September Service Changes
September Service Changes
(06 Aug 2021, 1:20 pm)morritt89 I believe the 65 is staying at Peterlee but not sure of the vehicle type to be used. However if my memory is right, hasn't the service been operated by both Deptford (East Lancs Olympians) and Chester Le Street (may be going back a few years here)?It was Operated by Chester-Le-Street before it became 265, and Chester-Le-Street still operated two 265 services a day for Durham Sixth Form. It was ran by Chester-Le-Street for years
(06 Aug 2021, 1:20 pm)morritt89 I believe the 65 is staying at Peterlee but not sure of the vehicle type to be used. However if my memory is right, hasn't the service been operated by both Deptford (East Lancs Olympians) and Chester Le Street (may be going back a few years here)?It was Operated by Chester-Le-Street before it became 265, and Chester-Le-Street still operated two 265 services a day for Durham Sixth Form. It was ran by Chester-Le-Street for years
(06 Aug 2021, 1:30 pm)Keeiajs It was Operated by Chester-Le-Street before it became 265, and Chester-Le-Street still operated two 265 services a day for Durham Sixth Form. It was ran by Chester-Le-Street for years
(06 Aug 2021, 1:30 pm)Keeiajs It was Operated by Chester-Le-Street before it became 265, and Chester-Le-Street still operated two 265 services a day for Durham Sixth Form. It was ran by Chester-Le-Street for years
(06 Aug 2021, 8:07 am)streetdeckfan The cynic in me thinks that GNE are dipping their toes into competing with Arriva in Durham, they've extended the X21 to West Auckland, duplicating most of the Arriva 6 route, now they're extending the 21 to Brandon, presumably duplicating the Arriva 49.Were passengers in Brandon crying out for those links, though? I'm not convinced that there's that much demand for it.
The upside is that it'll give passengers in Brandon a direct link to places like the Arnison Centre, Chester le Street, and Newcastle
(06 Aug 2021, 8:07 am)streetdeckfan The cynic in me thinks that GNE are dipping their toes into competing with Arriva in Durham, they've extended the X21 to West Auckland, duplicating most of the Arriva 6 route, now they're extending the 21 to Brandon, presumably duplicating the Arriva 49.Were passengers in Brandon crying out for those links, though? I'm not convinced that there's that much demand for it.
The upside is that it'll give passengers in Brandon a direct link to places like the Arnison Centre, Chester le Street, and Newcastle
(06 Aug 2021, 11:36 am)Chris 1 Personally I find the Market Street terminus a bit of pain as my connecting bus is Eldon Square.
(06 Aug 2021, 11:36 am)Chris 1 Personally I find the Market Street terminus a bit of pain as my connecting bus is Eldon Square.
(06 Aug 2021, 2:33 pm)big mac Were passengers in Brandon crying out for those links, though? I'm not convinced that there's that much demand for it.
Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using Tapatalk
(06 Aug 2021, 2:33 pm)big mac Were passengers in Brandon crying out for those links, though? I'm not convinced that there's that much demand for it.
Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using Tapatalk
(06 Aug 2021, 2:40 pm)Drifter60 Just a thought about the 71 withdrawal too, how come Nexus/Sunderland City Council aren’t involved? Surely there’s people in Houghton and Fence Houses (the half of it that is in Tyne & Wear!) who need/want direct links to Chester-le-Street and Seaham?
(06 Aug 2021, 2:40 pm)Drifter60 Just a thought about the 71 withdrawal too, how come Nexus/Sunderland City Council aren’t involved? Surely there’s people in Houghton and Fence Houses (the half of it that is in Tyne & Wear!) who need/want direct links to Chester-le-Street and Seaham?
(06 Aug 2021, 2:40 pm)Drifter60 Just a thought about the 71 withdrawal too, how come Nexus/Sunderland City Council aren’t involved? Surely there’s people in Houghton and Fence Houses (the half of it that is in Tyne & Wear!) who need/want direct links to Chester-le-Street and Seaham?I have been looking recently particularly on 71, it always sees relatively busy, like 10-15 people on.
(06 Aug 2021, 2:40 pm)Drifter60 Just a thought about the 71 withdrawal too, how come Nexus/Sunderland City Council aren’t involved? Surely there’s people in Houghton and Fence Houses (the half of it that is in Tyne & Wear!) who need/want direct links to Chester-le-Street and Seaham?I have been looking recently particularly on 71, it always sees relatively busy, like 10-15 people on.
(06 Aug 2021, 2:40 pm)Drifter60 Just a thought about the 71 withdrawal too, how come Nexus/Sunderland City Council aren’t involved? Surely there’s people in Houghton and Fence Houses (the half of it that is in Tyne & Wear!) who need/want direct links to Chester-le-Street and Seaham?71 is an awkward one with it going through multiple council areas, starts and ends in County Durham but the mid part of the route is in Nexus land with most of the route being covered by other services albeit not with direct links to CLS or Seaham
(06 Aug 2021, 2:40 pm)Drifter60 Just a thought about the 71 withdrawal too, how come Nexus/Sunderland City Council aren’t involved? Surely there’s people in Houghton and Fence Houses (the half of it that is in Tyne & Wear!) who need/want direct links to Chester-le-Street and Seaham?71 is an awkward one with it going through multiple council areas, starts and ends in County Durham but the mid part of the route is in Nexus land with most of the route being covered by other services albeit not with direct links to CLS or Seaham
(05 Aug 2021, 8:33 pm)Ambassador Seems a fairly sensible set of changes. Numbers are never going to return to what they are, COVID has changed how we live and work forever.To me the Whitehall Road diversion of the 28A does make sense. Bensham Road already has ample bus services to Gateshead and Newcastle, and Whitehall Road only has the 29 and 67. I don't see the harm in giving them one extra bus an hour and a new direct link to Newcastle. It'll hardly make any difference to the journey time either.
The 5 day week is dead so it’s only right the industry adapts.
From a personal point of view.
925 ending not a surprise and was only ever a token gesture that never merited the bus,
28/28A changes finally mark the end of the illustrious 709/728 legacy. It’s not ideal for those in Pelton Fell but the new housing popping up around there isn’t encouraging public transport use. I’m confused as to why it’s moving out of Eldon Square though? Market Street is the arse end of town. Whitehall Road makes little sense either unless Bentham Bank is causing congestion issues
I’d have been tempted to run maybe a few 28s a day to Beamish fast via the A693 which might happen if the B1 doesn’t last. (Tif it’d be quicker than the B1)
Genuinely surprised at the X22 being upgraded and branded, Even pre pandemic I was normally one of a handful of passengers but it must do the business (or metro centre are incentivising)
Not sure I’d be entirely thrilled as 53/54 commuter to be diverted via the Quayside, spending more time in traffic on my game changing bus.
(05 Aug 2021, 8:33 pm)Ambassador Seems a fairly sensible set of changes. Numbers are never going to return to what they are, COVID has changed how we live and work forever.To me the Whitehall Road diversion of the 28A does make sense. Bensham Road already has ample bus services to Gateshead and Newcastle, and Whitehall Road only has the 29 and 67. I don't see the harm in giving them one extra bus an hour and a new direct link to Newcastle. It'll hardly make any difference to the journey time either.
The 5 day week is dead so it’s only right the industry adapts.
From a personal point of view.
925 ending not a surprise and was only ever a token gesture that never merited the bus,
28/28A changes finally mark the end of the illustrious 709/728 legacy. It’s not ideal for those in Pelton Fell but the new housing popping up around there isn’t encouraging public transport use. I’m confused as to why it’s moving out of Eldon Square though? Market Street is the arse end of town. Whitehall Road makes little sense either unless Bentham Bank is causing congestion issues
I’d have been tempted to run maybe a few 28s a day to Beamish fast via the A693 which might happen if the B1 doesn’t last. (Tif it’d be quicker than the B1)
Genuinely surprised at the X22 being upgraded and branded, Even pre pandemic I was normally one of a handful of passengers but it must do the business (or metro centre are incentivising)
Not sure I’d be entirely thrilled as 53/54 commuter to be diverted via the Quayside, spending more time in traffic on my game changing bus.
(06 Aug 2021, 3:36 pm)Keeiajs Also the 61.
(06 Aug 2021, 3:36 pm)Keeiajs Also the 61.
(06 Aug 2021, 2:47 pm)Jimmi 71 is an awkward one with it going through multiple council areas, starts and ends in County Durham but the mid part of the route is in Nexus land with most of the route being covered by other services albeit not with direct links to CLS or SeahamI'm not sure what the answer is with the 71 situation. The 78 duplicates most of the route west of Fence Houses (although not FH itself) and the 4 covers most of Fence Houses to Houghton.
(06 Aug 2021, 2:47 pm)Jimmi 71 is an awkward one with it going through multiple council areas, starts and ends in County Durham but the mid part of the route is in Nexus land with most of the route being covered by other services albeit not with direct links to CLS or SeahamI'm not sure what the answer is with the 71 situation. The 78 duplicates most of the route west of Fence Houses (although not FH itself) and the 4 covers most of Fence Houses to Houghton.
(06 Aug 2021, 3:41 pm)Michael Forgot about the 61 - it needs 4 buses
Alongside:
The 78 needs a extra Streetlite, would make sense for 5409 to be branded and move 5410 as a spare.
65 needs 4 buses - 5 of these could up at Peterlee (includes a spare)
= 11 Streetlites - that leaves 5420/5421 as spares for elsewhere.
(06 Aug 2021, 3:41 pm)Michael Forgot about the 61 - it needs 4 buses
Alongside:
The 78 needs a extra Streetlite, would make sense for 5409 to be branded and move 5410 as a spare.
65 needs 4 buses - 5 of these could up at Peterlee (includes a spare)
= 11 Streetlites - that leaves 5420/5421 as spares for elsewhere.
(06 Aug 2021, 4:06 pm)Storx Imagine the 2 spares at Consett will be used on the 78 like which aren't Euro 6. Wouldn't be surprised tbh if the 7 ended up at Riverside for the 49/49A to get the 66 plates off there so they can be used on the 6/6A, 12, 47 and 57 which still need Euro 6 buses.49 & 6 & 12 need branding.
(06 Aug 2021, 4:06 pm)Storx Imagine the 2 spares at Consett will be used on the 78 like which aren't Euro 6. Wouldn't be surprised tbh if the 7 ended up at Riverside for the 49/49A to get the 66 plates off there so they can be used on the 6/6A, 12, 47 and 57 which still need Euro 6 buses.49 & 6 & 12 need branding.
(05 Aug 2021, 8:28 pm)Andreos1 Unsurprised at the axing of the 71 coupled with a pleading begging bowl in the direction of DCC. It's not like we've seen that sort of behaviour previously. I'd hoped MG may have instilled a sense of ownership in the organisation and that culture of using the public purse had ended. Clearly I was wrong (there's mention of the begging bowl at least twice in these changes).
The latest version isn't fit for purpose and rather than adapt the route or timetable, pushing connections with the National Rail Network at Seaham or spinning some other sort of marketing, it's obviously easier culling it completely.
See previous comments on taking the easy/lazy option.
I'm not surprised to see most of these changes. Some feel a bit premature, some I think were inevitable and others feel like a problem solved by cobbling everything together - the old square pegs in round holes approach.
I think the idea of producing a booklet for network changes is a good one, but I feel like I could have gotten around an 18 hole golf course in the time I've read through that intro. Headlines like 'Getting buses fit for the future', in a booklet of service cuts, and force-feeding readers with 11 pages of 'look how good we are', feels like the work of an excessively-paid consultant or spin-doctor. I somehow think that those losing their bus services in parts of West Durham and East Durham, will feel very little positivity from hearing about the 'luxury Xlines network' or how there's been a £17 million investment in modern, green buses. Can we just have spin-free in the future, please!
The statement "The pandemic has, however, had a detrimental impact on the usage of all public transport and is changing the way people work, shop and more, in turn impacting travel patterns that we must work through adjusting to" feels somewhat premature. Although services are pretty much all reopened, the guidance to work from home if you can" has only been dropped on the 19th July, and in fact a lot of employers are yet to start the transition of those staff back into the workplace yet - including the Government and local authorities themselves. It's inevitable that office-based workers patterns of work will change, which is why flexible ticketing is going to be so important, but it feels premature going down this road so soon.
A few that stand out -
(05 Aug 2021, 8:28 pm)Andreos1 Unsurprised at the axing of the 71 coupled with a pleading begging bowl in the direction of DCC. It's not like we've seen that sort of behaviour previously. I'd hoped MG may have instilled a sense of ownership in the organisation and that culture of using the public purse had ended. Clearly I was wrong (there's mention of the begging bowl at least twice in these changes).
The latest version isn't fit for purpose and rather than adapt the route or timetable, pushing connections with the National Rail Network at Seaham or spinning some other sort of marketing, it's obviously easier culling it completely.
See previous comments on taking the easy/lazy option.