(18 Sep 2014, 8:09 pm)AdamY wrote Might as well throw in a suggestion for service 71.

71: Stanley - Craghead - Edmondsley - Waldridge - Chester-le-Street - Great Lumley - Fencehouses - Houghton-le-Spring - Doxford Park - Herringtons - Shiney Row - Biddick Woods - Washington

or

Same suggestion to Doxford Park then onto Silksworth and Sunderland.

We dont want to link Fencehouses up with too many places, there brand of childish pranks and childish terrorism cant be allowed to spread...

In all seriousness interesting idea mate

Services to Nissan are limited to two services (although combined, there is an excellent frequency during the day), bearing that in mind, along with the routes those services follow within Washington, I wondered if something could be done to improve access - even if only in peaks/shift changes.

8: Operate current route, but divert via Peel, Nissan, access roads and then normal route from Waterview Park, during peaks/shift changes. Normal route at other times.
50: Operate route of 50a between Galleries and Boldon apart from during peaks/shift changes.
56: Keep as is.

As well as maintaining existing links, it opens up Washington to members of the workforce who wish to use public transport and are put off by changes/buying multi bus tickets.

Suggestions for North Tyneside, Northumberland and Newcastle:



What I've noticed with the Cobalt Clipper 309 is that people will use it to commute on the following sectors:
- Newcastle to Cobalt (AM)
- Cobalt to Newcastle (PM)
- Blyth to Cobalt (AM)
- Cobalt to Blyth (PM)
- Battle Hill to Newcastle (AM)
- Newcastle to Battle Hill (PM)


Have you noticed the above? Now, to compete more with Arriva's 308 and offer a reliable and quick service, here is what I've come up with:


- Cobalt Clipper Service 309 would only operate every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime. Evening and Sunday journeys would continue to operate at the same frequencies. The PVR would change from 10 to 7 with no interworking occurring with the 310 and the evening PVR would remain at 2 with the Sunday daytime PVR being 5 with a 15 minute layover at each end. The 7 vehicles used would be double deckers 6101 - 6107.


- Cobalt Clipper Service 310 would also be reduced to every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime. Evening and Sunday journeys would continue to operate at the same frequencies. The PVR would remain at 6 with no interworking occurring with the 309 and the evening PVR would remain at 3 with the Sunday daytime PVR being 4 with a 15 minute layover at each end. The 310 would remain under the Cobalt Clipper brand with the same facilities available but the vehicle type would be changed to full size single deck vehicles


- Peak time service X39 would now be interworked with new service 304. Also, services 309 / 310 would depart from Stand N providing journeys don't clash with the X20 and 51.


- Two new services under the brand Coast Link would be introduced. Both services would offer fast frequent links along the Coast Road, North Tyneside and Northumberland (305). Both services would depart from Stand M.


- NEW Service 304 would operate every up to every 15 minutes between Tynemouth and Newcastle Monday to Saturday daytime (30 minutes during evenings and Sundays. Buses would start from Grand Parade and operate via the Seafront and Front Street. From there, buses would follow Arriva's 306 route up to Billy Mill then Arriva's 308 route to Newcastle from there. Buses towards Tynemouth would operate via Percy Park Road and in Tynemouth for safety reasons, would also follow the Percy Park Road towards North Shields and Newcastle rather than the Seafront during the evenings. Service 304 would operate with a PVR of 7 (3 evenings and Sundays) full size single deck vehicles equipped with free Wi-Fi, power sockets and next stop announcements with information screens. Service 304 would also interwork with Cobalt Express service X39.


- NEW Service 305 would operate every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime with evening and Sunday buses operating half hourly. Buses would serve the 309 route between Blyth and New York but via Ridley Park rather then Renwick Road and Broadway. Buses from New York would operate to Willington Square via Norham Road North, Middle Engine Lane, Cobalt South / Tyneside Audi and The Silverlink on to the Coast Road to Willington Square and from there, buses would follow Arriva's 308 route to Newcastle. Service 305 would be carefully timed to ensure that a significant majority of journeys would gain custom from Arriva's 308 service. Journey times would be VERY similar to the 308 with journeys on paper that take a few minutes more doing so to ensure reliability and punctuality take precedent unlike a few 308 journeys that take longer than stated. Therefore, the difference would be marginal between the 2 services and a more direct route than Cobalt Clipper service 309 with attractive ticketing options would gain custom from Arriva. The PVR would be 9 Monday to Saturday daytime and 4 during evenings and Sundays. The fleet would consist of double deckers 6108 to 6116 leaving 1 spare for either Cobalt Clipper service 309 or Coast Link service 305. Buses would feature free Wi-Fi, power sockets, next stop announcements and information screens.

- Together, services 304 / 305 would provide a bus every 7/8 minutes (15 evenings and Sundays) between the Silverlink (From the back road near the old Menzies or the Coast Road slip road) and Willington Square to Newcastle Haymarket. Next stop announcements would either be provided by Metroradio or Heart Radio

- Also, Cobalt Clipper services 309 and 310 would provide a bus up to every 9-11 minutes (29-31 evenings and Sundays) between Cobalt South and Newcastle.


The following route savers would be available for services 58, 304, 305, 307, 309, X39, X58 and 310:


- All services between Willington Square / Hadrian Park / Battle Hill and Newcastle John Dobson Street and Haymarket for £3.50 per day or £12.50 per week.

- All services above anywhere in North Tyneside and Newcastle to John Dobson Street and Haymarket for £4.00 per day or £15.00 per week.

- All services above anywhere in Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle to John Dobson Street and Haymarket for £4.50 per day or £17.50 per week.

Here is a copy of a Monday to Friday timetable for service 305:

[attachment=5922]

MT = Monday to Thursday only
F = Friday only

Right, just had a bit of a rethink and came up with something else:

- Services withdrawn would be 41, 58 (between Hadrian Park and Newcastle), 58X and  310

- Service 40 extended to North Shields from Hadrian Park every 20 minutes via current 40 route to bottom of Hadrian Park near Bewick Park then the 310 route from there to North Shields. During the evenings and Sundays, service 40 would operate every 30 minutes throughout from North Shields to Wallsend. This service would continue to operate under the North Tyne Links brand.

- Cobalt Clipper service 309 remaining the same but decreased to every 30 minutes between Blyth and Whitley Bay. The PVR would be reduced by 1 to 9. The buses used would be 6101 to 6109. Evening journeys however would be enhanced to operate every 30 minutes between Cobalt and Newcastle. Sunday daytime journeys would also be revised to follow evening timings with a PVR of 4 throughout.

- NEW service 305 would be introduced between Hadrian Park and Newcastle via the 58 route to Battle Hill then the 310 route from there to Newcastle every 15 minutes (30 evenings and Sundays), extending to Wallsend from Hadrian Park via the 41 route every 30 minutes all day Monday to Sunday to combine every 15 minutes with service 80. The PVR would be 7 single deck vehicles and 4 during evenings and Sundays. The specification would be the same as Citylink 58. The brand would be Centurion.

- Cobalt Clipper service 309 and Centurion service 305 would combine to provide a bus to the same frequency Monday to Saturday daytime as what the 309 / 310 does now between Battle Hill Drive and Newcastle. That would be increased to approximately every 15 minutes during the evenings. These two services would depart from stand N at Haymarket. 

- Coast Link service 304 would be renumbered to service 303. Everything else would remain unchanged including the X39 runs.

- Coast Link service 305 would be renumbered to service 304 and revised to operate between Rake Lane and Willington Square via New York Westminster Avenue, Norham Road, Formica Factory and Silverlink slip road to replace parts of the 310 and gain more passengers as well as less congestion to deal with. The PVR would still be 9 but another bus would have to be found from somewhere. The rest of the 8 B9TL's would have to be used from 6109 to 6117.

- Coast Link services 303 and 304 would provide a combined frequency of every 7-8 minutes (15 evenings and Sundays) between Norham Road (either from slip off for the 303 or Formica factory for the 304) and Newcastle Haymarket. These two services would depart from stand M at Haymarket.

- All four services would combine and operate every 3-4 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime (7-8 minutes evenings and Sundays) between Station Road and Haymarket.

Certainly can't knock the effort and thought you've put in, but all those changes have confused the life out of me. I'd imagine it'd do the same to the punters that use them at present.

Davey Bowyer, Davey Bowyer - Davey, Davey Bowyer - he gets the fleet, swaps it about a bit -.Davey, Davey Bowyer.

#legend
#hashtagsonNEB

This isn't a complaint, but a lot of the changes you bring in Davey are very similar to old routes in the area and if they didn't work then, surely there must have been a reason they were axed so I dunno if gne would bring them back!

I'll make them simpler:

- The services withdrawn would be: Current 41, 310, 58 (between Hadrian Park and Newcastle)

- NTL Service 40 (Monday to Saturday daytime every 20 minutes) serving: Same route as now.

- NEW NTL Service 41 (Monday to Saturday daytime every 20 minutes / evenings and Sundays every 30 minutes) serving: Same route as the 310 to Battle Hill then current 40 route from there to Wallsend. Buses during the evenings and on Sundays would also serve Hadrian Park.

- Citylink Service 58 only operating between Newcastle and Heworth. Frequency unchanged.

- NEW Centurion Service 300 (Monday to Saturday daytime every 30 minutes) serving: Current 310 route to Newcastle but also serving Hadrian Park. Passengers would be allowed to use their tickets to change to the 309 on Middle Engine Lane (From Tyre Garage or Wickes) for a quicker journey to Newcastle.

- NEW Centurion Service 305 (every 30 minutes all day Monday to Sunday) via the current 41 route to Hadrian Park from Wallsend then the 58 route to Battle Hill and from there, following the current 310 route to Newcastle.

- Cobalt Clipper 309 changed to operate every 30 minutes between Blyth and Whitley Bay rather than every 15. Nothing else changed Monday to Saturday daytime. New half hourly frequency between Cobalt Park and Newcastle during the evenings continuing to Blyth hourly as now.

- NEW Coast Link service 303 (Monday to Saturday daytime every 15 minutes / evenings and Sundays every 30 minutes) serving: ANE's 306 route from Tynemouth to Billy Mill then Arriva's 308 route to Newcastle from there.

- NEW Coast Link service 304 (Monday to Saturday daytime every 15 minutes / evenings and Sundays every 30 minutes) serving: The same route as the 309 between Blyth and Rake Lane but via Ridley Park rather than Renwick Road. Buses would then serve New York Westminster Avenue, Norham Road, Formica then right onto the Coast Road from there onwards, following the same route as the 303 to Newcastle. This service would be carefully timed to ensure that buses remained in front of the 308 most of the time. Journey times would be very similar to the 308 throughout and some would even be quicker.

82 - Heworth - Usworth College - Concord - Barmston - Barmston Court - Brady Square - Biddick - Washington Galleries - Lambton - Ayton - Birtley 

83 - Heworth - Sulgrave - Concord - Barmston - Washington Village - Glebe - Washington Galleries - Lambton - Ayton - Harraton - Rickleton - Birtley 

Services 82/83(M2/M3) would replace Services 85/86(W5/W6) Between Barmston and Washington Galleries, in turn providing New and Improved Links across both Services, As for the 85/86(W5/W6) I am struggling for ideas on what to do with those Services, it looks like they'll be operating between (Washington Galleries - Oxclose - Blackfell - B&Q - Concord) only at the moment, One thought I did have was to have the 85/86 follow a similar route to the Nexus 23.

(21 Sep 2014, 4:40 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote 82 - Heworth - Usworth College - Concord - Barmston - Barmston Court - Brady Square - Biddick - Washington Galleries - Lambton - Ayton - Birtley 

83 - Heworth - Sulgrave - Concord - Barmston - Washington Village - Glebe - Washington Galleries - Lambton - Ayton - Harraton - Rickleton - Birtley 

Services 82/83(M2/M3) would replace Services 85/86(W5/W6) Between Barmston and Washington Galleries, in turn providing New and Improved Links across both Services, As for the 85/86(W5/W6) I am struggling for ideas on what to do with those Services, it looks like they'll be operating between (Washington Galleries - Oxclose - Blackfell - B&Q - Concord) only at the moment, One thought I did have was to have the 85/86 follow a similar route to the Nexus 23.

I think the routes is long enough, however some reason i think they could be improved but i don't think they will be changed for a while. 

I would like to see some of the NEXUS services merged though

(21 Sep 2014, 6:09 pm)Michael wrote I think the routes is long enough, however some reason i think they could be improved but i don't think they will be changed for a while. 

I would like to see some of the NEXUS services merged though

Length of the Routes would remain the same, but 2 to 3 Minutes maybe added to the Timetables, other than that there is nothing major changes otherwise.

Ok, here's the timetable. Not going to do one for the rest but a few points to make:

- Most 303 / 304 journeys would operate in front of the 306 / 308.
- 303 would pick up any passengers from Billy Mill who either missed the 308 or still waiting for a late one.
- Most journeys would combine at an even 7-8 minutes (15 minutes evenings and Sundays) frequency rather than every 5-10 minutes.
- More late night journeys added where warranted than what Arriva offer.
- More early Sunday morning journeys than Arriva.
- More journeys from Newcastle between 1900 and 1930 than Arriva.
- Quicker journey times than the 306.
- 304 would only take 1 minutes longer (with the exception to make the service reliable and on time) than the 308 towards Blyth. This would also allow for a driver changeover at Formica. The 303 would change at Christ Church in North Shields.
- 304 would pick up passengers north of the Coast Road and passengers who would normally catch the 310 or walk over the Coast Road for the 306 / 308.
- By looking at the current fare structure, the fares from Norham Road would be £1.50 to Holy Cross, £2 to Benfield Road and £2.75 beyond there. Savers and Buzzfares would also be in place to offer better value than Arriva.

[attachment=5928]

In light of the recent NPower contracts:

Extend the 923, so that it links to the new car park at the pub.
Have the 921 and 922 omit Fencehouses and the traffic jams in peaks, that can cause issues with the x1 and 4 - diverting them via Woodstone Village and Chilton Pub.

Extend service 238, so that it mirrors part of the 71 and 78, but omits Lumley and goes through Woodstone Village, Chilton Pub, Rainton Bridge, Gillas Lane - Houghton, Seaham.

Anyone remember my Q3 Idea from a while back, well I have came with what I think is a better Idea

Q1 - MetroCentre Circular - Riverside Depot - Centrelink - Quayside - Newcastle City Centre Loop (Q2 Route) - Quayside - St Peters Basin - Quayside - Baltic - Gateshead College - The Sage - Gateshead Interchange

Q2 - MetroCentre Circular - Riverside Depot - Centrelink - Quayside - Baltic - Gateshead College - The Sage - Gateshead Interchange - The Sage - Gateshead College - Baltic - Quayside - St Peters Basin - Quayisde - Newcastle City Centre Loop (Q2 Route)

Merger of the Q1/ Current Q2 and S1 resulting in the Current Q2/S1 Being Withdrawn - Operating Every 15 Minutes Combined, Not sure on PVR but I think 8 Vehicles, 4 for each Service would Suffice, Leaving 2 Vehicles spare.

(25 Sep 2014, 10:05 am)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Anyone remember my Q3 Idea from a while back, well I have came with what I think is a better Idea

Q1 - MetroCentre Circular - Riverside Depot - Centrelink - Quayside - Newcastle City Centre Loop (Q2 Route) - Quayside - St Peters Basin - Quayside - Baltic - Gateshead College - The Sage - Gateshead Interchange

Q2 - MetroCentre Circular - Riverside Depot - Centrelink - Quayside - Baltic - Gateshead College - The Sage - Gateshead Interchange - The Sage - Gateshead College - Baltic - Quayside - St Peters Basin - Quayisde - Newcastle City Centre Loop (Q2 Route)

Merger of the Q1/ Current Q2 and S1 resulting in the Current Q2/S1 Being Withdrawn - Operating Every 15 Minutes Combined, Not sure on PVR but I think 8 Vehicles, 4 for each Service would Suffice, Leaving 2 Vehicles spare.

Wouldn't be a bad idea extending them to the Metrocentre 

(25 Sep 2014, 10:05 am)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Anyone remember my Q3 Idea from a while back, well I have came with what I think is a better Idea

Q1 - MetroCentre Circular - Riverside Depot - Centrelink - Quayside - Newcastle City Centre Loop (Q2 Route) - Quayside - St Peters Basin - Quayside - Baltic - Gateshead College - The Sage - Gateshead Interchange

Q2 - MetroCentre Circular - Riverside Depot - Centrelink - Quayside - Baltic - Gateshead College - The Sage - Gateshead Interchange - The Sage - Gateshead College - Baltic - Quayside - St Peters Basin - Quayisde - Newcastle City Centre Loop (Q2 Route)

Merger of the Q1/ Current Q2 and S1 resulting in the Current Q2/S1 Being Withdrawn - Operating Every 15 Minutes Combined, Not sure on PVR but I think 8 Vehicles, 4 for each Service would Suffice, Leaving 2 Vehicles spare.

Arent the S1 and Quaylink contracted by 2 different companies? If they are, your suggestion will never happen.

(25 Sep 2014, 3:33 pm)Robert wrote Arent the S1 and Quaylink contracted by 2 different companies? If they are, your suggestion will never happen.

Both are contracted to Go North East.

(25 Sep 2014, 3:44 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Both are contracted to Go North East.

I know but I dont mean who operates them, i mean who Go North East operate the services on behalf of...hence why i said 'contracted' rather than 'operated'.

(25 Sep 2014, 3:33 pm)Robert wrote Arent the S1 and Quaylink contracted by 2 different companies? If they are, your suggestion will never happen.

Thought S1 and Quaylink were GNE?

Still, there is no reason why it can't be done, extend a Quaylink Service to MetroCentre and drop the Circular bit round the Metro

(25 Sep 2014, 3:48 pm)marxistafozzski wrote Thought S1 and Quaylink were GNE?

Still, there is no reason why it can't be done, extend a Quaylink Service to MetroCentre and drop the Circular bit round the Metro

You have misunderstood the post as well   Read post above yours to see what i mean

essentially what i mean is:

S1 contracted by Metrocentre and Quaylink contracted by Nexus but operated by Go North East. Correct if wrong.

(25 Sep 2014, 3:46 pm)Robert wrote I know but I dont mean who operates them, i mean who Go North East operate the services on behalf of...hence why i said 'contracted' rather than 'operated'.

Ohh Right I follow now, in that case it would Nexus

(25 Sep 2014, 3:55 pm)Robert wrote You have misunderstood the post as well   Read post above yours to see what i mean

essentially what i mean is:

S1 contracted by Metrocentre and Quaylink contracted by Nexus but operated by Go North East. Correct if wrong.

So it is run on behalf of Nexus I guess...Does the MetroCentre chip in at all for the S1?

(25 Sep 2014, 4:00 pm)marxistafozzski wrote So it is run on behalf of Nexus I guess...Does the MetroCentre chip in at all for the S1?

Think they Contribute a Payment towards Branding and Advertising of the Service but other than that I have no idea, Dan might be able to shed some light on it though.

(25 Sep 2014, 4:04 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Think they Contribute a Payment towards Branding and Advertising of the Service but other than that I have no idea, Dan might be able to shed some light on it though.

Yes - Robert is right.

Neither service S1 nor the "QuayLink" services are commercially operated by Go North East.
Service S1 is funded by intu, whilst the "QuayLink" services are funded by Nexus. Both of these parties pay Go North East to operate and manage the service, and all takings are given to the party which secures/funds the service(s).

I'm not sure whether intu contributes towards the payment of branding (such as services S1, X66 or indeed service 100 which is operated by Stagecoach), but I do know that if their logos have been used, the operator has to contact intu to get the go-ahead with the branding. If they don't think it is acceptable, it's back to the drawing board...

There's no point in extending any of the Quaylink services to the Metrocentre in my opinion.

Both services carry fresh-air for most of the day. If people really wanted to travel to Metrocentre from the Quayside - then they could easily take advantage of frequent connections to the Metrocentre at either Gateshead or Newcastle Central Station.

(25 Sep 2014, 4:21 pm)AdamY wrote There's no point in extending any of the Quaylink services to the Metrocentre in my opinion.

Both services carry fresh-air for most of the day. If people really wanted to travel to Metrocentre from the Quayside - then they could easily take advantage of frequent connections to the Metrocentre at either Gateshead or Newcastle Central Station.

'Fraid to say that, as much as I like a good ol' #malarkeymarathon, I'm in this boat too.

Granted, potentially quicker journey times and through fares could be offered, but I can't see it increasing patronage greatly (if at all).

(25 Sep 2014, 4:23 pm)Dan wrote 'Fraid to say that, as much as I like a good ol' #malarkeymarathon, I'm in this boat too.

Granted, potentially quicker journey times and through fares could be offered, but I can't see it increasing patronage greatly (if at all).

Hence why NEXUS want to get rid of it

(25 Sep 2014, 4:23 pm)Dan wrote 'Fraid to say that, as much as I like a good ol' #malarkeymarathon, I'm in this boat too.

Granted, potentially quicker journey times and through fares could be offered, but I can't see it increasing patronage greatly (if at all).

Although I'm aware that there are certain issues with Newcastle City Council over routing services via Dean Street, I'm sure it would be easier to divert, for example, Toonlink service 31 via Centrelink, Swing Bridge and Dean Street to provide this new link rather than revise the current Quaylink operation. 

(25 Sep 2014, 4:25 pm)Michael wrote Hence why NEXUS want to get rid of it

They don't want to get rid of it at all. They have merely suggested the funding may not be there to continue with it after the current contract has expired. Newcastle City Council wouldn't let them get rid of it either. Actually the Quaylink is not NEXUS funded in the usual sense. It was part-funded by the jointly NCC and GMBC owned and now defunct Newcastle-Gateshead Business Company. I'd suggest it's near certain NE1 will agree to take on the funding mantle next year.