(03 Mar 2022, 10:08 am)peter wrote Newcastle and North Tyneside timetables from 27th March are now available here.

Positive moves re Cobalt. Not sure whether they need to serve it all day mind. Peaks may suffice.

(04 Mar 2022, 12:52 pm)Andreos1 wrote Positive moves re Cobalt. Not sure whether they need to serve it all day mind. Peaks may suffice.

The all-day service was to simplify the route rather than having different variations at different times.

A lot of people aren't stuck to 9-5, and never have been, so an all-day service makes sense to attract those people I guess.

(04 Mar 2022, 12:52 pm)Andreos1 wrote Positive moves re Cobalt. Not sure whether they need to serve it all day mind. Peaks may suffice.

Probably trying to give people in the area an option to get everywhere without buying multi operator tickets since a certain operator decided to pull out everywhere. It also gives a decent commercial alternative for the 335 or whatever number variation it's got now. They used to both serve it until the traffic problems caused massive problems but the traffic problems are pretty much gone now so makes sense to go back in imo.

(04 Mar 2022, 1:15 pm)omnicity4659 wrote The all-day service was to simplify the route rather than having different variations at different times.

A lot of people aren't stuck to 9-5, and never have been, so an all-day service makes sense to attract those people I guess.

Yeah, I get the whole 9-5 thing doesn't exist, but there are huge chunks of the day when shift changes aren't happening.

(04 Mar 2022, 2:49 pm)Andreos1 wrote Yeah, I get the whole 9-5 thing doesn't exist, but there are huge chunks of the day when shift changes aren't happening.

Damned if they do...

(03 Mar 2022, 6:56 pm)Train8261 wrote 54 is going into the Cobalt

Whats that got to do with the price of cheese?,i said im surprised the 51 hasnt been sent in there yet,im well aware about the 54

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(03 Mar 2022, 7:24 pm)Storx wrote The 55 is on borrowed time imo. It's only before long it's:

Customers wanting to travel between South Gosforth and Newcastle can use our X7 and X8 services, customers wishing to travel between Four Lane Ends towards Newcastle can use our 52 service (the ministry is closing soon). Customers in other areas have services provided by Stagecoach North East.

Also the X7 and X8 need renumbering as they're less express than they've ever been. Might aswell just number it 363 as that was more express than what it is now.

Really surprised about the 55,i remember a time that it used to be rammed,used to be my local bus

(04 Mar 2022, 7:09 pm)RobinHood wrote Damned if they do...

Not really.
From an ops perspective, they're obviously doing it to make money. But if the route isn't making money beyond peaks and the re-routing costs both time and money (plus passengers providing negative feedback at other times)...

(01 Mar 2022, 6:40 pm)peter wrote Service Changes Registered on VOSA
Revised timetable: 2, 6, 7 (Durham), 7 (Yarm), 8, 15, 56, 57/57A, 64, 86, X12, X93
As mentioned in the Northumbria Tenders thread: X14, X15, X18 (58 withdrawn or re-contracted)

Details of changes in Darlington/Durham now available here and details of Middlesbrough/Stockton now available here.

Service 6, 7 and 64 re-increased in frequency but not quite to pre-pandemic levels: 6 and 64 will be every 15 minutes each, 7 will remain every 20 minutes on Saturday.

Service 86 withdrawn, seemingly to be replaced with DCC alternative.

(11 Mar 2022, 3:21 pm)peter wrote Details of changes in Darlington/Durham now available here and details of Middlesbrough/Stockton now available here.

Service 6, 7 and 64 re-increased in frequency but not quite to pre-pandemic levels: 6 and 64 will be every 15 minutes each, 7 will remain every 20 minutes on Saturday.

Service 86 withdrawn, seemingly to be replaced with DCC alternative.

What alternative for the 86?

(11 Mar 2022, 3:31 pm)Omega54 wrote What alternative for the 86?

It's not yet been confirmed

Arriva have kinda made a mistake on the X8/X9 changes on the website or they have word it really strange

Service X8
If you currently travel on Service X8 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X9 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8. From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

Service X9
If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington (except Amersham Road, please see separate note below), your 

If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X8 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8 (omitting Amersham Road). From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

So basically there saying I'm it's correct

The X9 route between Blyth & Cramlington is the X8 route and the X8 route between Blyth & Cramlington is the X9 route

Yet it then says the X8 will follow the X9 route to Newcastle and the X9 will follow the X8 route to Newcastle

That's really badly worded.

I'm not familiar with these routes, but it reads to me like this:
- Between Blyth & Cramlington, X9 is being diverted along the current X8 route (although it implies the current X9 route is being retained by the new X8), with the X8 now omitting Amersham Road.
Presumably something like this:

(The fact I've had to redraw that diagram about 5 times is not good)

(16 Mar 2022, 2:01 pm)Train8261 wrote Arriva have kinda made a mistake on the X8/X9 changes on the website or they have word it really strange

Service X8
If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington (except Amersham Road), your bus will show Service X8 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X9 (omitting Amersham Road). From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

Service X9
If you currently travel on Service X8 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X9 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8. From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

The whole thing is a mess, not sure why they've bothered as it only causes more confusion, I've edited it above to something that sort of makes sense. 

(16 Mar 2022, 3:07 pm)F114TML wrote That's really badly worded.

I'm not familiar with these routes, but it reads to me like this:
- Between Blyth & Cramlington, X9 is being diverted along the current X8 route (although it implies the current X9 route is being retained by the new X8), with the X8 now omitting Amersham Road.
Presumably something like this:

(The fact I've had to redraw that diagram about 5 times is not good)

Sadly your diagram is wildly wrong. The X9 currently runs via South Beach and Amersham Road, the X8 runs via Bebside. After the changes, the X9 will run via Bebside and the X8 will run via South Beach. The X7 currently also runs via South Beach (but doesn't serve Cramlington) and that will now serve Amersham Road.

(16 Mar 2022, 2:01 pm)Train8261 wrote Arriva have kinda made a mistake on the X8/X9 changes on the website or they have word it really strange

Service X8
If you currently travel on Service X8 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X9 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8. From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

Service X9
If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington (except Amersham Road, please see separate note below), your 

If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X8 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8 (omitting Amersham Road). From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

So basically there saying I'm it's correct

The X9 route between Blyth & Cramlington is the X8 route and the X8 route between Blyth & Cramlington is the X9 route

Yet it then says the X8 will follow the X9 route to Newcastle and the X9 will follow the X8 route to Newcastle

They could have at least provided a map

(16 Mar 2022, 5:57 pm)peter wrote Sadly your diagram is wildly wrong. The X9 currently runs via South Beach and Amersham Road, the X8 runs via Bebside. After the changes, the X9 will run via Bebside and the X8 will run via South Beach. The X7 currently also runs via South Beach (but doesn't serve Cramlington) and that will now serve Amersham Road.

So in effect the X8 is being diverted away from Amersham Road and renumbered to X9, and the X9 is being renumbered to X8?

I don't get the confusion tbh and there's been little confusion locally from what I've seen aswell. Most I've seen is people moaning from South Beach who can't get to the Regent Centre / Cramlington (Amersham Drive) now.

X7 - Current route additionally serving Amersham Drive - https://www.google.com/maps/dir/55.12748...ae!1m0!3e0
X8 - Current route Newcastle to Shankhouse, X9 route from there to Blyth omitting Amersham Drive (X7 now) - https://www.google.com/maps/dir/55.12696...978252!3e0
X9 - Current route Newcastle to Shankhouse, X8 route from there to Blyth - https://www.google.com/maps/dir/55.12997...978252!3e0

X7 - Mon to Sun, Early to Late
X8 - Mon to Sun, Early to 8pm
X9 - Mon to Sun, Early to Late

Means Beacon Hill in Cramlington and Amersham Drive gains an evening service but Annitsford to the new hospital loses there's and Cowpen get's a quicker service to Newcastle than going around the world. It's a positive change for people locally excluding the Amersham Drive to Cramlington and South Beach to Regent Centre issues.

(16 Mar 2022, 6:26 pm)Storx wrote I don't get the confusion tbh and there's been little confusion locally from what I've seen aswell. Most I've seen is people moaning from South Beach who can't get to the Regent Centre / Cramlington (Amersham Drive) now.

I don't know the area particularly well, but it isn't written clearly.

It's obvious that Arriva have tried to re-assure their customers that it isn't a great change, effectively swapping the routes and little to no change other than Amersham Drive - but have failed to put this in a clear and coherent way. Ironically your description is a lot clearer.

(16 Mar 2022, 6:31 pm)Dan wrote I don't know the area particularly well, but it isn't written clearly.

It's obvious that Arriva have tried to re-assure their customers that it isn't a great change, effectively swapping the routes and little to no change other than Amersham Drive - but have failed to put this in a clear and coherent way. Ironically your description is a lot clearer.

Yeah I get it, have a feeling it's been wrote for people who know the area rather than people who don't.

The X8 is just a bizarre route to me it's almost as if it's setup to fail, it just seems to drives around places and the places it goes through the X7/X9/309/52 exists and the X9 is quicker in High Pit and the 52 runs in front of the X8 in both directions to/from Burradon which is quicker route aswell.

It's this part that confusing so much on the X8/X9 change

X9 From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

X8 From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

---

This is the entire thing on their website

What is changing?

We’re swapping the routes of Service X8 and X9 between Cramlington and Newcastle, plus a revision to which service operates via Amersham Road, to ensure reliability and punctuality of the revised services.

Why are we doing this?

We’re responding to lots of customer suggestions and queries regarding overall journey time from various areas of Blyth to Newcastle. Customers have identified that particularly those who live the furthest, have services that operate longer journey times between Cramlington and Newcastle.

These changes are designed to improve journey times, particularly for passengers who travel the furthest, but also balance the journey times by service, which has longer term punctuality and reliability improvements, as the services are all operationally linked (in that the same pool of vehicles operate on all three services across the day).

How does it affect me?

94% of existing passengers on Services X7, X8 and X9 will see either no change or a bus service number change only, as part of these revisions. Unfortunately, this does mean that 6% of existing passengers will see some change or potentially require a connecting service to complete their journey after 27 March.

Service X7
If you currently travel on Service X7, your journey is unaffected, all existing boarding points will continue to be observed as they do now.

Service X8
If you currently travel on Service X8 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X9 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8. From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

Service X9
If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington (except Amersham Road, please see separate note below), your 

If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X8 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8 (omitting Amersham Road). From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

Amersham Road to Cramlington
If you do currently use Service X9 on Amersham Road, your new service will be Service X7, which will be revised to operate via Amersham Road, replacing Service X9.

We do appreciate a small number of customers will regrettably lose a direct link to Cramlington because of this, however several alternative services will continue to operate via Plessy Road and Rotary Way, providing that direct link.

Links to Regent Centre and Quorum

Due to the changes in route, there will be some changes to which routes buses take into Newcastle compared to now. We’ve seen demand significantly reduce from these locations due to changes in working from home practices and flexible working arrangements, which also means demand into Newcastle now significantly outweighs any other demand – as a result, we’re prioritising these key passenger flows.

Connections between X7, X8 and X9 can still be made either in Cramlington (X8, X9) or Newcastle (All) to permit journeys as required. 

Making changes to how services operate that directly affects journeys people need to make are not taken lightly and, in this case, these revisions benefit significantly more people than current arrangements, which we believe ensures we’re providing the best possible service for as many people as possible

(16 Mar 2022, 7:33 pm)Train8261 wrote It's this part that confusing so much on the X8/X9 change

X9 From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

X8 From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

---

This is the entire thing on their website

What is changing?

We’re swapping the routes of Service X8 and X9 between Cramlington and Newcastle, plus a revision to which service operates via Amersham Road, to ensure reliability and punctuality of the revised services.

Why are we doing this?

We’re responding to lots of customer suggestions and queries regarding overall journey time from various areas of Blyth to Newcastle. Customers have identified that particularly those who live the furthest, have services that operate longer journey times between Cramlington and Newcastle.

These changes are designed to improve journey times, particularly for passengers who travel the furthest, but also balance the journey times by service, which has longer term punctuality and reliability improvements, as the services are all operationally linked (in that the same pool of vehicles operate on all three services across the day).

How does it affect me?

94% of existing passengers on Services X7, X8 and X9 will see either no change or a bus service number change only, as part of these revisions. Unfortunately, this does mean that 6% of existing passengers will see some change or potentially require a connecting service to complete their journey after 27 March.

Service X7
If you currently travel on Service X7, your journey is unaffected, all existing boarding points will continue to be observed as they do now.

Service X8
If you currently travel on Service X8 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X9 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8. From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X9 route to Newcastle.

Service X9
If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington (except Amersham Road, please see separate note below), your 

If you currently travel on Service X9 and board anywhere between Blyth Bus Station and Cramlington, your bus will show Service X8 instead and it will operate the exact same route between Blyth and Cramlington as the current Service X8 (omitting Amersham Road). From Cramlington, the service will operate via the existing Service X8 route to Newcastle.

Amersham Road to Cramlington
If you do currently use Service X9 on Amersham Road, your new service will be Service X7, which will be revised to operate via Amersham Road, replacing Service X9.

We do appreciate a small number of customers will regrettably lose a direct link to Cramlington because of this, however several alternative services will continue to operate via Plessy Road and Rotary Way, providing that direct link.

Links to Regent Centre and Quorum

Due to the changes in route, there will be some changes to which routes buses take into Newcastle compared to now. We’ve seen demand significantly reduce from these locations due to changes in working from home practices and flexible working arrangements, which also means demand into Newcastle now significantly outweighs any other demand – as a result, we’re prioritising these key passenger flows.

Connections between X7, X8 and X9 can still be made either in Cramlington (X8, X9) or Newcastle (All) to permit journeys as required. 

Making changes to how services operate that directly affects journeys people need to make are not taken lightly and, in this case, these revisions benefit significantly more people than current arrangements, which we believe ensures we’re providing the best possible service for as many people as possible

It's really not that confusing, I've included a map below to explain it in as simple as it can be. Shankhouse is the point where they're being swapped, not sure why they're saying Cramlington as it's wrong.

(16 Mar 2022, 6:31 pm)Dan wrote I don't know the area particularly well, but it isn't written clearly.

It's obvious that Arriva have tried to re-assure their customers that it isn't a great change, effectively swapping the routes and little to no change other than Amersham Drive - but have failed to put this in a clear and coherent way. Ironically your description is a lot clearer.

I sent Arriva an email telling them it made no sense and they might want to consider replacing it with something similar to what I wrote in my post above...someone has copied and pasted it and put it on the website lol.

(16 Mar 2022, 6:31 pm)I Dan wrote I don't know the area particularly well, but it isn't written clearly.

It's obvious that Arriva have tried to re-assure their customers that it isn't a great change, effectively swapping the routes and little to no change other than Amersham Drive - but have failed to put this in a clear and coherent way. Ironically your description is a lot clearer.

I don’t know the area that well either but, it’s not that difficult to work out. Not only that have you thought that actually a lot of people from the Blyth estates would prefer a faster journey into Newcastle?

For someone who knows the area quite well, it didn’t seem that complicated to me. Basically Bebside and Cowpen will get a faster service to Newcastle and South Beach will take on the old X8 route from Cramlington.

PB0002717/14 Registered (Short notice)
ARRIVA DURHAM COUNTY LTD
Route: Darlington to Colburn
Service number: X26 (X26, X27)
Service type: Limited Stop
Effective date: 24 Apr 2022

(25 Mar 2022, 7:24 pm)Michael wrote PB0002717/14 Registered (Short notice)
ARRIVA DURHAM COUNTY LTD
Route: Darlington to Colburn
Service number: X26 (X26, X27)
Service type: Limited Stop
Effective date: 24 Apr 2022

I imagine it is to do with the works between Scotch Corner and Richmond.
Although after today's escapade with the E400 earlier on, they may be re-routing it to avoid the shame of heading down that road again!

(25 Mar 2022, 8:29 pm)Andreos1 wrote I imagine it is to do with the works between Scotch Corner and Richmond.
Although after today's escapade with the E400 earlier on, they may be re-routing it to avoid the shame of heading down that road again!

Believe that's when the works in relation to the new Scotch Corner Designer Village are due to end (Road through to Skeeby currently closed)

Already posted in the Northumberland contracts thread but thought I'd post here too

The new X14/15/18 timetables now available on Bustimes/Arriva's website. From what I could make out Monday-Friday changes are:

X14:
06:40 from Morpeth to Thropton will run 5 minutes later throughout
07:34 from Thropton to Newcastle will run 5 minutes later throughout
13:00 from Morpeth to Thropton withdrawn (12:23 NCL to Morpeth still runs)
13:54 from Thropton to Morpeth withdrawn (14:43 from Morpeth to NCL still runs)
17:09 from Thropton to Newcastle will run 5 minutes earlier to Morpeth

X15:
07:43 will now depart 10 minutes later from Alnwick and 5 minutes later from Morpeth

X18:
15:13 from Newcastle will run 5 minutes earlier
(Interestingly seemingly no summer extra's as of yet)

58:
Unless another operator's got the contract and yet to register on VOSA, seemingly withdrawn without replacement.

Any idea how the 'new' X9 route as gone down so far asides from the few lost connections as a result of the route swap?

The AM journeys into Newcastle according to BusTimes seemed fairly punctual given the time of day and the usual Gosforth traffic.

Didn't realise but Arriva have reintroduced Blyth doing an early run on the 306. Used to start at Tynemouth but now starts at Whitley Bay

Not sure if it's been mentioned but the 95 in Whitby is changing from 24th April, presumably associated with NYCC contract changes