(12 Sep 2023, 1:15 pm)L469 YVK wrote But....if Arriva struggle for drivers at Blyth once any ex Walkergate staff take their £££ and head to Stagecoach or GNE, I could possibly see them give up the 306 (depending if Arriva could interwork the 308 with something else).

Would actually fit in perfectly for Stagecoach becuase if they kept the evening 54/354 tender, the evening 306 could perfectly be interworked albeit with a small amount of dead running to either North Shields or Whitley Bay.

I believe you may be over estimating how many drivers may jump ship (or bus). 

GNE are also struggling for drivers.

(12 Sep 2023, 5:57 pm)Bazza wrote I believe you may be over estimating how many drivers may jump ship (or bus). 

GNE are also struggling for drivers.

I think you might get atleast 20

(12 Sep 2023, 5:58 pm)Unber43 wrote I think you might get atleast 20

Ah, right,  I didn’t realise you had a direct line into the depots effected.

(12 Sep 2023, 6:02 pm)Bazza wrote Ah, right,  I didn’t realise you had a direct line into the depots effected.

Key word "think", 20 was under the view that Walkergate had about 40/50 staff

But if they dont want to travel to Ashington or Blyth either Walkergate, Byker or Percy Main are the obvious options, i would not want to cross the tyne everyday to work, and with GNE staff getting a pay rise eventually if your money driven youll be getting a better rate than SC.

Speaking of pay rising the GNE ballot ended today wonder what the result would be

(12 Sep 2023, 7:16 pm)Unber43 wrote Key word "think", 20 was under the view that Walkergate had about 40/50 staff

But if they dont want to travel to Ashington or Blyth either Walkergate, Byker or Percy Main are the obvious options, i would not want to cross the tyne everyday to work, and with GNE staff getting a pay rise eventually if your money driven youll be getting a better rate than SC.

Given they had a PVR of 28 before closure, I think it's fair to say they had a few more than 40-50 staff. 

BIB: If you're money motivated, surely you stay with Arriva Northumbria given they're paying £14.14 per hour vs. £12.83 currently at GNE or £13.69 at Stagecoach? There are other factors which will be at play in terms of people moving companies, with commute time being a key one as you've mentioned, but also working conditions for example.

(12 Sep 2023, 2:55 pm)Storx wrote Why would they want to give up their partial control of the Coast Road. No way will they give up the 306. It's one of the few bus routes they have that 100% won't be affected by the new rail line. The X7-X11/X20-X22 have the potential to be a complete mess when the rail line comes in depending on what happens.

And people said the same about the 50's and look what happened. If Arriva seriously wanted to keep them and found them viable to operate out of Northumberland, they would've went to arms length to keep them.

The 306 has always been on a bit of a decline although popular during the summer months.......

- 1997 NMS: New buses purchased (P4** CCU Volvo Olympian Palatine II's)
- 1997 COASTLINE: 300 & 305 only every 15 mins and very limited evening & Sunday service

At this point....the 300/305 were effectively the secondary routes although the 305 did offer Easy Access with the Excels

- 2003/04 GNE: 300/305 - "Turn up and go" 10 minute frequency and more reputable evening & Sunday frequency with 305 running every 30 minutes

- 2005 Arriva: W*** RBB ex 602/308 Dennis Tridents from Blyth

- 2006: 305/315/316 - Every 7-8 minutes Hadrian Park to Newcastle

- 2008 GNE: 58 introduced

- 2010 GNE: Revised 309 and New 310 introduced giving a 7-8 minute service on top of the 58

- 2010 Arriva: 306 kept on Coast Road and X8/X9 introduced, but latter reduced and 306 re-instated through Battle Hill Drive

- 2012 Arriva: 306 reduced from single deckers

- 2014 GNE: New B9TLs for 309 & 310

- 2015 Arriva: Sunday evening service reduced to hourly

- 2020 GNE: 309/310/311 with bus up to every 6-7 minutes

Although it makes money for Arriva, it's not the goldmine it once was. If Arriva could potentially be short on drivers....plus the logistics of running the 306 on top, those two factors alone are potentially enough.

Although it wouldn't be easy as Arriva would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 308.....and likewise Stagecoach would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 306 as I doubt GNE would want to be out of pocket having to re-jigg and add extra resource to the 307 & 309.

(12 Sep 2023, 7:28 pm)L469 YVK wrote And people said the same about the 50's and look what happened. If Arriva seriously wanted to keep them and found them viable to operate out of Northumberland, they would've went to arms length to keep them.

Although it makes money for Arriva, it's not the goldmine it once was. If Arriva could potentially be short on drivers....plus the logistics of running the 306 on top, those two factors alone are potentially enough.

Although it wouldn't be easy as Arriva would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 308.....and likewise Stagecoach would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 306 as I doubt GNE would want to be out of pocket having to re-jigg and add extra resource to the 307 & 309.

I don't really get your point? You said if they really wanted to keep the 50s they would have, but they have worked out how to keep the 306 running yet are convinced they see it as something they would get rid of? The 50s probably just about (in the case of the 52/53 anyway, maybe less so with the 51/54) kept themselves afloat, whereas the 306 is a route on a 20 minute frequency down a lucrative corridor - it's a very different situation. 

You mention "the logistics of running the 306" - what logistics are there to it? They can have Blyth based breaks on the usual 5 hour cycle, which is pretty much perfect in terms of efficient driving schedules. In the evening there is a bit more to it, but that would be the same for any operator given the current timings and route.

(12 Sep 2023, 7:28 pm)L469 YVK wrote And people said the same about the 50's and look what happened. If Arriva seriously wanted to keep them and found them viable to operate out of Northumberland, they would've went to arms length to keep them.

The 306 has always been on a bit of a decline although popular during the summer months.......

- 1997 NMS: New buses purchased (P4** CCU Volvo Olympian Palatine II's)
- 1997 COASTLINE: 300 & 305 only every 15 mins and very limited evening & Sunday service

At this point....the 300/305 were effectively the secondary routes although the 305 did offer Easy Access with the Excels

- 2003/04 GNE: 300/305 - "Turn up and go" 10 minute frequency and more reputable evening & Sunday frequency with 305 running every 30 minutes

- 2005 Arriva: W*** RBB ex 602/308 Dennis Tridents from Blyth

- 2006: 305/315/316 - Every 7-8 minutes Hadrian Park to Newcastle

- 2008 GNE: 58 introduced

- 2010 GNE: Revised 309 and New 310 introduced giving a 7-8 minute service on top of the 58

- 2010 Arriva: 306 kept on Coast Road and X8/X9 introduced, but latter reduced and 306 re-instated through Battle Hill Drive

- 2012 Arriva: 306 reduced from single deckers

- 2014 GNE: New B9TLs for 309 & 310

- 2015 Arriva: Sunday evening service reduced to hourly

- 2020 GNE: 309/310/311 with bus up to every 6-7 minutes

Although it makes money for Arriva, it's not the goldmine it once was. If Arriva could potentially be short on drivers....plus the logistics of running the 306 on top, those two factors alone are potentially enough.

Although it wouldn't be easy as Arriva would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 308.....and likewise Stagecoach would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 306 as I doubt GNE would want to be out of pocket having to re-jigg and add extra resource to the 307 & 309.

The difference between the 50's and the 306 is clear. It's regularly busy and while it might not be as busy as it used to be, it is clearly far busier and therefore more profitable than the 50's were. They also currently have the infrastructure to run it, which wasn't the case with the 50's where it would have cost to increase the depot and clearly there wasn't a business case for that. As somebody pointed out, they will also want to keep an equal share with GNE along the busy coast road corridor.

As for the driver situation, it will be interesting to see what happens. I understand people saying the commute will mean a lot will leave, but as we don't have personnel files, we don't know that drivers will be worse off with a move to Blyth. There is also an argument that it might be easier to recruit new drivers to a Blyth depot where I believe unemployment is slightly higher and job opportunities are less than in Newcastle itself. Whether Arriva can get their recruitment right is another question.

(12 Sep 2023, 7:28 pm)L469 YVK wrote And people said the same about the 50's and look what happened. If Arriva seriously wanted to keep them and found them viable to operate out of Northumberland, they would've went to arms length to keep them.

The 306 has always been on a bit of a decline although popular during the summer months.......

- 1997 NMS: New buses purchased (P4** CCU Volvo Olympian Palatine II's)
- 1997 COASTLINE: 300 & 305 only every 15 mins and very limited evening & Sunday service

At this point....the 300/305 were effectively the secondary routes although the 305 did offer Easy Access with the Excels

- 2003/04 GNE: 300/305 - "Turn up and go" 10 minute frequency and more reputable evening & Sunday frequency with 305 running every 30 minutes

- 2005 Arriva: W*** RBB ex 602/308 Dennis Tridents from Blyth

- 2006: 305/315/316 - Every 7-8 minutes Hadrian Park to Newcastle

- 2008 GNE: 58 introduced

- 2010 GNE: Revised 309 and New 310 introduced giving a 7-8 minute service on top of the 58

- 2010 Arriva: 306 kept on Coast Road and X8/X9 introduced, but latter reduced and 306 re-instated through Battle Hill Drive

- 2012 Arriva: 306 reduced from single deckers

- 2014 GNE: New B9TLs for 309 & 310

- 2015 Arriva: Sunday evening service reduced to hourly

- 2020 GNE: 309/310/311 with bus up to every 6-7 minutes

Although it makes money for Arriva, it's not the goldmine it once was. If Arriva could potentially be short on drivers....plus the logistics of running the 306 on top, those two factors alone are potentially enough.

Although it wouldn't be easy as Arriva would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 308.....and likewise Stagecoach would need a suitable interworking / layover pattern for the 306 as I doubt GNE would want to be out of pocket having to re-jigg and add extra resource to the 307 & 309.

The thing is without it though, you might aswell cancel the 308 aswell as they interwork with each other to give a 10 minute service.

Either way, it's GoNorthEast that needs to drop services not Arriva and with the potential upcoming strikes I can't imagine things getting better either, their cancellations the past few weeks are much worse than Arriva at Blyth. Riverside has had cancellations for over 2 year now and is never ending and getting worse again. 

Unless things get better fast, things like the 352 and 354 seriously need considered for being cancelled considering the first duplicates the 37 which is running and the second is and has been a basket case of a route for ages which is now duplicated by the 359 on it's unique section.

The sight of a relatively new looking if not actual bus (Gemini 2) decker broken down on an A19 roundabout at peak time seemed to sum up their current woes. Trailing an Enviro400 belching out thick black smoke as it slowly and yet noisily made its way along a long sweeping estate road was equally unimpressive. You have to laugh when you realize the damn thing was in the long abandoned premium service branding. The Gemini 2 of course was also similarly wrongly branded. An express brand, just not the express route it had failed to complete.

I certainly did a double take when I realized there are still some cotswold stone liveried Wright single Deckers running about out there, somewhere in the far south. An oddity, I thought, a forgotten accident, a spare trainer pressed back into service maybe. Then I saw another, and a third. I can hardly believe someone has taken the conscious decision to make some zsmall part of the Empire a sick joke, a reminder of when Arriva was a pioneer, going its own way. Do they assume these areas are so remote their passengers know nothing of what occurs in the next valley? Or maybe the carrier pigeon transmitting the repaint order got shot by a farmer! Utterly bizarre.

I spotted Solo 2853 tonight in Annisford about to get towed by Alpha.

(09 Oct 2023, 6:29 pm)solsburian wrote I spotted Solo 2853 tonight in Annisford about to get towed by Alpha.

It's not even a surprise seeing those things broken down lately, just becoming a norm now.

(09 Oct 2023, 7:19 pm)Storx wrote It's not even a surprise seeing those things broken down lately, just becoming a norm now.

Let's hope it was a one way trip to Alpha's yard.

Wouldn't have far to go.

(09 Oct 2023, 10:48 pm)Rapidsnap wrote Wouldn't have far to go.

The wretched thing is back in service.

(10 Oct 2023, 11:07 pm)solsburian wrote The wretched thing is back in service.

Appears to have broken down again today

(15 Oct 2023, 9:09 pm)Storx wrote Appears to have broken down again today

...and it is back again to curse the roads, bonus points if they have bodged a repair with the transparent sticky bit of the ticket holders.

1532 involved in an accident at Peterlee bus station. Looks likes its gone forward instead of reserve.
Smashed front end. Windscreen is out

(30 Oct 2023, 5:06 pm)Ryland wrote 1532 involved in an accident at Peterlee bus station. Looks likes its gone forward instead of reserve.
Smashed front end. Windscreen is out

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

looks like the bollard did its job then!

(30 Oct 2023, 5:06 pm)Ryland wrote 1532 involved in an accident at Peterlee bus station. Looks likes its gone forward instead of reserve.
Smashed front end. Windscreen is out

 and underneath is also damage

Apparently the driver ran away and got arrested.

(31 Oct 2023, 8:23 pm)nova347 wrote Apparently the driver ran away and got arrested.

Erm, no.

(31 Oct 2023, 8:23 pm)nova347 wrote Apparently the driver ran away and got arrested.

If the driver ran away he wouldn’t be stood by the doors in the second picture

(31 Oct 2023, 8:23 pm)nova347 wrote Apparently the driver ran away and got arrested.

very incorrect  the driver is with the bus

(01 Nov 2023, 5:20 pm)megansmith wrote very incorrect  the driver is with the bus

I know I saw that but everyone was saying he got arrested. Thats why I said apparently, I saw the image of the driver with the bus. I doubt he ran away but due to a lot of people saying it I thought I would mention it to see if anyone else had heard this or anything.

He's likely to be bricking it, given ANE's history with buses moving forward when they're supposed to be parked (with tragic consequences) but he's obviously there with his vehicle.

(01 Nov 2023, 11:04 pm)BusLoverMum wrote He's likely to be bricking it, given ANE's history with buses moving forward when they're supposed to be parked (with tragic consequences) but he's obviously there with his vehicle.

What history?

(03 Nov 2023, 11:22 am)nova347 wrote What history?

Darlo.

(03 Nov 2023, 1:24 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Darlo.

that bus isn't  Darlington's its Durham's based