well (Middlesbrough sounds more appealing than Stockton to most), if you went with my idea of calling at Thirsk, you could possibly possibly do something like this:

Middlesbrough Bus Station
08:30 - 12:00 - 15:45
Thirsk Market Place
09:02 - 12:32 - 16:17
York, Station Avenue
09:45 - 13:15 - 17:00


York, Station Avenue
09:55 - 14:25 - 18:25
Thirsk Market Place
10:38 - 15:08 - 19:08
Middlesbrough Bus Station
11:10 - 15:40 - 19:40

I'd also have it stop at Exhibition Square before/after Station Avenue in York as Station Avenue would allow somewhere to lay over and turn the bus round.

I get what you say about Middlesbrough being more appealing(Middlesbrough and appealing in the same sentence?!), but a Stockton terminus could be offered for very little extra cost and offer a greater chance of increasing revenues.
As well as picking up punters fro Stockton and Thornaby (two locations that punters can use the train from and essentially where the competition is), it could also attract those transiting between Middlesbrough and Stockton.

(26 Dec 2017, 4:28 pm)Andreos1 wrote I get what you say about Middlesbrough being more appealing(Middlesbrough and appealing in the same sentence?!), but a Stockton terminus could be offered for very little extra cost and offer a greater chance of increasing revenues.
As well as picking up punters fro Stockton and Thornaby (two locations that punters can use the train from and essentially where the competition is), it could also attract those transiting between Middlesbrough and Stockton.

Irrelevant to the terminating point up north, But I'd Imagine a Teesside-Leeds service to receive more patronage than a Teeside-York one, York is more of a sightseeing hotspot for a more older market, While Leeds is more suited to the younger generation of Adults and Children too, These will attract the most revenue in fares.

You already have the X62 linking East Yorkshire and the new X10 linking South Yorkshire to Leeds, And Transdev are actively expanding there Cityzap brand out of there quite fast ( Id imagine a North East service is being looked at in some way or another by them ) so Stagecoach should atleast cover that by running there ( York can be called at pretty easily on the way too )
Running weekly is pointless in my opinion, In a perfect world it should be a daily service not leaving too early so connections from Stagey's local network can be made, But too late to not have a too short time in Leeds either, Makes more use of 54045 too.
Quite a few populous villages/towns along the A19 corridor that could be served too, Northallerton and Thirsk are not too far off the beaten track and are not served regularly by NatEx, Aswell as the trains being more expensive than bus.

(26 Dec 2017, 4:28 pm)Andreos1 wrote I get what you say about Middlesbrough being more appealing(Middlesbrough and appealing in the same sentence?!), but a Stockton terminus could be offered for very little extra cost and offer a greater chance of increasing revenues.
As well as picking up punters fro Stockton and Thornaby (two locations that punters can use the train from and essentially where the competition is), it could also attract those transiting between Middlesbrough and Stockton.

Tees Valley tried a regular express between M'bro and Stockton a few years ago but that failed.

(26 Dec 2017, 9:52 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote Irrelevant to the terminating point up north, But I'd Imagine a Teesside-Leeds service to receive more patronage than a Teeside-York one, York is more of a sightseeing hotspot for a more older market, While Leeds is more suited to the younger generation of Adults and Children too, These will attract the most revenue in fares.

You already have the X62 linking East Yorkshire and the new X10 linking South Yorkshire to Leeds, And Transdev are actively expanding there Cityzap brand out of there quite fast ( Id imagine a North East service is being looked at in some way or another by them ) so Stagecoach should atleast cover that by running there ( York can be called at pretty easily on the way too )
Running weekly is pointless in my opinion, In a perfect world it should be a daily service not leaving too early so connections from Stagey's local network can be made, But too late to not have a too short time in Leeds either, Makes more use of 54045 too.
Quite a few populous villages/towns along the A19 corridor that could be served too, Northallerton and Thirsk are not too far off the beaten track and are not served regularly by NatEx, Aswell as the trains being more expensive than bus.

Both cities seem to be booming at the moment. York has the two universities which boosts visitor numbers and city centre footfall. Leeds too.

I agree that Thirsk and Northallerton could be potential stops for the new rumoured service and I think a regular service (like you mention), could tempt punters off the train - particularly with stations in both towns being a little way out of the centre.
However, new housing on the outskirts of both Thirsk and Northallerton is attractive for commuters using rail, so part of me thinks the bus may be too little too late.
Frequency may win over an attractively priced bus ticket, for a service that may not run too frequently.

I am puzzled as to why the likes of Transdev haven't pushed further north. There could be a number of reasons, such as concentrating on their trans-pennine core.
By purchasing the likes of Rosso, it can improve connections with the Manchester City Zap service and in turn see the feed-in at either end of the route improve.
Is there scope to do that beyond Harrogate, Wetherby and York?

2 disruptions so far:

Sun ops: Svc 8 unable to operate Green Bank Dr due to snow /slippery conditions. Svc diverted via Hylton Bank.

Sun ops: Due to snow/slippery conditions svc 3 unable to serve Plains Frm until further notice.

Well, 54045 had been moved from its place in the dead row at Stockton at some point on Friday - it was there on the morning as I made my way home from work but had gone by the time I was on my way to work that night.

Oh, and from a sighting inside the shed from the week before Christmas - either 22074 or 22075 is now repainted as there was a training livered MAN inside one day.

(31 Dec 2017, 10:30 am)Kuyoyo wrote Well, 54045 had been moved from its place in the dead row at Stockton at some point on Friday - it was there on the morning as I made my way home from work but had gone by the time I was on my way to work that night.

Oh, and from a sighting inside the shed from the week before Christmas - either 22074 or 22075 is now repainted as there was a training livered MAN inside one day.

As previously said, it was rumoured to be going to Sunderland however i walked around the Wheatsheaf the other day (maybe Thursday) and seen nothing, infact, all i seen was an Omnilink parked up. 


Which MAN is going to Sunderland for training?

(31 Dec 2017, 10:35 am)Michael wrote As previously said, it was rumoured to be going to Sunderland however i walked around the Wheatsheaf the other day (maybe Thursday) and seen nothing, infact, all i seen was an Omnilink parked up. 


Which MAN is going to Sunderland for training?

22073, the other training buses are: 

22071-South Shields
22072-Slatyford
22073-Sunderland
22074/5-Stockton
22076-Walkergate

(31 Dec 2017, 12:03 pm)Dans_bus_photos wrote 22073, the other training buses are: 

22071-South Shields
22072-Slatyford
22073-Sunderland
22074/5-Stockton
22076-Walkergate

Thanks, i should of checked the fleet list on here!