(22 Feb 2015, 10:05 pm)Dan wrote I was quite young at the time so don't clearly remember, but I was living over that way at the time and think I vaguely remember the 12 being introduced as a competitive service to rival the "Magic Roundabout" 33 service? When it was first launched, I think they had 50p singles on the 12, which was better than the 33 which was around a £1.00 for a single.

I can't recall why the 33 was binned though... I remember having the 35 in the area at this time too, as I used the first bus of the day at about 5am down to town on a regular basis. Did the 35 directly replace the 33 or was it different? Do remember loving the Mercs compared to the MPDs, though, and this seemed to be when the Polish drivers all disappeared! 

Don't think Stagecoach has changed the 12 since it was first implemented, which is surprising given how few seem to use it, but I may be wrong.

Ye Dan i think the 12 was introduced when GNE started the 33/42.

I think the 33 replaced the 35, as changes to the 35 means it went along Durham road. 

This was changed again when the 33 and 42 were merged.. the 35 then replaced the 33 through silksworth.

Then it was the 35A?, as the 35/35A was spilt, with the 35 goingvia Durham road.

Then as of now... 33/33A... when the 35/A/B/C was changed to 35/35A/36..

Think that's right, not sure on dates..

(22 Feb 2015, 12:28 pm)aureolin wrote It's concerning how Customer Services can play judge, jury and executioner, when logistically, it would be pretty much impossible to gather the facts in such a short period of time. They've stated "our driver has fallen short of our standards", yet further on in the response it seems to imply that the driver has yet to be asked for their side of the story? If they've used AVL data alone as gospel, then it's a dangerous game to get into.

I had skipped through the follow up to Tom's letter, not reading the follow up responses.

I have just raised a similar point in the QCS thread re the driver to all intents and purposes, being found guilty without a trial.

Quite concerning to see this happen.

(22 Feb 2015, 10:52 pm)Andreos1 wrote I had skipped through the follow up to Tom's letter, not reading the follow up responses.

I have just raised a similar point in the QCS thread re the driver to all intents and purposes, being found guilty without a trial.

Quite concerning to see this happen.

I also saw a post on the GNE Facebook page, where someone claimed the N21 failed to turn up, but a GNE Customer service rep found out it did, and gave the exact time it left Pilgrim Street.

(22 Feb 2015, 10:52 pm)Andreos1 wrote I had skipped through the follow up to Tom's letter, not reading the follow up responses.

I have just raised a similar point in the QCS thread re the driver to all intents and purposes, being found guilty without a trial.

Quite concerning to see this happen.

I wonder if this is the reason why Arriva takes so long to reply to complaints?

Although Arriva also has access to an AVL system, perhaps they are interviewing drivers before giving customers any feedback..? This results in a response time of about a month, and hardly ideal for the customer who probably just wants to know that the company is aware there is a problem and they will work to fix it. 

If this is the case, I think I'd prefer the response time to be within 12 hours and let the company deal with everything after they've told me that they're going to progress the complaint further. The difference is a customer being happy with the response (Tom) and being incredibly peeved by the time they had to wait (see multiple instances of this in the Customer Services thread - myself and aureolin have shared a few alone).

The latest "SimpliCity" branded Optare Versa V1110/Optare to enter the paintshop is 8326 (NK11 GWX), rather than 8325 as one would have expected. Guess it doesn't make too much of a difference what order they go in, though!

The the fleet news as follows 


The operating depot at Saltmeadows Road closed on the night of Saturday 21 February and all the allocated vehicles were transferred to Riverside. The bodyshop and stores remains at Saltmeadows. Chester le street Volvo B10BLE 4907: W 907 RBB has been transferred to Riverside in exchange for 4845: R845 PRG. Scania L94 4964: NL52 WVV has been transferred from Washington to Riverside. Volvo Olympians 3828: S828 OFT and 3829: S829 OFT have been sold to South Gloucestershire Bus & Coach, Bristol.

(23 Feb 2015, 9:44 am)Dan wrote The latest "SimpliCity" branded Optare Versa V1110/Optare to enter the paintshop is 8326 (NK11 GWX), rather than 8325 as one would have expected. Guess it doesn't make too much of a difference what order they go in, though!

When is 8306-09 and 8319 getting repainted then branded to join its sisters in Simplicity branding when I was down in Washington a few weeks ago with Michael.K we saw a Gold Citaro on 2 wonder what they are gonna be called would be nice to call it something like Golden Arrows or Laser again in a revised brand I used to love the 1st incarnation of the Laser when I once ridden on one from Hetton-le-Hole to South Shields I was impressed this was back in 2008 only a few weeks old

(23 Feb 2015, 11:57 am)Racer_Experience wrote The the fleet news as follows 


All Saltmeadows vehicles transferred to Riverside 4907 Chester le Street to Riverside
4845 Riverside to Chester le Street
4964 Washington to Riverside
3828 3829 sold 

I'll delete 3828/29 from our fleet lists now and we'll be fully up-to-date.  

(23 Feb 2015, 12:02 pm)Racer_Experience wrote When is 8306-09 and 8319 getting repainted then branded to join its sisters in Simplicity branding when I was down in Washington a few weeks ago with Michael.K we saw a Gold Citaro on 2 wonder what they are gonna be called would be nice to call it something like Golden Arrows or Laser again in a revised brand I used to love the 1st incarnation of the Laser when I once ridden on one from Hetton-le-Hole to South Shields I was impressed this was back in 2008 only a few weeks old

8306 - 8309 were all repainted in October 2013, and 8319 followed in January 2014 at the end of Go North East's centenary year. These vehicles will not be repainted again as they (irritatingly) didn't ever receive branding whilst allocated to service 39.

8325 should be repainted w/c 2nd March, and 8327 should follow on w/c 9th March. Similar to the recent Scania L94UB/Wright Solar repaints for "Prince Bishops" services 20/20a, After all vehicles have been repainted, 8306 - 8309 and 8319 - 8327 will receive branding for services 2/2A, which is thought to be "SimpliCity".

I am not sure when 5298 - 5309 and 5325 - 5327 will be branded for services 35/36, but I would suggest that it would make sense to repaint these vehicles prior to branding them again, as 5298 - 5309 were last repainted in December 2011. This could well mean that there will be plain gold buses running around for a good few weeks yet. There's no excuse for not branding 5320 - 5324, though, so I'd anticipate that screen services will be in to brand these as soon as the livery design has been finalised and the vinyls ordered.

(23 Feb 2015, 12:14 pm)Dan wrote 8306 - 8309 were all repainted in October 2013, and 8319 followed in January 2014 at the end of Go North East's centenary year. These vehicles will not be repainted again as they (irritatingly) didn't ever receive branding whilst allocated to service 39.


8325 should be repainted w/c 2nd March, and 8327 should follow on w/c 9th March. Similar to the recent Scania L94UB/Wright Solar repaints for "Prince Bishops" services 20/20a, After all vehicles have been repainted, 8306 - 8309 and 8319 - 8327 will receive branding for services 2/2A, which is thought to be "SimpliCity".

I am not sure when 5298 - 5309 and 5325 - 5327 will be branded for services 35/36, but I would suggest that it would make sense to repaint these vehicles prior to branding them again, as 5298 - 5309 were last repainted in December 2011. This could well mean that there will be plain gold buses running around for a good few weeks yet. There's no excuse for not branding 5320 - 5324, though, so I'd anticipate that screen services will be in to brand these as soon as the livery design has been finalised and the vinyls ordered.

It's about time the former drifter vehicles will now get branded and 8319 might be a minor change to the vehicle in regards to route compared to last time

8306 has been branded just seen it above the door it has every 10 mins in Orange

(23 Feb 2015, 3:40 pm)Racer_Experience wrote 8306 has been branded just seen it above the door it has every 10 mins in Orange

Fantastic - they're getting them done sooner than expected!

(23 Feb 2015, 3:46 pm)Dan wrote Fantastic - they're getting them done sooner than expected!

Should of left The Galleries at around 16:21 on the 2A towards Silksworth Dan if you want a Photo.

This may be completely untrue but ill post it on here anyway:
There has supposedly been a disagreement with Go North East and Elddis transport. This has possibly resulted in GNE moving all Ventre operations (and the Sunday operation of 15) back down to Stanley from Consett.

(23 Feb 2015, 4:39 pm)Malarkey wrote Should of left The Galleries at around 16:21 on the 2A towards Silksworth Dan if you want a Photo.

Cheers - I'm having a much needed day off from taking photos, though. Will catch up with it (and hopefully others) tomorrow.

(23 Feb 2015, 4:40 pm)Robert wrote This may be completely untrue but ill post it on here anyway:
There has supposedly been a disagreement with Go North East and Elddis transport. This has possibly resulted in GNE moving all Ventre operations (and the Sunday operation of 15) back down to Stanley from Consett.

The first part is untrue - the second part is.

Following on from the merger of Saltmeadows and Riverside last weekend, all of Go North East's operations out of Consett Depot should transfer to Stanley tonight, after the vehicles finish service today.

(23 Feb 2015, 4:46 pm)Dan wrote The first part is untrue - the second part is.

Following on from the merger of Saltmeadows and Riverside last weekend, all of Go North East's operations out of Consett Depot should transfer to Stanley tonight, after the vehicles finish service today.

I knew if i posted it on here somebody would know more - i'm not brilliant on that stuff and when you hear stuff from other people, you can't be sure if its 100% true. 

(23 Feb 2015, 4:46 pm)Dan wrote Cheers - I'm having a much needed day off from taking photos, though. Will catch up with it (and hopefully others) tomorrow.


The first part is untrue - the second part is.

Following on from the merger of Saltmeadows and Riverside last weekend, all of Go North East's operations out of Consett Depot should transfer to Stanley tonight, after the vehicles finish service today.

 
Seems they're getting rid of low cost units... Peterlee's to go next?

(23 Feb 2015, 4:53 pm)Michael wrote  
Seems they're getting rid of low cost units... Peterlee's to go next?

Doubt it.
That's a hell of a lot light running each day.

Just while on the Subject of Vehicle Transfers due the closing of Saltmeadows etc, Will Riverside be operating the evening 85/86 instead of Washington, as to me that is a hell of a lot of Dead Mileage to cover to do so, would be it not easier just to have Washington operate the 85/86 in the evening as they do during the day, or Alternatively have Deptford or Chester operate it instead on an evening.

(23 Feb 2015, 5:03 pm)Malarkey wrote Just while on the Subject of Vehicle Transfers due the closing of Saltmeadows etc, Will Riverside be operating the evening 85/86 instead of Washington, as to me that is a hell of a lot of Dead Mileage to cover to do so, would be it not easier just to have Washington operate the 85/86 in the evening as they do during the day, or Alternatively have Deptford or Chester operate it instead on an evening.

Everything that Saltmeadows operated will be operated from Riverside.  You have to remember that the bus board workings are given to the operator by Nexus, so it is up to them if they want the work operated differently.

(23 Feb 2015, 5:07 pm)citaro5284 wrote Everything that Saltmeadows operated will be operated from Riverside.  You have to remember that the bus board workings are given to the operator by Nexus, so it is up to them if they want the work operated differently.

To put this into context:

The contract for service 85 is included in the same bundle as the 68, 92, 927 and 93A services. Likewise, the contract for service 86 is included in the same bundle as the 516 service. Although the 85/86 services are only partially-secured, services 68 and 516 are fully-secured by Nexus, stipulating the use of a Euro 5 vehicle.

It's for this reason why the morning 939 service, previously operated by Go North East using a "Venture" branded Dennis MPD, is now operated by a taxi-bus. Nexus changed the bundles, so it was included with the TB10 service. It's cheaper to run a bus service with a car than it is a bus, so more economically advantageous tenders are submitted to Nexus.

(23 Feb 2015, 5:07 pm)citaro5284 wrote Everything that Saltmeadows operated will be operated from Riverside.  You have to remember that the bus board workings are given to the operator by Nexus, so it is up to them if they want the work operated differently.

I can certainly see it changing in the future mind, having 2 Drivers drive a combined 18 Miles before even operating the evening 85/86 then another combined 18 Miles back to is hardly economical is it, even if it didnt change and it remained at Riverside per Nexus requests then I would expect a reduction in the frequency of the service to just 1 Bus an Hour as it simply isnt viable at all.

(23 Feb 2015, 5:18 pm)Malarkey wrote I can certainly see it changing in the future mind, having 2 Drivers drive a combined 18 Miles before even operating the evening 85/86 then another combined 18 Miles back to is hardly economical is it, even if it didnt change and it remained at Riverside per Nexus requests then I would expect a reduction in the frequency of the service to just 1 Bus an Hour as it simply isnt viable at all.

The contract was initially due to end this year, on the 30th May 2015. The current contract may have been extended, though, given that tyresmoke did not mention it in this post.

Any planned changes will be down to Nexus; however, I highly doubt there will be any drastic changes.

(23 Feb 2015, 7:57 am)Dan wrote I wonder if this is the reason why Arriva takes so long to reply to complaints?

Although Arriva also has access to an AVL system, perhaps they are interviewing drivers before giving customers any feedback..? This results in a response time of about a month, and hardly ideal for the customer who probably just wants to know that the company is aware there is a problem and they will work to fix it. 

If this is the case, I think I'd prefer the response time to be within 12 hours and let the company deal with everything after they've told me that they're going to progress the complaint further. The difference is a customer being happy with the response (Tom) and being incredibly peeved by the time they had to wait (see multiple instances of this in the Customer Services thread - myself and aureolin have shared a few alone).

There could be a number of reasons for the delay, but of course interviewing a driver can cause a delay, if they're off shift or on leave for example. You'd expect to be able to interview the majority of drivers on their next shift, but again, it comes down to the urgency the management team put on it. 

If a company comes back to me in less than 24 hours, and tells me that a service did indeed run early for example, it doesn't serve me any purpose. If I've made the complaint, then I'm already aware that the service has ran early. I'd rather the customer services team used the prescribed limits (whether that be 5 days or otherwise) to speak to whoever they need to, and come back to me with an informative response. I don't expect to know the ins and outs of the conversation with the driver, who was in the wrong or what action has been taken, but I would like a personal response, an apology, and a commitment that the issue is being addressed. 

My main gripe tends to be that I haven't received an acknowledgement and/or response within the prescribed limits, and I also haven't been given the courtesy of someone telling me that there's been a delay, and resetting my expectations in the process. Coming a close second are template responses. I don't want to see the same template that I've seen time and time again. I want something personal that I can relate to.

(23 Feb 2015, 4:53 pm)Michael wrote  
Seems they're getting rid of low cost units... Peterlee's to go next?

I guess there's more sense in the Consett/Stanley and Saltmeadows/Riverside, rather than Peterlee/Deptford, because of the distance. I'd love to see Peterlee expanded into a main depot though, with an aim to increase footprint in County Durham.

(23 Feb 2015, 6:51 pm)aureolin wrote I guess there's more sense in the Consett/Stanley and Saltmeadows/Riverside, rather than Peterlee/Deptford, because of the distance. I'd love to see Peterlee expanded into a main depot though, with an aim to increase footprint in County Durham.

Me too, where is County Durham which hasn't got a bus service? (not from the area), They may get 15 Solo SR's this year to... 

(23 Feb 2015, 4:53 pm)Michael wrote  
Seems they're getting rid of low cost units... Peterlee's to go next?

I say Peterlee too then Consett then Crook I don't class Hexham a low cost unit or outstation as its roughly the same size as Washington 

Peterlee - Werehouse 
Consett - Eldis Truck depot
Crook - Weardale Motor Services depot

Crook has 2 brands Ok Way and Pronto
Peterlee has 2 East Durham and Wear Tees Express
Consett just the 1 Venture  I still don't get it why can't 45/46 be kept there as 45/46 doesn't serve Stanley

Wierd day to finish operations at Consett on a Monday though? Saltmeadows finishing on Friday makes sense given their weeks run Saturday to Friday...

(23 Feb 2015, 7:12 pm)tyresmoke wrote Wierd day to finish operations at Consett on a Monday though? Saltmeadows finishing on Friday makes sense given their weeks run Saturday to Friday...

There is reasons behind it Scott which cannot be discussed on a public forum.

(23 Feb 2015, 7:12 pm)citaro5284 wrote There is reasons behind it Scott which cannot be discussed on a public forum.

Thought there must be more to it... no problem!

(23 Feb 2015, 7:10 pm)Racer_Experience wrote I say Peterlee too then Consett then Crook I don't class Hexham a low cost unit or outstation as its roughly the same size as Washington 

Peterlee - Werehouse 
Consett - Eldis Truck depot
Crook - Weardale Motor Services depot

Crook has 2 brands Ok Way and Pronto
Peterlee has 2 East Durham and Wear Tees Express
Consett just the 1 Venture  I still don't get it why can't 45/46 be kept there as 45/46 doesn't serve Stanley

Well if you read back, it's already being said that Consett's buses will move over to Stanley tonight after service. 

(23 Feb 2015, 7:03 pm)Michael wrote Me too, where is County Durham which hasn't got a bus service? (not from the area), They may get 15 Solo SR's this year to... 

Don't think there is many places near Peterlee that doesn't have a bus service that they could maybe set up anymore services.

I can't see Peterlee getting any investment in newer buses this year, I hope to be proven wrong though. I think if the Peterlee services are to get new buses I think they'll get some either next year or the year after.