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Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018 | North East Buses

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Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018

Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018

RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
A lot of the incidents may not actually be due to the reliability of the vehicle type - the posts are often quite vague - but a recent example would be a woman entering labour whilst on-board the X10 service. As quickly as possible, a plan was devised to notify passengers in Newcastle and transport them across to Gateshead, where a spare bus and Leading Driver took over the duty towards Middlesbrough. This is only possible thanks to Go North East's Service Delivery Centre, who work around the clock to try and minimise disruption customers face (something which the likes of Arriva North East do not)

6048 replaced it question would it by hard to add in Dalton Park to the old system of next stop announcements because I think it's the only stop not on the old system
Site Administrator
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 5:17 pm)Ds1197 wrote 6048 replaced it question would it by hard to add in Dalton Park to the old system of next stop announcements because I think it's the only stop not on the old system

The old X9/X10 Next Stop Announcements will be removed from all vehicles with the older system (with TFT monitor) at Riverside this Sunday.

Hopefully be updated again in the future, given that 6084 is the dedicated spare, but I think it'd be impossible to do it to the same standard as what's on the branded B5s.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
I was on 6077 recently when a passenger with 'difficulties' expressed her delight with the NSAs and wondered why all buses didn't have this facility.
Jamie M
Unregistered
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
Whilst what you said about the 50mph is true, you're losing 5mph of time on a fair amount of the 15s, 45s and 46s, as well as running dead from consett. It's harder to make time up and harder to get home sooner. I think they should be tweaked up. Hill performance is something that is shocking also, feels london-esque. A solid 10 mph going up Watergate bank.
Not far off, but I think they should have had the extra TLC.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
Sure i seen the spare Streetdeck from Chester leaving Park Lane about 15 minutes ago, the contactless one.

Could be wrong
Ooo Friend, Bus Friend.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 5:40 pm)Michael wrote Sure i seen the spare Streetdeck from Chester leaving Park Lane about 15 minutes ago, the contactless one.

Could be wrong

Your correct it was 6332 and was on the peak 265/X5.


RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 5:40 pm)Jamie M wrote Whilst what you said about the 50mph is true, you're losing 5mph of time on a fair amount of the 15s, 45s and 46s, as well as running dead from consett. It's harder to make time up and harder to get home sooner. I think they should be tweaked up. Hill performance is something that is shocking also, feels london-esque. A solid 10 mph going up Watergate bank.
Not far off, but I think they should have had the extra TLC.

I was on 6160 tonight and it seemed to go up the hills no worse than the Red Kite examples. I don't think speed is an issue, either.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 5:43 pm)S830OFT wrote Your correct it was 6332 and was on the peak 265/X5.

Ah right, thanks.
Ooo Friend, Bus Friend.
Site Administrator
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 6:55 pm)Tom wrote So will Riverside or Percy Main be operating the K3?

Percy Main.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 6:57 pm)Dan wrote Percy Main.

Cheers, I take it the Solo from the 13 will be transferring?
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
Will 635/636 be withdrawn soon to prepare them for the AD122?, as i'm sure they were last year.

Has the last of the Blue Arrow/Waggonway Scania's been withdrawn yet?
Ooo Friend, Bus Friend.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 12:45 pm)Jamie M wrote Not a fan of the new-old B9s. They don't feel particularly comfortable or stable whilst in motion. Perhaps that's an explanation for the 45mph speed limit. When in passenger seats, the top of the seat ends under my shoulder. An improvement on the omnidekkas but not exactly amazing. Guess it does the job, though.

Whatever Omnidekka Washington has, seems to have more power than their B9's. Noticeable on the Washington Highway slip-roads in particular.
The B9's often seem sluggish on the northbound 'on' Newcastle bound from the Galleries.
The Omnidekka/s I have ridden have gone up their almost Olympian like.

(16 Mar 2018, 3:00 pm)Jamie M wrote Nah, they're solid motors if they can evade fires Big Grin . Get yourself onto a 50A, and you'll see they can build up speed well and remain integral at 60mph. They have a tendancy to lean, and occasionally the ferry mechanism can stick. That means they drive around with the body at 45* angle, but overall, remain good buses.

I like them.
May have the turning circle of a cruise ship and feel as though they're gonna flip over on their side, but seem good, solid vehicles - whatever their mechanical quirks.
Ridden more recently since Washington have got them and I don't have too many issues, despite their age.

(16 Mar 2018, 4:19 pm)Dan wrote VOSA aren't the 'animals' some enthusiasts make them out to be.

They're in regular contact with all operators, and as long as a marked improvement can be seen in the area of complaint, or the operator can prove the measures they're putting in place to avoid repeat occurrences, then VOSA are happy.

Whilst any breakdown on such an infrequent service like the X9/X10 is going to cause an inconvenience, Go North East do more than they have to, to ensure that the least disruption is caused to customers. They don't have to divert the following service via the alternative route to ensure any stranded passengers are picked up, but they do. They don't have to report each and every single breakdown or incident that happens on these services, but they do.

A lot of the incidents may not actually be due to the reliability of the vehicle type - the posts are often quite vague - but a recent example would be a woman entering labour whilst on-board the X10 service. As quickly as possible, a plan was devised to notify passengers in Newcastle and transport them across to Gateshead, where a spare bus and Leading Driver took over the duty towards Middlesbrough. This is only possible thanks to Go North East's Service Delivery Centre, who work around the clock to try and minimise disruption customers face (something which the likes of Arriva North East do not have!)




The A19 slip-road would be omitted because it's going right through Peterlee and would need to serve the stops for Crawford Avenue etc - there aren't a great deal of passengers who board at this stop anyway - but the driver would probably make sure to go round the roundabout slow enough to undertake a quick visual check of whether anyone is waiting at the stop, and I'd go as far to suggest would probably wait a few moments if someone was waiting there, to allow the passengers time to walk/jog/run to the Moorcock bus stop. I'd say most passengers probably would have already done this after 20-minutes of an X10 being a no-show, anyway.

Yes, the X9 should serve Dalton Park if the previous X10 had broken down. There are announcements programmed in for both eventualities, which also apologise for the inconvenience caused etc. An apology won't always make up for the disruption to the customer's day, but it's better than nothing at all.

Breakdowns on the X9/X10 are exaggerated by enthusiasts. There's no denying that any breakdown is going to cause inconvenience, but we're only aware of all of these breakdowns because Go North East report every single one on Social Media. Truth of the matter is, if these weren't reported on Social Media by Go North East, I'd say it would largely go unnoticed.

There could be breakdowns left, right and centre on Andreos1's beloved Prince Bishops services, but a big thing isn't made of it, because Go North East don't report them on Social Media (by the time they did, the next bus would have arrived for the majority of customers, who live on the combined 10-minute headway sections of the route).




A lot of them are limited to 50mph, these days.



The speed limiters are planned to be upped to Go North East's more usual 60-ish mph limiter soon.

The seats aren't the most comfortable, but a marginal improvement on what the seats were like previously when in London, as they've had extra padding added during refurbishment. In an ideal world, the seats would have been swapped out for standard Civic V3s and covered in the new leather (like the Citaros) but this would have added significant cost, when the idea was sourcing low-cost replacements for the V-reg Volvo B7s.

Have to remember that some of these buses are only being allocated to St Bede's scholars services, so the buses don't need to be the absolute bees knees.

6314 was dropping in on the 06:25 X9 from Newcastle, from Peterlee, at around 07:50am. So around 30 minutes late, but better than not at all.

Updates would have been more than appreciated on the X1 this morning.
Twitter and fb posts not replied to or acknowledged, despite big gaps in service.
Cold, wet and inevitably late for school/work, numerous examples from passengers querying why there were gaps of 35mins plus. Even with a 10min headway...
An eventual post half an hour after my bus joined a queue that stretched from Newbottle to Shiney Row answered some questions.
It certainly didnt answer all.

If this control centre was so efficient, then I am sure it would have been good practice to find out what was going on.
Vehicles have radios and technology allows tracking. Yet nothing... Not a thing from anyone.
Nothing was reported in on my vehicle. Nothing was done by control to try and find out why the vehicle was so late. Nothing was reported on social media. Nothing was done to divert vehicles.
Regardless of the apparent two missing vehicles in front...

As you say, they don't have to. It's nice when they do, particularly when the tools are there to do so.
'Illegitimis non carborundum'
Jamie M
Unregistered
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 9:20 pm)Andreos1 wrote Whatever Omnidekka Washington has, seems to have more power than their B9's. Noticeable on the Washington Highway slip-roads in particular.
The B9's often seem sluggish on the northbound 'on' Newcastle bound from the Galleries.
The Omnidekka/s I have ridden have gone up their almost Olympian like.


I like them.
May have the turning circle of a cruise ship and feel as though they're gonna flip over on their side, but seem good, solid vehicles - whatever their mechanical quirks.
Ridden more recently since Washington have got them and I don't have too many issues, despite their age.


Updates would have been more than appreciated on the X1 this morning.
Twitter and fb posts not replied to or acknowledged, despite big gaps in service.
Cold, wet and inevitably late for school/work, numerous examples from passengers querying why there were gaps of 35mins plus. Even with a 10min headway...
An eventual post half an hour after my bus joined a queue that stretched from Newbottle to Shiney Row answered some questions.
It certainly didnt answer all.

If this control centre was so efficient, then I am sure it would have been good practice to find out what was going on.
Vehicles have radios and technology allows tracking. Yet nothing... Not a thing from anyone.
Nothing was reported in on my vehicle. Nothing was done by control to try and find out why the vehicle was so late. Nothing was reported on social media. Nothing was done to divert vehicles.
Regardless of the apparent two missing vehicles in front...

As you say, they don't have to. It's nice when they do, particularly when the tools are there to do so.

Spot on, the public expect to have good public service. Naturally companies do have to go over the bare minimum, and whilst this is progress and good, I think it's pratically expected. Good public service is going beyond and over.

To the idea, the driver has to report to control that something has happened, or control has to tell the driver is something is happening. This surely must be logged somewhere, so why can't it be attached to the app? Passengers then won't be forced to be ignorant over so many of the best efforts due to a lack of circulation. They will be able to judge and make decisions accordingly.

Just today an X70 was going into town 30 minutes late, but they sent an LD with a spare to leave Newcastle on time. They didn't notify me of this, all the info I had to hand was that the bus was 30 minutes late. I was about to walk but then just in time the spare pulled up.

They have the info, they have the technology to serve the info in a consumable format. Why not put the two together?
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(17 Mar 2018, 3:01 am)Jamie M wrote Spot on, the public expect to have good public service. Naturally companies do have to go over the bare minimum, and whilst this is progress and good, I think it's pratically expected. Good public service is going beyond and over.

To the idea, the driver has to report to control that something has happened, or control has to tell the driver is something is happening. This surely must be logged somewhere, so why can't it be attached to the app? Passengers then won't be forced to be ignorant over so many of the best efforts due to a lack of circulation. They will be able to judge and make decisions accordingly.

Just today an X70 was going into town 30 minutes late, but they sent an LD with a spare to leave Newcastle on time. They didn't notify me of this, all the info I had to hand was that the bus was 30 minutes late. I was about to walk but then just in time the spare pulled up.

They have the info, they have the technology to serve the info in a consumable format. Why not put the two together?

They should have told you a bus was running on time? - never heard that one before

So you were looking at a previous journey the bus was making, if you were well bigger fool you as they will always try to start a service on time.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(17 Mar 2018, 3:01 am)Jamie M wrote Spot on, the public expect to have good public service. Naturally companies do have to go over the bare minimum, and whilst this is progress and good, I think it's pratically expected. Good public service is going beyond and over.

To the idea, the driver has to report to control that something has happened, or control has to tell the driver is something is happening. This surely must be logged somewhere, so why can't it be attached to the app? Passengers then won't be forced to be ignorant over so many of the best efforts due to a lack of circulation. They will be able to judge and make decisions accordingly.

Just today an X70 was going into town 30 minutes late, but they sent an LD with a spare to leave Newcastle on time. They didn't notify me of this, all the info I had to hand was that the bus was 30 minutes late. I was about to walk but then just in time the spare pulled up.

They have the info, they have the technology to serve the info in a consumable format. Why not put the two together?

you must not have been going far if you were about to start walking from Newcastle. Guess you weren't going long distance
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(17 Mar 2018, 3:01 am)Jamie M wrote Spot on, the public expect to have good public service. Naturally companies do have to go over the bare minimum, and whilst this is progress and good, I think it's pratically expected. Good public service is going beyond and over.

To the idea, the driver has to report to control that something has happened, or control has to tell the driver is something is happening. This surely must be logged somewhere, so why can't it be attached to the app? Passengers then won't be forced to be ignorant over so many of the best efforts due to a lack of circulation. They will be able to judge and make decisions accordingly.

Just today an X70 was going into town 30 minutes late, but they sent an LD with a spare to leave Newcastle on time. They didn't notify me of this, all the info I had to hand was that the bus was 30 minutes late. I was about to walk but then just in time the spare pulled up.

They have the info, they have the technology to serve the info in a consumable format. Why not put the two together?

Strangely enough, I was at a meeting yesterday (once I eventually got there) and part of it was dedicated to the organisation improving their communication when disruption strikes.
Questions were asked about customers getting too much information/too little information, needs, wants and expectations.

Like GNE some disruption will be beyond their control, but they're trying to work out ways of improving things regardless of fault/blame.

One thing to cone out of all of that, was thst there will be passengers who can anticipate the knock-on effect and we discussed the need to factor that in to the disruption information.
Common sense dictates that in the example of the X1 yesterday, that despite (eventual) messages stating disruption is affecting north bound services, there was the potential for it to affect eventual southbound services.
Apart from there being no comment on the two apparent missing services nor the build up of services in the southern sector initially (I reckoned on at least 9 vehicles of the PVR of 14/15 being in the southern sector - south of the Galleries by the time we rolled in there 30plus late), there was no comment about how services out of Newcastle would be affected nor how it was being managed.
Was time being made up naturally? Was there a plan put in to place, which would catch services up, but potentially leave passengers standing longer/sitting on crowded vehicles?
Ultimately, how is that communicated (if at all) to find the balance?
'Illegitimis non carborundum'
Jamie M
Unregistered
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(17 Mar 2018, 7:00 am)citaro5284 wrote They should have told you a bus was running on time? - never heard that one before

So you were looking at a previous journey the bus was making, if you were well bigger fool you as they will always try to start a service on time.

I was told it was 30 minutes late. The journey I wanted from Gateshead. It was tracking the journey before telling me it was 30 minutes late. The timing board at Gateshead wasn't showing any planned arrivals. Point being, I was told it was running late, and nothing was reported to me that it was now corrected.

Its like if there was an announcement that the train was having severe delays, it would lead you to try and figure out an alternative.

If there was a large delay and the app told me there was a large delay, why couldn't I have been told the delay was no longer and had been resolved? In order to send a bus to newcastle to start on time, somebody had to say about 20 minutes earlier that the bus needed to start on time.

Point being behind this, they have the correct up to date info about what is happening, but I wasn't told or given the up to date info.

A simple fix would be to allow there to be an updates page on a service on the app, with some way of correcting whatever has been corrected. Whether it is fixing delays or delays being formed/what for.

I am by no means annoyed by the service provided, but just some food for thought  Tongue
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
Anyone looking for 9083, it's entering town on 310 so possibly change to 309 i guess
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(16 Mar 2018, 2:53 pm)V514DFT wrote Another one that doesnt feel particularly stable is the omnicities,especially going around corners

Omnicities cornering is the best bit about them! Bit sad arriva took them off the X22 because those windy roads around the trimdons were great fun, so long as you weren't intending to remain acquainted with your breakfast.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
635,636,654,705 have all transferred out peterlee and 3 Solars are to go to peterlee , a deptford engineer went to Chester this morning to collect a Solar , told by a deptford driver this morning
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(18 Mar 2018, 1:54 pm)Citaro5326 wrote 635,636,654,705 have all transferred out peterlee and 3 Solars are to go to peterlee , a deptford engineer went to Chester this morning to collect a Solar , told by a deptford driver this morning

Wonder which Scania's are moving?
Ooo Friend, Bus Friend.
Site Administrator
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(18 Mar 2018, 1:54 pm)Citaro5326 wrote 635,636,654,705 have all transferred out peterlee and 3 Solars are to go to peterlee , a deptford engineer went to Chester this morning to collect a Solar , told by a deptford driver this morning

705 is just VOR, with repairs being undertaken at Deptford. It is not planned to be transferred out of Peterlee until next month, when the operation of service 168 transfers to Chester-le-Street. For now, it will be used as one of the two spare minibuses at Peterlee (its place on Miscellaneous Works being taken by a Wear Xpress Solo).

635 and 636 will be temporarily withdrawn ahead of the commencement of the seasonal AD122 service, ahead of forward transfer to Hexham.
654 has transferred to Percy Main temporarily, pending delivery of the new Solos for Durham County Council contracts at Chester-le-Street.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
(18 Mar 2018, 3:28 pm)Dan wrote 705 is just VOR, with repairs being undertaken at Deptford. It is not planned to be transferred out of Peterlee until next month, when the operation of service 168 transfers to Chester-le-Street. For now, it will be used as one of the two spare minibuses at Peterlee (its place on Miscellaneous Works being taken by a Wear Xpress Solo).

635 and 636 will be temporarily withdrawn ahead of the commencement of the seasonal AD122 service, ahead of forward transfer to Hexham.
654 has transferred to Percy Main temporarily, pending delivery of the new Solos for Durham County Council contracts at Chester-le-Street.


Are we expecting more than 3 new solo's now, so other contract services get new solo's too, as it seems they'll still be short when those 3 arrive!

Any more of the "Blue Arrow" Scania's been withdrawn yet?
Ooo Friend, Bus Friend.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - March 2018
Ok thank you, does anyone know when the new solos will be delivered and what livery they’ll be ?