(02 Sep 2022, 6:31 pm)Aaron21 wrote No 204 will run between 11.32 & 16.32 tomorrow

The first two 81s are cancelled same as the 83

Mercifully from 11.32 the 204/204A is now being covered by a Washington driver using 6001 for the next few hours although service is still listed as not running between 14.32 and 16.32 this afternoon.

(03 Sep 2022, 9:59 am)Rob44 wrote Just looked at cancellations for today... can anyone tell me how to get home when the last FOUR yrs FOUR 28b are cancelled. ????? PISS TAKE

If the last bus not running GNE should pay for a Taxi for you!

The cancellations are a joke.

Oh look we invested milllions in new buses, so we have to change depots, so you're very reliable Q3 Versa's are going, and we are moving to a Depot with massive driver shortages causing a 2 hour wait for a Q3 from Wallsend. 

4 hour wait 71

5 hour wait for 204/A It was

90 mins wait for a 47

These cancellations were not to improve reliability or to cut down on the driver shortage it was for the contracts they won for schools & other ones. I think the public needs to know that. GNE should tell them, but they won't will there. 

Imagine this conversation with Customer Service if you are not working when you need to contact them,
"Hi, I can't get home till tomorrow as I'm stuck at Newcastle as you've cancelled the last 28B"

GNE CS "We are very sorry, however this is due to the 60+ contracts we have won, so we've cancelled a load of our normal services to have drivers to win these contracts"

My congratulations to Riverside ops on making the 21 even more useless on a match day than it normally is. 40 minute gaps already!

(03 Sep 2022, 11:36 am)Ambassador wrote My congratulations to Riverside ops on making the 21 even more useless on a match day than it normally is. 40 minute gaps already!

According to Bus Times there is a 21 at Brandon.

Several between CLS and Low Fell, but only 1 going to Newcastle between Low Fell and Gateshead. 

Whats the point of complaining they won't do anything, and even if they try to do something they'll probably cut another service as they can't retain drivers.

But ofcourse its not management fault. The entire GNE management should apologise.

The X12 that would pick the slack up is running full from Birtley to Newcastle

(03 Sep 2022, 12:03 pm)Ambassador wrote The X12 that would pick the slack up is running full from Birtley to Newcastle

And its only a pulsar!

Every 15 mins clearly isn't cutting it.

(03 Sep 2022, 12:03 pm)Ambassador wrote The X12 that would pick the slack up is running full from Birtley to Newcastle

Was just wondering how that was doing today!
Make sure you're at the front of the queue for the ride back on it!

(03 Sep 2022, 11:36 am)Ambassador wrote My congratulations to Riverside ops on making the 21 even more useless on a match day than it normally is. 40 minute gaps already!

X21 has been a chaotic mess today, lots of late running, trips cancelled cos of late running and a bit of getting lost, streetdeckfan won't be pleased to hear one missed out part of Woodhouse Close but that's not as bad as one driver being completely flummoxed by Durham:[attachment=10218]
[attachment=10220]

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(03 Sep 2022, 12:06 pm)Unber43 wrote And its only a pulsar!

Every 15 mins clearly isn't cutting it.

Pulsars are the biggest buses at Stockton who run it.

(03 Sep 2022, 1:50 pm)Jimmi wrote X21 has been a chaotic mess today, lots of late running, trips cancelled cos of late running and a bit of getting lost, streetdeckfan won't be pleased to hear one missed out part of Woodhouse Close but that's not as bad as one driver being completely flummoxed by Durham:

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#2

An X21 missed the entirety of Pity Me.

I hope no drivers got backlash for making mistakes, its another managment failure to properly prepare them for the route, if anything i feel  bad for the drivers. They need that layover time back at Newcastle or West Aukland

(03 Sep 2022, 1:56 pm)Unber43 wrote An X21 missed the entirety of Pity Me.

I hope no drivers got backlash for making mistakes, its another managment failure to properly prepare them for the route, if anything i feel  bad for the drivers. They need that layover time back at Newcastle or West Aukland

Didn't spot that one, there was also another I couldn't tell if it missed out multiple parts of the route or was running dead towards Bishop Auckland (no notice given on Twitter of that either)

I think there's a sad liklihood that could happen and whilst some responsibility lies with the driver, I feel for them having being thrown onto a route likely with limited to no knowledge of the areas the route operates in most likely with no training and have to deal with passengers getting frustrated with buses getting lost, late running or buses not running at all with or without notice, worse still the 14:43 from West Auckland was a pre planned cancellation and the following trip at 15:13 is now cancelled between West Auckland and New Coundon (at least one other trip befell this fate) and just hope that 6001 which is currently running light past Spennymoor is the 15:43 departure from West Auckland otherwise some passengers will be left with a third departure not picking them up.

(03 Sep 2022, 2:29 pm)Jimmi wrote Didn't spot that one, there was also another I couldn't tell if it missed out multiple parts of the route or was running dead towards Bishop Auckland (no notice given on Twitter of that either)

I think there's a sad liklihood that could happen and whilst some responsibility lies with the driver, I feel for them having being thrown onto a route likely with limited to no knowledge of the areas the route operates in most likely with no training and have to deal with passengers getting frustrated with buses getting lost, late running or buses not running at all with or without notice, worse still the 14:43 from West Auckland was a pre planned cancellation and the following trip at 15:13 is now cancelled between West Auckland and New Coundon (at least one other trip befell this fate) and just hope that 6001 which is currently running light past Spennymoor is the 15:43 departure from West Auckland otherwise some passengers will be left with a third departure not picking them up.

If you look at GNE page there is so so many delayed routes. 

X30/X31/65/X45/60/X21/58/49/49A are all struggling to stay on time, its a scheduling problem which needs to be fixed. 

Its not so bad if there is a bus every 10 mins/12 mins missing but all of these are every 15 mins - 60 mins. 

You have to wait 30 mins if you're bus is late that is a joke. X21 has about 15 mins of layover times throughout the nearly 4 hour journey, 65 8 mins consideirng one is 20 mins late, and one broke down and they're still doing changeovers at Hetton, X30/X31 have not ran its full route due to delays 4 times. 

Something needs to be done about all of these.

(03 Sep 2022, 2:29 pm)Jimmi wrote Didn't spot that one, there was also another I couldn't tell if it missed out multiple parts of the route or was running dead towards Bishop Auckland (no notice given on Twitter of that either)

I think there's a sad liklihood that could happen and whilst some responsibility lies with the driver, I feel for them having being thrown onto a route likely with limited to no knowledge of the areas the route operates in most likely with no training and have to deal with passengers getting frustrated with buses getting lost, late running or buses not running at all with or without notice, worse still the 14:43 from West Auckland was a pre planned cancellation and the following trip at 15:13 is now cancelled between West Auckland and New Coundon (at least one other trip befell this fate) and just hope that 6001 which is currently running light past Spennymoor is the 15:43 departure from West Auckland otherwise some passengers will be left with a third departure not picking them up.

Tbh, it's no different from when they closed Crook and all the CLS drivers were constantly going the wrong way because of the lack of route learning. Although in this case I would think they'd just allocate CLS drivers to the X21 who know the route!

I'm not usually one to blindly defend GNE, but I think it may be wise to give them a few days to get things sorted
If you're expecting them to transfer an entire depot 10-15 miles overnight and there not to be issues the next day, then you're completely deluded!

(03 Sep 2022, 2:49 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Tbh, it's no different from when they closed Crook and all the CLS drivers were constantly going the wrong way because of the lack of route learning. Although in this case I would think they'd just allocate CLS drivers to the X21 who know the route!

I'm not usually one to blindly defend GNE, but I think it may be wise to give them a few days to get things sorted
If you're expecting them to transfer an entire depot 10-15 miles overnight and there not to be issues the next day, then you're completely deluded!

You would as you said that they would allocate CLS drivers to X21, however you would think route learning would take place before the changes start that would be the logical way to do things

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(03 Sep 2022, 2:29 pm)Jimmi wrote Didn't spot that one, there was also another I couldn't tell if it missed out multiple parts of the route or was running dead towards Bishop Auckland (no notice given on Twitter of that either)

I think there's a sad liklihood that could happen and whilst some responsibility lies with the driver, I feel for them having being thrown onto a route likely with limited to no knowledge of the areas the route operates in most likely with no training and have to deal with passengers getting frustrated with buses getting lost, late running or buses not running at all with or without notice, worse still the 14:43 from West Auckland was a pre planned cancellation and the following trip at 15:13 is now cancelled between West Auckland and New Coundon (at least one other trip befell this fate) and just hope that 6001 which is currently running light past Spennymoor is the 15:43 departure from West Auckland otherwise some passengers will be left with a third departure not picking them up.

6001 has joined 6087 & 6086 & 6332 on the K2 shuttle.

Do GNE not have a database which says which drivers have learned which route?
Surely it would be relatively simple to make sure that drivers only go on routes that they know!

GNE have never been good at learning new places outside of their core areas.

434 to "Bedlington" via "North Seaton" and then not actually serving the place they called "North Seaton" for a couple of weeks because they kept taking the wrong route in Ashington is one of the cockups that I can remember...

(03 Sep 2022, 1:50 pm)Jimmi wrote X21 has been a chaotic mess today, lots of late running, trips cancelled cos of late running and a bit of getting lost, streetdeckfan won't be pleased to hear one missed out part of Woodhouse Close but that's not as bad as one driver being completely flummoxed by Durham:

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I live in Durham and some of it still flummoxes me but crikey! The top one ended up brintge 6 route plus a tour of Wharton Park but I can't work out what happened with the second at all.

(03 Sep 2022, 2:57 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Do GNE not have a database which says which drivers have learned which route?
Surely it would be relatively simple to make sure that drivers only go on routes that they know!

There's probably not many CLS driver's at Riverside tbh. Not sure why any would want to do that commute and I can't imagine there's many who live nearby for the same reason the opposite way. The A1 is horrific as rush hour.

No doubt they're all driving the 6 and 58 etc which have been moved to cater for them.

We caught the half eleven ish x21 from fram to Bishop Auckland, this morning and that was actually spot on BUT that was probably because the driver was bring supervised.

(03 Sep 2022, 3:10 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I live in Durham and some of it still flummoxes me but crikey! The top one ended up brintge 6 route plus a tour of Wharton Park but I can't work out what happened with the second at all.

With the second one, to me it looks like they forgot to take the right to go down past Wharton Park, then saw buses on Millburngate so thought they'd go up that way, realised it's a one way so had to go left at the top then followed the road up to Crossgate, maybe recognised where they were at the traffic lights and followed the northbound X21 route into North Road

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(03 Sep 2022, 3:14 pm)Storx wrote There's probably not many CLS driver's at Riverside tbh. Not sure why any would want to do that commute and I can't imagine there's many who live nearby for the same reason the opposite way. The A1 is horrific as rush hour.

No doubt they're all driving the 6 and 58 etc which have been moved to cater for them.

Going from what Dan has said, if the X21 drivers hadn't moved to Riverside then the X21 would have moved to another depot. So, unless he's been telling porkies, then it's safe to assume there are plenty of CLS drivers at Riverside

(03 Sep 2022, 3:17 pm)streetdeckfan wrote With the second one, to me it looks like they forgot to take the right to go down past Wharton Park, then saw buses on Millburngate so thought they'd go up that way, realised it's a one way so had to go left at the top then followed the road up to Crossgate, maybe recognised where they were at the traffic lights and followed the northbound X21 route into North Road

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Going from what Dan has said, if the X21 drivers hadn't moved to Riverside then the X21 would have moved to another depot. So, unless he's been telling porkies, then it's safe to assume there are plenty of CLS drivers at Riverside

I was thinking the same and I'm surprised it didn't get stuck!

(03 Sep 2022, 3:21 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I was thinking the same and I'm surprised it didn't get stuck!

To be fair, I had to double check on Streetview to make sure it was possible! It seems like it's actually fairly wide up that way.

(03 Sep 2022, 3:25 pm)streetdeckfan wrote To be fair, I had to double check on Streetview to make sure it was possible! It seems like it's actually fairly wide up that way.

There's a steep bottleneck getting into it, next to the pub, though.

Second breakdown on the 65, same vehicle there is now only one on according to Bus times and that is running 20 mins late!

(03 Sep 2022, 3:17 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Going from what Dan has said, if the X21 drivers hadn't moved to Riverside then the X21 would have moved to another depot. So, unless he's been telling porkies, then it's safe to assume there are plenty of CLS drivers at Riverside

Not sure, you have to remember the 6 has moved to Consett in recent times and the 58 has moved to Washington with the 10A, 10B, 12, 53, 54, 57 and 97 on reduced timetables, the 51/52 curtailed at Gateshead and 67/69 withdrawn altogether.

Considering half the stuff hasn't been running at CLS for months now, that could be very likely a chunk of the 21/X21 drivers instead they're doing the 6 / 58 routes now instead over moving the X21 to another depot.

(03 Sep 2022, 4:23 pm)Storx wrote Not sure, you have to remember the 6 has moved to Consett in recent times and the 58 has moved to Washington with the 10A, 10B, 12, 53, 54, 57 and 97 on reduced timetables, the 51/52 curtailed at Gateshead and 67/69 withdrawn altogether.

Considering half the stuff hasn't been running at CLS for months now, that could be very likely a chunk of the 21/X21 drivers instead they're doing the 6 / 58 routes now instead over moving the X21 to another depot.

I wonder how many CLS drivers actually like the X21, X21 & 21 moving to gateshead will definitely add some life into the rota

I think we all knew today had the potential of being a disaster but today has been spectacular! We knew the switch was coming but there’s been apparent zero prep to absolute chaos

Maybe GNE need to stop playing with marketing and gimmicks and let some professionals come in and run the business because the current lot have failed beyond belief. The Durham Road corridor and kibblesworth has been abandoned today.

For all the failings of Arriva and Stagecoach, at their worst day they are a million times better than GNE and aside drivers and engineers I’d be utterly embarrassed to claim to be a employee

Excuse after excuse.,perhaps GNE can look inward and work out the problem is perhaps them

(03 Sep 2022, 5:44 pm)Ambassador wrote I think we all knew today had the potential of being a disaster but today has been spectacular! We knew the switch was coming but there’s been apparent zero prep to absolute chaos

Maybe GNE need to stop playing with marketing and gimmicks and let some professionals come in and run the business because the current lot have failed beyond belief. The Durham Road corridor and kibblesworth has been abandoned today.

For all the failings of Arriva and Stagecoach, at their worst day they are a million times better than GNE and aside drivers and engineers I’d be utterly embarrassed to claim to be a employee

Excuse after excuse.,perhaps GNE can look inward and work out the problem is perhaps them

They'll blame the drivers & cars today! Tomorrow its the passengers fault for wanting to use their bus service

(03 Sep 2022, 5:44 pm)Ambassador wrote I think we all knew today had the potential of being a disaster but today has been spectacular! We knew the switch was coming but there’s been apparent zero prep to absolute chaos

Maybe GNE need to stop playing with marketing and gimmicks and let some professionals come in and run the business because the current lot have failed beyond belief. The Durham Road corridor and kibblesworth has been abandoned today.

For all the failings of Arriva and Stagecoach, at their worst day they are a million times better than GNE and aside drivers and engineers I’d be utterly embarrassed to claim to be a employee

Excuse after excuse.,perhaps GNE can look inward and work out the problem is perhaps them

Aye, everyone’s shite apart from drivers and engineers.


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(03 Sep 2022, 6:11 pm)Dan wrote Aye, everyone’s shite apart from drivers and engineers.


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You said it not us! All Customer Service team, they're great!