(17 Oct 2014, 12:41 pm)Jimmi wrote 1575 and 1578 are now branded for service 23.

1575 is parked in Durham Bus Station and 1578 is on the U1 again.

Does anyone have pictures of the branded 23 streetlites?

I do, unfortunately the sun was shining on it so the quality isn't great, I may still upload them to Flickr and if I don't I will post them here. Should be up for 7pm.

1575 and 1578 are now branded for service 23.


1575 is parked in Durham Bus Station and 1578 is on the U1 again.

Click below to see photos:
1578
1578 - side view
1578 - rear view
1575

This may be a bit of a long shot, but can anyone give me a name of someone in Arriva's commercial team? Please drop me a PM rather than post it on here.

(17 Oct 2014, 5:37 pm)Jimmi wrote Click below to see photos:
1578 - side view

Great shot, but what's up with the different coloured panel on 1578?

(14 Oct 2014, 7:16 pm)Dan wrote Highlights from today's publicity launch...

Arriva North East: 1582 / NK64EEV by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

Arriva North East: 306 Launch by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

Arriva North East: 306 Launch by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

Arriva North East: 1582 / NK64EEV by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

On a Related Note, Arrivas Sapphire/Max and Hybrid Launches have been covered by Route One Magazine.
http://www.route-one.net/industry/operat...es-growth/

(17 Oct 2014, 5:48 pm)BJ10VUS wrote Great shot, but what's up with the different coloured panel on 1578?

Fuel Guard (basically protects the main bodywork from damage from any fuel spills). All the other Streetlites have the same but 1550-73/82-9 have had theirs painted to match in with the main body.

A few quick little bits from yesterday

4504 and 4507 have arrived at Redcar
2834 has transferred from Darlington to Jesmond with 2503 moving the other way
The Darlington Christmas Park & Ride scheme starts today on services 9/10

2834 has transferred from Darlington to Jesmond with 2503 moving the other way

Was wondering how long it would take for this to end up at Darlington.

(18 Oct 2014, 8:41 am)Jimmi wrote Was wondering how long it would take for this to end up at Darlington.

Yes it took them longer than I expected...

From the 26th October Arriva will now charge £5.50 for returns and £17 for weekly tickets between Newton Aycliffe and Darlington.

About time we got some cheaper fares in Aycliffe!

(18 Oct 2014, 10:30 am)Jimmi wrote From the 26th October Arriva will now charge £5.50 for returns and £17 for weekly tickets between Newton Aycliffe and Darlington.

About time we got some cheaper fares in Aycliffe!

Not bad. What ticket is that? I can't even see Newton Aycliffe on their zone maps. 

I'm quite lucky in the sense that the Durham District ticket covers the X2 all the way to Newcastle. So £63 a month.

Not bad. What ticket is that? I can't even see Newton Aycliffe on their zone maps.

 I'm quite lucky in the sense that the Durham District ticket covers the X2 all the way to Newcastle. So £63 a month.

I think it may be an extension of the Darlington area, I'm not sure, I just saw a notice on the 5A this morning didn't get to read the whole thing though.

(18 Oct 2014, 8:35 am)tyresmoke wrote A few quick little bits from yesterday

4504 and 4507 have arrived at Redcar
2834 has transferred from Darlington to Jesmond with 2503 moving the other way
The Darlington Christmas Park & Ride scheme starts today on services 9/10

2503 still working for Jesmond on 55s today

4809 has just hit Stand I in Tubwell Row again. Right old mess!

4809 has just hit Stand I in Tubwell Row again. Right old mess!

And they just fixed it as well!

I imagine there was already a bus on the stand and 4809 on the 2 has arrived and tried to pull in on an angle and has ended up smashing the stand (again!)

SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE! STOP SAYING THE STAND CHANGES LAST YEAR WERE A GOOD THING BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T, STOP SAYING A LOAD OF CRAP DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL AND FLAMING DO SOMETHING!!! NOW!!!

#stupiddecision
#darlingtonisadeathtrap
#accidentwaitingtohappen
#makingexcuses
#sortitout
#hastagsonNEB

(18 Oct 2014, 1:38 pm)Jimmi wrote And they just fixed it as well!

I imagine there was already a bus on the stand and 4809 on the 2 has arrived and tried to pull in on an angle and has ended up smashing the stand (again!)

SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE! STOP SAYING THE STAND CHANGES LAST YEAR WERE A GOOD THING BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T, STOP SAYING A LOAD OF CRAP DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL AND FLAMING DO SOMETHING!!! NOW!!!

#stupiddecision
#darlingtonisadeathtrap
#accidentwaitingtohappen
#makingexcuses
#sortitout
#hastagsonNEB

I completely agree, someone WILL be killed eventually. We NEED a bus station back!

I completely agree, someone WILL be killed eventually. We NEED a bus station back!

How someone hasn't been killed or at least seriously hurt is nothing short of a miracle.

The problem is there are too many stands in one place, Tubwell Row is especially bad and stand I can only really get one bus on at a time and at points you have three buses trying to get on at once and there is often one on the stand at an angle which blocks everything getting round.

I am now starting to think that Darlington needs a Bus Station or all buses should only stop on one stand.

(18 Oct 2014, 1:10 pm)MrPottski wrote 4809 has just hit Stand I in Tubwell Row again. Right old mess!

Baffles me how a bus can manage to hit a stand. It's not like it's hardly visible, or has caught you by surprise!

The bus didn't hit the main structure of the stand itself, it's the glass roof that overhangs it. Terrible design IMO. Once that glass is hit, the whole stand flexes and bursts the glass panels at the back of the stand. From the drivers seat of EcoCity, you cannot see the overhanging roof, and the angle you have to come in on means not hitting is more luck than judgement.

A few things which may be worth discussing...

Arriva North East: 1775 / NK05GWW by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

I'm not sure whether it's because it was a match day or whether the loadings are always like this - but as can be seen on the photograph above, an MPD on service X14 today wasn't particularly appropriate in the slightest... Anyone know when the Enviro400s are due back and will be launched?


Arriva North East; 4521 / W297PPT by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

Strictly speaking should be in the "Rare & Odd Workings" thread, but I'll stick it in here with the rest... Is there a reason why the 52/53 branded Volvo B10BLEs seemingly appear on services 43/44 on a daily basis? I can't comprehend why they were branded, if they appear off-route so frequently...


Arriva North East: 4659 / NK05GXO by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

I wasn't keen on the "MAX" spec Omnis before - and I'm even less of a fan now! That green floor with the e-leather seating? Bad choice...


Arriva North East: 2806 / YK08ERZ by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

..and finally - what on Earth happened here?

I am guessing your MPD on the X14 would be one of the short workings, these interwork with the 57A and 33 town service in Morpeth... It's not an ideal arrangement as those short X14s do get full as shown here.

As for the MAX Scanias, I agree I was hoping they'd have sorted the floor but it seems they haven't. The existing green fabric suited them perfectly, the blues of the MAX scheme just doesn't work! Should look good on Pulsars though!

(18 Oct 2014, 8:18 pm)Dan wrote Arriva North East: 4659 / NK05GXO by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

I wasn't keen on the "MAX" spec Omnis before - and I'm even less of a fan now! That green floor with the e-leather seating? Bad choice...

It doesn't take an interior designer to work out that the green flooring does not work with the Max seating!

Complete was of time to even change the seating to Max, if they're going to make half a job of it. Surely it wouldn't have cost much more to give the floor and internal panelling an update. Comes across as cutting corners, and it does nothing but dilute the brand. 

(18 Oct 2014, 8:18 pm)Dan wrote Arriva North East: 2806 / YK08ERZ by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

..and finally - what on Earth happened here?

It shouldn't even be on the road in that state as far as I'm concerned. The front bumper looks like it's not secured correctly on the offside, and I'd suggest parts of that bodywork would be rough/sharp when it's not painted. Pretty sure this would be frowned upon by the DVSA.

(18 Oct 2014, 8:22 pm)tyresmoke wrote I am guessing your MPD on the X14 would be one of the short workings, these interwork with the 57A and 33 town service in Morpeth... It's not an ideal arrangement as those short X14s do get full as shown here.

As for the MAX Scanias, I agree I was hoping they'd have sorted the floor but it seems they haven't. The existing green fabric suited them perfectly, the blues of the MAX scheme just doesn't work! Should look good on Pulsars though!

"MrPottski Wrote:  
The bus didn't hit the main structure of the stand itself, it's the glass roof that overhangs it. Terrible design IMO. Once that glass is hit, the whole stand flexes and bursts the glass panels at the back of the stand. From the drivers seat of EcoCity, you cannot see the overhanging roof, and the angle you have to come in on means not hitting is more luck than judgement. "

The block paving at the top of Tubwell Row can't help either as its quite easy for buses to skid on that when it's wet.

Ashington Sat. afternoon.

35 / 35A ..  1581 / 7437 / 7438 / 7440 / 7491 / 7492.

7483 parked up by the old depot and left about 15:05 looked as though it was being used as a crew bus.

Decent run back on 4659 on the 15:40 X21.

2806 is out again today, just past me on a 51, still looking the same....

(19 Oct 2014, 10:39 am)citaro5284 wrote 2806 is out again today, just past me on a 51, still looking the same....

That's awful like.

I smell a fish with the new buses on the 306:

- Slightly smaller buses than a full size single deck.
- No mention of Battle Hill on the destination exterior paintwork listing.

I've got a sneaky feeling that the next time Arriva make changes in North Tyneside, they'll pull the 306 out of Battle Hill and keep it on the Coast Road to assist with the reliability of the 308 and keep both services every 7/8 minutes combined throughout between Billy Mill and Newcastle. I know they tried it back in 2010 but now with the smaller and more fuel efficient buses, they could probably perhaps afford to now.

I know it would most likely give GNE's Clippers an advantage but on a genuine note, it would be a good move because it would assist hugely with the reliability of the 308 rather than having to add more time to it. Remember the turn up and go expectation from passengers that was mentioned in GNE's forum? Look at it this way for journeys towards Newcastle:

- 308 (19), 306 (24), then a 10 minute gap where passengers think that they both run every 7-8 minutes but in those extra 2-3 minutes, passengers for the next 306 begin to appear and if the 308 runs into trouble before Billy Mill by more than 2 minutes, it can cause huge delays to the route not to mention the sole 308 dependency area between Willington Square / Gibson Street and the Battle Hill slip road further up.

Some of the 306 departures I noted into Haymarket this afternoon were running 5-10 minutes late, and none appeared on Arriva's Live Map on the phone app. Not sure if this is common for Sundays (ie tight timing to reduce the PVR) or whether it's down to the Streetlites?
One was sitting in Haymarket (on the stand next to the Cobalt Clipper) for at least an hour too.

The 308 was running about 10-15 minutes late whenever I spotted it this afternoon too. Not great.