(24 Feb 2015, 3:51 pm)cbma06 wrote There's a Arriva orange jacket man with a clip board at Peterlee bus station, counting how many passengers are on each bus before it pulled out. also theirs a solo 2823 on service 24 and theirs a solo on service 23 this morning.

Hopefully a sign of possible improvements to the departure times out of Peterlee! The changes have been in place for four months now, so if there are possible improvements ahead, it's slightly earlier than I expected...

I noticed a few things today, while on 7517 (another Enviro story I know!),:

• It was on time, on a journey that I get most Tuesdays, that is normally pretty late.
  
• Unlike the Sapphire examples, there were no little niggles (I can't really explain this one all too well, just with most of the old ones there always seems to be something not quite right, it's also something I noted on my journey on it the other Sunday on my X18)
  
• This might be a bit picky, but I found it, and MAX buses in general, a much nicer place to be, compared to the refurbished 57-reg Sapphire Enviro's, the new ones are fine strangely. (May be to do with lighting? And the windows?)
  

Now I know there may be a reason for the first point, and it may just be my expieriences that make 7517 look better on that point, however the others are things that made me think a bit. 

MAX 7610 has just left Durham on the 0951 X2 to Newcastle.

(24 Feb 2015, 3:59 pm)Dan wrote Hopefully a sign of possible improvements to the departure times out of Peterlee! The changes have been in place for four months now, so if there are possible improvements ahead, it's slightly earlier than I expected...

Im wondering if this Arriva person was at Peterlee bus station the whole day taking notes of loadings, if he was taking notes of loadings on the incoming and out going of service X21 and maybe the GNE X7 and I can see them pulling the X21 off which would be shame, but I still would like Arriva to run the 22 which is the main bus service as a X22 between Sunderland and Peterlee (as Dan favours the X22 service aswell) as passengers from East Durham area south don't want to go to Sunderland on an all stopper stopping at every single stop between Dalton le dale and Ryhope, l caught the 21/X21 yesterday at Half 8 in the morning to Sunderland and their was a bus load to Peterlee bus station bus as the bus turned into a X21 then their was only 8 passengers on the bus to Sunderland Interchange arriving at 9am.

Since DCC has took full control of Peterlee bus station, the painters have been in to paint the ceiling of the bus station.

(25 Feb 2015, 4:24 pm)cbma06 wrote Im wondering if this Arriva person was at Peterlee bus station the whole day taking notes of loadings, if he was taking notes of loadings on the incoming and out going of service X21 and maybe the GNE X7 and I can see them pulling the X21 off which would be shame, but I still would like Arriva to run the 22 which is the main bus service as a X22 between Sunderland and Peterlee (as Dan favours the X22 service aswell) as passengers from East Durham area south don't want to go to Sunderland on an all stopper stopping at every single stop between Dalton le dale and Ryhope, l caught the 21/X21 yesterday at Half 8 in the morning to Sunderland and their was a bus load to Peterlee bus station bus as the bus turned into a X21 then their was only 8 passengers on the bus to Sunderland Interchange arriving at 9am.

Since DCC has took full control of Peterlee bus station, the painters have been in to paint the ceiling of the bus station.

That's pretty regular, for that run, and probably one of the better loadings the service has...

You have two 22s, two 23s and two X21s on top of GNE's X7 between 8am - 9am. One of the 23s that comes into Park Lane at around 0820 does alright, but the others don't come in with particularly great loadings. The Stockton peak run (the 0900 arrival) tends to do better than the normal Darlington run - that can come in empty and leave empty. For about two weeks, I got on the 0810 departure out of Sunderland more-or-less daily, and I was often the only passenger on it.

Glad the X7 hasn't been affected too much by the introduction of the X21 (but I am bias of course), as the 0830 arrival into Sunderland still tends to come in fairly full. The daytime runs are certainly doing a lot better, as well, as the most I've seen on the X21 during the day is about 3 passengers in total (out of Sunderland). In my opinion, Arriva certainly should have considered improving what they already had instead of implementing a completely direct service via the A19, which doesn't allow many pick-up points.

Latest transfers to happen...

2808 Darlington to Stockton
1771 Stockton to Blyth
1760/67/91 Darlington to Blyth
1795/96 withdrawn from Blyth

I think Arriva wanted a faster journey bus service for their passengers  between Peterlee and Sunderland even though their not much in journey time as using the A19 in a similar line to the coast road. when I was on the X21 Tuesday gone to Sunderland, their was a solo on service 23 passing at grangetown southbound then a few minutes down the road their was a Arriva streetlite not in service heading southbound towards grangetown.

I used to get the X7 regular which got to Sunderland at 08:30, used to get the bus from Peterlee bus station, the bus arrived almost full, 2 thirds get off, and the bus fills up again, with passengers getting off at seaham industrial estate and the main stop outside Byron place with the same daily passengers getting on to Sunderland, but since Arriva introduced the east durham triple ticket and also reducing the 2 zones ticket to 4.90 saves me money as I can use my local arriva bus to connect with the X21, as GNE wont serve the south side of burnhope Way. only downside is theres not much to do after Sunderland if ive got the day ticket off arriva, but theres more to do if I get the GNE red and turq zone day ticket, but usually I purchase a explorer if im using Arriva, GNE and stagecoach.

(24 Feb 2015, 8:10 pm)mb134 wrote I noticed a few things today, while on 7517 (another Enviro story I know!),:

• It was on time, on a journey that I get most Tuesdays, that is normally pretty late.
  
• Unlike the Sapphire examples, there were no little niggles (I can't really explain this one all too well, just with most of the old ones there always seems to be something not quite right, it's also something I noted on my journey on it the other Sunday on my X18)
  
• This might be a bit picky, but I found it, and MAX buses in general, a much nicer place to be, compared to the refurbished 57-reg Sapphire Enviro's, the new ones are fine strangely. (May be to do with lighting? And the windows?)
  

Now I know there may be a reason for the first point, and it may just be my expieriences that make 7517 look better on that point, however the others are things that made me think a bit. 

I always found the Max E400s a nicer place to be too, the Sapphire examples are, well, a bit "overpowering", the floor is a different colour than under the seats, and kind of makes it feel small.

(24 Feb 2015, 3:59 pm)Dan wrote Hopefully a sign of possible improvements to the departure times out of Peterlee! The changes have been in place for four months now, so if there are possible improvements ahead, it's slightly earlier than I expected...

Also theirs been problems with over crowding issues on service 24 and lateness causing service 24 to bunch up causing quite a gap in the service. (and service 22 between peterlee and Durham). but cant see double deckers on these route yet though lol. I remember the days waiting for the 242 (24)  from Durham and having a pot luck chance having either a double decker or a metro rider.

Currently onboard 4814 and it now has WiFi.

(25 Feb 2015, 5:05 pm)tyresmoke wrote Latest transfers to happen...

2808 Darlington to Stockton
1771 Stockton to Blyth
1760/67/91 Darlington to Blyth
1795/96 withdrawn from Blyth

Think 1733 may also have been withdrawn, haven't seen it for at least a week

7610 in service at Belmont depot today on service X12/X2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...459968819/

(25 Feb 2015, 8:11 pm)Jimmi wrote 7610 in service at Belmont depot today on service X12/X2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...459968819/

And later today in Stockton

Arriva North East 7610 (NK59 DMU) by kuyoyo, on Flickr

(25 Feb 2015, 7:16 pm)mb134 wrote Think 1733 may also have been withdrawn, haven't seen it for at least a week

1742 also withdrawn apparently.
1747 is withdrawn at Darlington with 1724 back on permanently to replace it. Wonder how long that one will last...

(25 Feb 2015, 8:40 pm)tyresmoke wrote 1742 also withdrawn apparently.
1747 is withdrawn at Darlington with 1724 back on permanently to replace it. Wonder how long that one will last...

I saw 1742 in service either this morning or yesterday, can't remember which! So it may well have been taken out of service after I saw it, I'll try and remember to keep a look out tomorrow for that, 1733 and 1750!

(25 Feb 2015, 8:11 pm)Jimmi wrote 7610 in service at Belmont depot today on service X12/X2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...459968819/

If anyone sees 7610 today, can you give me a shout? Looking to head out for a few photos this afternoon and hopefully I'll catch 7610 while I'm at it! 

Not sure if this is the best place for this but...

Darlington service revision suggestions - May 2015 feedback survey.
http://bit.ly/1zKpu3C

Here are some of the things they have planned:

---

Service 2 and 11 Combination

From May, we're planning on merging Service 2 and 11 together, to form one single cross town service between Red Hall & Branksome.

We are still planning to operate a frequency of up to every 10 minutes across the entire route, with a half hourly frequency on evenings and Sundays.

We will continue to use the high quality vehicles on this service and we believe that by linking the two services together, we can provide cross town links to/from Darlington Memorial Hospital and Darlington Station.

---

Service 3 & Service 14/14A/14B

From May, we've also got a plan to revise services in Mowden & Skerne Park.

We plan to renumber Services 14, 14A and 14B to operate as Service 3, 3A and 3B from May.


Our proposal for Service 3 will see Service 3 and 14 combined to operate as Service 3 throughout via their current routes, every 30 minutes between Skerne Park, Darlington & Mowden Shops. We then propose to operate a one way loop of Leith Road, Carroll Road & Wycliffe Way instead of terminating at Tees Grange Avenue in Mowden. Buses would then return to Darlington & Skerne Park via Mowden Shops & Fulthorpe Avenue, then as current routes every 30 minutes.

This new route would open up more of Mowden to a connection to the Hospital and also Hummersknott Academy and Carmel RC College. It will also provide a direct link from Skerne Park to Hummersknott Acedemy, for students to use to get to and from school.

Our proposal for Service 3A will see current Service 14A revised to operate as Service 3A, with no change to route or frequency.

Our proposal for Service 3B will see current Service 14B revised to operate as Service 3B, however only between Skerne Park, Darlington, Albert Hill & Fitzwilliam Drive. Unfortunately, the section of current Service 14B between Fitzwilliam Drive and Whinfield will be withdrawn due to low passenger usage and lack of available resources from Sunday 17 May 2015.

---

Revised route for Service 19 -
Buses will still operate every 30 minutes between Darlington, Pierremont and West Park, however omitting High Grange Estate (alternative stops available on Rotary Way and West Auckland Road).


Revised timetable for Service 1, X1, 1B -
We're planning a timetable revision to this service group linking Darlington to Bishop Auckland & beyond.
Buses will still continue to operate to the same routes and frequencies between Tow Law, Bishop Auckland and Darlington, but we're planning on some smaller changes locally within Darlington.
Service 1 will no longer operate to Darlington College or Lingfield Point, alternatives are available to Darlington College from the Town Centre by changing onto Service 9 or 10 (up to every 5 minutes) for intending passengers.
Peak time passengers to/from Lingfield Point will be served by a revised peak Service 2, which will link the area to the Town Centre.
We're also planning a small timetable change to attend to some punctuality issues.

---

I know these changes will not affect many of the members on this forum, but to anyone in the Darlington area what do you think of these changes.

I think the revision of the 3 in Mowden will improve the service, and should benefit Hummersknott School. The new loop will mean that some passengers will continue to have a bus service should the 16 be withdrawn. Although I would still expect the Mowden moaners to complain to The Northern Echo.
It's interesting that there're combining services 2 & 11 given the reason that they were split in 2008 was due to congestion, but hopefully the new junction at Stonebridge has eased problems. I doubt many use the service in High Grange on 19, as many people in High Grange walk to get on the 1/X1 currently.

(26 Feb 2015, 8:11 am)Dan wrote If anyone sees 7610 today, can you give me a shout? Looking to head out for a few photos this afternoon and hopefully I'll catch 7610 while I'm at it! 

Dunno if it's any good now but it was the 1005 from Middlesbrough

I'm from Darlington. I use the 14/A/B and the 2 to get to work and home haha! I think the 11 become the 2 and merging could be potentially great but we'll wait and see, and I think the 14/3 merging is fantastic but the 3 should be rebuke red instead of the 14s in my opinion! I use service 3 quite a lot too and I'm glad it is doing a bigger 'your' of Mowden as the 30/31 used too!

7458 is currently working from Blyth depot.

(26 Feb 2015, 4:31 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote 7458 is currently working from Blyth depot.

Fleet lists updated accordingly.

It's getting itself about this month, isn't it?
http://northeastbuses.co.uk/fleet/anefle...eetno=7458

(26 Feb 2015, 3:46 pm)John_R wrote I think the revision of the 3 in Mowden will improve the service, and should benefit Hummersknott School. The new loop will mean that some passengers will continue to have a bus service should the 16 be withdrawn. Although I would still expect the Mowden moaners to complain to The Northern Echo.

It's interesting that there're combining services 2 & 11 given the reason that they were split in 2008 was due to congestion, but hopefully the new junction at Stonebridge has eased problems. I doubt many use the service in High Grange on 19, as many people in High Grange walk to get on the 1/X1 currently.

Yeah I think the new route through Mowden is a good idea and will be good that it is serving more of Mowden especially as the funding for the 16/16A is expected to end at the end of June. I'm sure there will be moaning to the Northern Echo if the service is withdrawn like you say.

I imagine few passengers board the 19 round High Grange, few passengers used to get on the 16 when it went round there. It looks like it will run straight down to West Park from Rotary Way, Argos. Could they even have just stopped on Alverton Drive and U-turn at the roundabout which is what Scarlet Band do on the 16A to pick up the school kids.

Can't help but feel it may have been less confusing to keep the numbers 14/14A/14B instead of 3/3A/3B, lost count of how many times Fitzwilliam Drive has had service changes over the last few years.

Does the 16A go around Faverdale Industrial Estate or straight up West Auckland Road to West Park, just I saw it doing both these things on different days last week.

(26 Feb 2015, 7:09 pm)John_R wrote Does the 16A go around Faverdale Industrial Estate or straight up West Auckland Road to West Park, just I saw it doing both these things on different days last week.

It should go: Faverdale, Faverdale North (past Arriva depot), Rotary Way, High Grange (U-turn at the roundabout), Rotary Way is the way it should head to West Park from Darlington, although often out of school times Faverdale Grange is missed out and just goes straight through the roundabout on Rotary Way.

Darlington map shows 16/16A route although despite what this and the timetable states the 16A does not go down Baydale Road and Salutation Road and West Park bound journeys go via Edgecombe Drive but the timetable says otherwise!

Darlington map http://www.connectteesvalley.com/data/bu...ington.pdf

2826 entered service at Stockton depot working 7s alongside 2803 - 1769 the only MPD out in service today.

(26 Feb 2015, 8:34 pm)Kuyoyo wrote 2826 entered service at Stockton depot working 7s alongside 2803 - 1769 the only MPD out in service today.

1772 has had it's rear advert removed prior to transfer.

To answer a question from earlier, 7458 is an extra spare bus for Blyth now it's no longer required at Jesmond.

(26 Feb 2015, 9:17 pm)tyresmoke wrote 1772 has had it's rear advert removed prior to transfer.

To answer a question from earlier, 7458 is an extra spare bus for Blyth now it's no longer required at Jesmond.

No longer for disposal, then?

is Daf ALX 400 7475 and 7512 still at blyth cause the fleet list says they are still their and same with 1712

(27 Feb 2015, 9:37 am)jaimzm wrote is Daf ALX 400 7475 and 7512 still at blyth cause the fleet list says they are still their and same with 1712

7512 is my fault - it was loaned there and I forgot to change it back (despite being reminded about three times!)

Fixed now.