(17 Feb 2024, 6:39 pm)Michael wrote 28006 had a accident on Chester Road today in Sunderland.

Did the wall jump out in front of the bus?

(12 Feb 2024, 12:50 pm)Dan wrote I’m told there’s a sweepstake - pound a guess, if you’re interested.

Current favourites in the bus industry bookies are Lothian, First Group/York Pullman and Lumo, if you’re interested!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is there a payout on this yet young Dan?

(17 Mar 2024, 10:21 pm)Ambassador wrote Is there a payout on this yet young Dan?

Forgot all about our very own Daniel moving on to pastures new. 
Unless he's had a change of heart after all and is going to be working extremely closely with Nigel and Benjamin.

I know all depots have their drivers that crash right, but I've been getting these Tik Toks from Consett and like loads of the buses 6180/6181/6141 all have had panel replacements among others. I know Deptford hasn't had the best couple of months with crashes with 5371/5374/5375, the latter just getting into a minor head on collision which left virtually no damage on the bus while the other 2 just had panel replacements down the nearside. With a few Prince Bishops being in accidents among other streelites.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-68806386

South Shields supporters bus involved in serious rtc on the A1

(14 Apr 2024, 2:31 pm)Andreos1 wrote https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-68806386

South Shields supporters bus involved in serious rtc on the A1

Cant quite work out if a self drive minibus ot a hired minibus and driver

Spotted this on Facebook.

Wonder what went on. Did someone not obey a photocopied no entry sign or something?



Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

(09 May 2024, 11:06 am)Adrian wrote Spotted this on Facebook.

Wonder what went on. Did someone not obey a photocopied no entry sign or something?



Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

Was it the drag race?

(09 May 2024, 11:16 am)Unber43 wrote Was it the drag race?

 A drag race with GNE buses? Assume they had the calendars out to calculate the result.

I did see a video of what appeared to be a drag race with 5 (I think) GNE buses. Looked to be people close by as well. Aside from the idiocy of it all, I was surprised to see a B9 out drag an electric.

(09 May 2024, 11:42 am)Chris 1 wrote I did see a video of what appeared to be a drag race with 5 (I think) GNE buses.  Looked to be people close by as well.  Aside from the idiocy of it all, I was surprised to see a B9 out drag an electric.

Speaks to the intelligence level of the people they're hiring there now (and the intelligence of the management who have let those staff take a bus to a rally). A drag race with a double decker bus is idiotic enough, but to do it with members of the public close by? 

Aside from the damage they could have done to human life which is the most concerning aspect of this, one slip (they don't do drag race training as part of the training to get a licence!) and it could easily have been hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of assets damaged. Obviously that impacts on the immediate vehicle availability, likely resulting in lost mileage and unhappy passengers, but also on the finances of the company which could lead to cuts in service. 

If there are 5 drivers involved, they should all be sacked and have their licences revoked.

(09 May 2024, 11:06 am)Adrian wrote Spotted this on Facebook.

Wonder what went on. Did someone not obey a photocopied no entry sign or something?



Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

Head of Commercial being lumped with a memo like that? 
I sincerely hope Benjamin isn't learning his delegation tips from NF. However, it's looking that way.

---

(09 May 2024, 11:16 am)Unber43 wrote Was it the drag race?

Hope we've got some video footage. 
Could put bets on the winner.

(09 May 2024, 6:23 pm)Andreos1 wrote Head of Commercial being lumped with a memo like that? 
I sincerely hope Benjamin isn't learning his delegation tips from NF. However, it's looking that way.

---

Hope we've got some video footage. 
Could put bets on the winner.

Yeah it was if i recember a Elite B9, Tynedale Solo, Q3 Yutong, Sunderland Connect Decker and another one. 

Elite B9 beat them all quite easily aswell

(09 May 2024, 6:23 pm)Andreos1 wrote Head of Commercial being lumped with a memo like that? 
I sincerely hope Benjamin isn't learning his delegation tips from NF. However, it's looking that way.

---

Hope we've got some video footage. 
Could put bets on the winner.

It's almost as bad as announcing via a staff briefing, that an investigation is being conducted on a confidential basis...

Most staff wouldn't have been aware of it before that briefing. Any good rep would be highlighting that in doing so, they've actually prejudiced the investigation.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

(09 May 2024, 8:41 pm)Unber43 wrote Yeah it was if i recember a Elite B9, Tynedale Solo, Q3 Yutong, Sunderland Connect Decker and another one. 

Elite B9 beat them all quite easily aswell

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/6SpMbNry864shY62/

Here it is!

(09 May 2024, 9:05 pm)Adrian wrote It's almost as bad as announcing via a staff briefing, that an investigation is being conducted on a confidential basis...

Most staff wouldn't have been aware of it before that briefing. Any good rep would be highlighting that in doing so, they've actually prejudiced the investigation.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

Sure someone published 'a dummies guide to employee relations'

https://www.dummies.com/

If they didn't, there's probably a handful of issues to be sold amongst local bus operator management teams.

It was a bit of fun jesus christ

(09 May 2024, 9:57 pm)Unber43 wrote It was a bit of fun jesus christ

There's a time and a place for 'a bit of fun'. I'd strongly argue that "professional" drivers should know far better than to drag race 5 buses in an area which is open to pedestrians. 

As I said earlier, they should all be sacked and have their licences taken from them. They had no thought to the potential consequences of their actions, and I'd not feel comfortable with a single one of them driving me or my family.

(09 May 2024, 10:20 pm)mb134 wrote There's a time and a place for 'a bit of fun'. I'd strongly argue that "professional" drivers should know far better than to drag race 5 buses in an area which is open to pedestrians. 

As I said earlier, they should all be sacked and have their licences taken from them. They had no thought to the potential consequences of their actions, and I'd not feel comfortable with a single one of them driving me or my family.

I would.

(13 Feb 2024, 11:29 pm)Andreos1 wrote Any guarantees on the newness of their IT equipment?
Hopefully as modern as the bus fleet!

---

Lumo does tick a few obvious boxes mind.
Theres the chance to be re-united with MG.
You can flirt with a certain copy and paste expert. 
Stay part of the 10 percent club clique too. 

But... You love buses. And we've seen the interview where you admit you love buses. 

I'm torn Daniel. Totally torn. 

Did anyone ever win the bet? 

Must have been close with this one mind. 
Reunited with MG.
Still flirting with a certain copy and paste expert. 
Still part of the 10 percent club clique too. 

And the passion with buses is maintained. We all know how much our very own Daniel loves buses...

(09 May 2024, 10:20 pm)mb134 wrote There's a time and a place for 'a bit of fun'. I'd strongly argue that "professional" drivers should know far better than to drag race 5 buses in an area which is open to pedestrians. 

As I said earlier, they should all be sacked and have their licences taken from them. They had no thought to the potential consequences of their actions, and I'd not feel comfortable with a single one of them driving me or my family.

Yep, and this is the issue. If they wanted to do it for a 'bit of fun', then it should have been properly supervised and risk assessed. Having watched that video clip a couple of times, I think it's only by sheer luck that we're not discussing someone being hit by a bus.

It's been spoken about on here for years about people running around like idiots at these rallies, letting themselves onto buses and other stupid shit, so it's a bit ironic that we're now talking about the behaviour of the so-called adults. You can clearly see on the footage that there's visibly two people stood in the path of the vehicles, and over on the far side (where the E200 raced away), there's a group of people stood inches away from it. 

Whilst I don't think the forum should be playing judge, jury and executioner, in my opinion that is what elevates the severity of the incident. There was a risk to members of the public.

Mod note: I've removed a post naming an individual. We'd politely request that people avoid this on a public forum.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

I don't understand why any commercial operator would send buses to these, there's literally no positives since the people who turn up are all bus spotters mainly anyway. Stuff like this could be a PR disaster though.

If I owned a bus company, I'd be a bus spotters worse nightmare and would go out the way to not appeal to them. Stagecoach (mostly) and Arriva pretty much do that already and good on them.

(11 May 2024, 7:41 pm)Storx wrote I don't understand why any commercial operator would send buses to these, there's literally no positives since the people who turn up are all bus spotters mainly anyway. Stuff like this could be a PR disaster though.

If I owned a bus company, I'd be a bus spotters worse nightmare and would go out the way to not appeal to them. Stagecoach (mostly) and Arriva pretty much do that already and good on them.

I disagree with this sentiment.  Any sort of community engagement can only be a positive in my eyes, it’s not just gricers that attend such events. In that respect I do feel it’s a bit of a missed opportunity in so much that operators don’t attend in a more official capacity. 

Over the years, my kids’ school has had the police, fire brigade and mountain rescue all rock up at end of term events and the kids lap it up. Bit of education, blast the siren on a police car, try on a fireman’s helmet etc. Even now, my youngest still waves at a police car.

(11 May 2024, 9:50 pm)Chris 1 wrote I disagree with this sentiment.  Any sort of community engagement can only be a positive in my eyes, it’s not just gricers that attend such events. In that respect I do feel it’s a bit of a missed opportunity in so much that operators don’t attend in a more official capacity. 

Over the years, my kids’ school has had the police, fire brigade and mountain rescue all rock up at end of term events and the kids lap it up. Bit of education, blast the siren on a police car, try on a fireman’s helmet etc. Even now, my youngest still waves at a police car.

No arguments about community engagement but this just isn't a good place imo.

Places like schools, the Santa bus, bus launches with activities for the kids (Arriva Max Robot for example), basically anything involving kids really etc are all good stuff. Charity stuff is always a winner aswell but it's something you see very little of really.

Bus rallies, to me, just seem a poor choice. I'd be creating a wedge between the gricers at any opportunity as there's some who seem to live in a parallel universe who think it's fine to walk in depots etc to take a photo. They're pretty much just a nuisance.

Might sound a bit harsh, but when anything like this happens it always seems to involve GNE and not the other two and that imo is because they created a 'bond' with them.

Community engagement is a good thing but if done right couldn't GNE or any other bus company use a rally to advertise their products?

Example: here is one of our new buses filled with great features on board (evolution of public transport etc). Come on take a look (targeting people visiting who have probably driven to the event). Offer free giveaways (free day ticket etc) and maybe also take a recruitment vehicle/someone from recruitment and encourage applications.

(12 May 2024, 3:40 pm)morritt89 wrote Community engagement is a good thing but if done right couldn't GNE or any other bus company use a rally to advertise their products?

Example: here is one of our new buses filled with great features on board (evolution of public transport etc). Come on take a look (targeting people visiting who have probably driven to the event). Offer free giveaways (free day ticket etc) and maybe also take a recruitment vehicle/someone from recruitment and encourage applications.

They're always dead though, pretty much really, because of a lack of advertising. imo if they wanted to do that they'd be better to just do their own event in somewhere where people actually are. The costs would be the same pretty much.

It's something I'm surprised they don't do as much anymore. The Arriva Max launches with Titan the robot used to be really popular, heck even the one for the new Ashington buses near Haymarket was decent tbf.

Having just caught up with this, I ended up seeing this from afar having going to the rally site once the event had ended (after 4pm_ and did question myself how they were driving the buses around and it seems they were showing off for the GNE fanboys. Although no one needs to mention names, there be plenty of photos of them.

I just don't know why they thought it be a good idea to do something like this. Fair enough line up buses for photos, but not pull a stunt like this.

Was out on drink yesterday and e ded up in the west end. Got on the 11 back to town and got to bus stop at west road. BANG bottle of water hits side of bus... then the toe rag who threw it pushes way on and sat down. Driver seem to be keeping eye on him but I didnt hear him say out to the lad. Anyway he got off at top of Westgate road... not before grabbing the nobole phone off a young lad sitting in one of the front side seat. Another passenger changed him but he was away. Driver said he would be kn CCTV and phone depot to tell them to keep it. Kiss was gutted as you would be

(08 Jun 2024, 7:07 pm)Rob44 wrote Was out on drink yesterday and e ded up in the west end. Got on the 11 back to town and got to bus stop at west road. BANG bottle of water hits side of bus... then the toe rag who threw it pushes way on and sat down. Driver seem to be keeping eye on him but I didnt hear him say out to the lad. Anyway he got off at top of Westgate road... not before grabbing the nobole phone off a young lad sitting in one of the front side seat. Another passenger changed him but he was away.  Driver said he would be kn CCTV and phone depot to tell them to keep it. Kiss was gutted as you would be

So as a witness will you  contacting the police?