(04 Apr 2015, 11:13 am)Tommy_1581 wrote The conclusion;

• Arriva services are late, dirty and unprofessional
  
• Arriva employees don't care if power sockets and WiFi don't work and will do nothing about it
  
• Complain about the poor service and get rude responses
  
• Don't get on anything which is as dull as Eeyore's bottom
  
• Drivers don't care if they run late
  
• Leave vulnerable people waiting for 40 minutes at a cold bus stop
  

Talk about sweeping statements...

Just because your perception is that your local services are having issues, does it really mean that every other service Arriva run is the same? I have problems with the X12/X2 timing, but the 56/57/57A are generally spot on (apart from capacity issues). The problems I have with the former are being investigated directly by the depot management team, and to be fair, I've noticed an improvement as of late. 

Where does the dirty, unprofessional, and rude responses come from? Can't say I've experienced any of this. Even when I deem customer services to be 'useless', they're still always courteous and polite about it. As are the driving staff, depot staff, and even those at HQ that I've dealt with.

There's only so much a driver can do about running late. There are usually points in a route where time can be made up safely and within the law. If they're using that flexibility and the service is still late, then it's up to the company to review the timetable, and ensure it's fit for purpose.

The last point you've made is a very serious accusation, and I'd urge you to write to them directly if there's any substance in your point. 

(04 Apr 2015, 11:33 am)palatine3833 wrote Can I just say that Arriva do not have a 'sit around' attitude.  When the W-RBB Tridents were transferred to Durham depot, drivers complained about the heating and being underpowered, countless hours were then spent to get them up to standard - hence why they are now at Yorkshire Tiger rather than being scrapped.  The same went for the T-FGN deckers.  I'm assuming the reason the Ashington inspector said that to you was because he knows who you are and thought he could have a joke, rather than being slagged off on a forum.  On a positive though, I challenge anyone to say that Arriva haven't improved from 5 years ago.

I recall similar conversation recently in the GNE thread, and it was fast pointed out that members of the forum do not know what goes on in the background. The same almost certainly applies here.

It was a good while before WiFi was sorted with last year's GNE order, but it was pointed out that this was in fact an issue that a third party supplier were resolving. Who's to say that there isn't a similar issue on some of the Sapphire vehicles? Just because we haven't got someone from Arriva HQ on here telling us what's happening, doesn't mean that nothing is happening.

Oh and I'd take the Tridents back over the Lowlanders any day of the week.

(04 Apr 2015, 11:52 am)Jimmi wrote I don't think Arriva are given as much credit on this forum for some things as they probably should do.

I totally agree with you there. I personally feel that they neglect where I live, but when you look at the region as a whole, they're actually providing a very good service on the most part.

(04 Apr 2015, 11:57 am)mb134 wrote Hmm, is this before you crossed the river?

Not sure, I wasn't really taking notes on the journey, I was listening to music through my earphones.

(04 Apr 2015, 12:03 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Not sure, I wasn't really taking notes on the journey, I was listening to music through my earphones.

Haha  was just trying to pinpoint where it was  

(04 Apr 2015, 12:02 pm)aureolin wrote I totally agree with you there. I personally feel that they neglect where I live, but when you look at the region as a whole, they're actually providing a very good service on the most part.

Agreed, some totally slate Arriva on here. When Arriva do something wrong people go on and on about the topic but if Go North East did the same thing nothing would be said. For example when the ex demonstrator EcoCitys entered service on the 21 people went on and on about a bit of air coming through a gap in the doors and it went on and on about it including people who have never been on that bus then a few days later I posted a picture of a WTX Citaro with part of the door sticking out on the breeze which could cause harm to people and the only reply was "it didn't affect my journey" sorry but how is this okay.

Everytime a MAX and Sapphire isn't on the service it's branded for there is mass complaints on here and yet I had a manky old President on the 309 without the advertised features and this is a booked working and this is okay but I bet people would complain about a non Sapphire bus on the morning 7 dupe and you wonder why gtom went off his nut about the 21!

(04 Apr 2015, 12:22 pm)Jimmi wrote Agreed, some totally slate Arriva on here. When Arriva do something wrong people go on and on about the topic but if Go North East did the same thing nothing would be said. For example when the ex demonstrator EcoCitys entered service on the 21 people went on and on about a bit of air coming through a gap in the doors and it went on and on about it including people who have never been on that bus then a few days later I posted a picture of a WTX Citaro with part of the door sticking out on the breeze which could cause harm to people and the only reply was "it didn't affect my journey" sorry but how is this okay.

Everytime a MAX and Sapphire isn't on the service it's branded for there is mass complaints on here and yet I had a manky old President on the 309 without the advertised features and this is a booked working and this is okay but I bet people would complain about a non Sapphire bus on the morning 7 dupe and you wonder why gtom went off his nut about the 21!

It's a bit like the 'Coast & Country' debate yesterday. Discussing why 'Coast' was in the name of a brand that doesn't serve the coast was considered as over thinking and a lot of fuss, yet that wasn't the case when me and others were slating the decision not to refurbish the green flooring on the Arriva Omnicity MAX refurbs. 

As it turned out, someone posted about the impracticality of doing so (the way it's laid + cost involved), which is good input into a debate. At the same time, I've no doubt in the coming weeks we'll find out why that brand has been named as such. We just don't know what goes on behind closed doors, but it doesn't mean we should avoid constructive debate on here. If you make a point, provide your argument behind it, then I can't see the problem. Nowt irritates me more than people posting that something is 'shocking' or 'rubbish', but then not providing anything to say why they think that.

I'd like to think that this applied to all operators, and not just Arriva and Metro, as often the case seems to be.

I have to say I agree with the comments made by aureolin and Jimmi.

If Go North East's Riverside had half a brand with no branded vehicles on, would we stir up a big fuss? Yes, but nothing as extreme as what I see in these threads.

If Blyth or Ashington put just one branded vehicle off-route, no matter what circumstances, would we stir up a big fuss? Absolutely, some members would go into orbit over one allocation.

Think about all the good things Arriva have done over the past couple of years! They've introduced MAX and Sapphire to our streets on quite a few routes now, and are continuing to do so. They've held massive launches for these brands, which is another commendable thing. The list goes on.

Not saying we should slate other companies or depots, but maybe just back off a bit about little things like a few branded buses off-route. At the end of the day; yes it shouldn't be happening, but surely it isn't the end of the world.

(04 Apr 2015, 12:48 pm)aureolin wrote It's a bit like the 'Coast & Country' debate yesterday. Discussing why 'Coast' was in the name of a brand that doesn't serve the coast was considered as over thinking and a lot of fuss, yet that wasn't the case when me and others were slating the decision not to refurbish the green flooring on the Arriva Omnicity MAX refurbs. 

As it turned out, someone posted about the impracticality of doing so (the way it's laid + cost involved), which is good input into a debate. At the same time, I've no doubt in the coming weeks we'll find out why that brand has been named as such. We just don't know what goes on behind closed doors, but it doesn't mean we should avoid constructive debate on here. If you make a point, provide your argument behind it, then I can't see the problem. Nowt irritates me more than people posting that something is 'shocking' or 'rubbish', but then not providing anything to say why they think that.

I'd like to think that this applied to all operators, and not just Arriva and Metro, as often the case seems to be.

Can't stand it when people just go on random rants about how crap Arriva or any other operator any time there bus is a few minutes late. If you are going to complain about any operator on here it should be constructive criticism as I feel there should be a reason behind your argument such as the MAX Omnicitys not having a full refurbishment quality valid argument would be "I don't like the colour scheme it just doesn't look right" that is fine in my opinion whereas "Stupid penny pinching Arriva you are crap" is not constructive criticism in my mind.

People always find excuses for Go North East not putting buses with enhanced features such as WiFi but everytime a non MAX bus turns up on a service even when people have no idea as to why the allocation has happened it ends up becoming another Anti Arriva argument. Sorry to say this but it's true and some wonder why gtom was so vocal when it came to the allocations on the 21.

I think some of us need to rethink the way some of us think and some opinions need to be balanced and I think we have to try and stop taking one operators side, although that is difficult at times when if like me you can only realistically use one operator as the others don't operate in your area.

(04 Apr 2015, 1:18 pm)Jimmi wrote Can't stand it when people just go on random rants about how crap Arriva or any other operator any time there bus is a few minutes late. If you are going to complain about any operator on here it should be constructive criticism as I feel there should be a reason behind your argument such as the MAX Omnicitys not having a full refurbishment quality valid argument would be "I don't like the colour scheme it just doesn't look right" that is fine in my opinion whereas "Stupid penny pinching Arriva you are crap" is not constructive criticism in my mind.

People always find excuses for Go North East not putting buses with enhanced features such as WiFi but everytime a non MAX bus turns up on a service even when people have no idea as to why the allocation has happened it ends up becoming another Anti Arriva argument. Sorry to say this but it's true and some wonder why gtom was so vocal when it came to the allocations on the 21.

I think some of us need to rethink the way some of us think and some opinions need to be balanced and I think we have to try and stop taking one operators side, although that is difficult at times when if like me you can only realistically use one operator as the others don't operate in your area.

This is exactly how I feel about posts on the Go North East section of the forum, and it's even more difficult when you are limited to what you can say but know some of the posts are utter garbage...

It's certainly not unique to Arriva, and you'll find it's mainly the same people with the positive and negative comments about the same operator. I can certainly guess who's going to moan about something and be proven right at some point..!

By no means do I think we should all agree, but we should at least aim to see the alternative side of the argument and listen to all points made.

Let's put this so-called "unconstructive" discussion to bed now, shall we?

Had a great day today, only seen four Arriva buses. 

(04 Apr 2015, 11:13 am)Tommy_1581 wrote The conclusion;

• Arriva services are late, dirty and unprofessional
  
• Arriva employees don't care if power sockets and WiFi don't work and will do nothing about it
  
• Complain about the poor service and get rude responses
  
• Don't get on anything which is as dull as Eeyore's bottom
  
• Drivers don't care if they run late
  
• Leave vulnerable people waiting for 40 minutes at a cold bus stop
  

This is one of the worst conclusions I've read. It's a very bold and sweeping statement throughout and I do generally feel they offer a good service. I live in killingworth and there's rarely a service more than 2 minutes late, I think they really did care about their services in this area, especially with the52,53,54. Look at when they were Changed! For me I like both GNE and ANE but like mentioned it would be good to compare the late workings between the two companies. Although the problem you had with yours a is unfortunate there's no need for such rants towards the company as well as threats towards staff!

That's my rant over hahaha! 

Back on the 22nd March, there were revisions to the X21/X22, this has made the service more unreliable as before, and every time I used the X21 on a Sunday it runs 5 minutes late.

My opinions cover Ashington's operations and NOT the rest of Arriva.

My PREGNANT mother having to wait 40 minutes for a X21 is downright disgraceful. All this has spiralled from me reporting that a bus ran 16 minutes late yesterday and some random Arriva employee having a little rant at me.

I repeat this again; why should I pay, if my service is always running late and so unreliable?

Lots of people have moaned about the Metro; all that happened on my journeys; North Shields to Pelaw, Pelaw to South Shields, had no delays at all, I never burned and the service never broke down. That's what I call "reliable".

Tommy-

Although I still have experienced lateness on the X21 since the changes, I feel that the changes have made an impact, I do feel that instead of adding in time in the section from Newbiggin to Ashington, the service should be given 2 minutes at Bedlington instead of just treating it as a normal stop, quite a few people get on here, and it will allow time to be made up.

I think the problems you see on a Sunday are both down to the high passenger numbers (in my experiences), and the interworking of the X21 with the ridiculously tightly timed 35. 

I'm also not saying it was fine for your mam to be standing waiting for 40 minutes either, and I think you should be writing to Arriva about this, but sometimes these things cannot be helped, what if the vehicle had broken down, or there could have been a potentially harmful fault with the vehicle whereby if it continued in service it may have been a lot worse than having to wait 20 extra minutes (As bad as that sounds).  

Also, this isn't meant as an "attack" or anything like that, just it does seem Arriva are trying to sort out some punctuality issues. (This also doesn't mean my opinions on some things have changed, I still think they need to respray 7525 for example as at the minute it's showing the company in an unprofessional light)

(04 Apr 2015, 6:19 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote My PREGNANT mother having to wait 40 minutes for a X21 is downright disgraceful. All this has spiralled from me reporting that a bus ran 16 minutes late yesterday and some random Arriva employee having a little rant at me.

I repeat this again; why should I pay, if my service is always running late and so unreliable?

I'm not familiar with the service but I struggle to believe a 40 minute waiting time, because it's a 15 or 20 min frequency? And with sapphire aren't they meant to be regulated to ensure no hold ups? And also so many things could have happemed that day to cause the delay, ie bad traffic so,ethereal, roadworks, a breakdown, a fault, so I dont think it's fair to slate the company. And who's to say that if GNE did operate up there who's to say they wouldn't have delays, the 19 always see,s to be delayed so maybe it's just a problematic area?!

(04 Apr 2015, 7:13 pm)Wellsey18 wrote I'm not familiar with the service but I struggle to believe a 40 minute waiting time, because it's a 15 or 20 min frequency? And with sapphire aren't they meant to be regulated to ensure no hold ups? And also so many things could have happemed that day to cause the delay, ie bad traffic so,ethereal, roadworks, a breakdown, a fault, so I dont think it's fair to slate the company. And who's to say that if GNE did operate up there who's to say they wouldn't have delays, the 19 always see,s to be delayed so maybe it's just a problematic area?!

I agree with this as absolutely anything could have happened, I once had to wait nearly an hour for a 7 once was this because the company didn't care, no! It was because there was delays in and out of Darlington due to roadworks.

At times excessive delays can happen and are out of the company's control and there is only so many buses available to allocate to service and there is even less available if the buses are VOR.

Point is Tommy sometimes things go wrong that can lead to excessive delays, they are not doing this just to give you something to moan about, sometimes buses break down, sometimes traffic can heavily delay a service and sometimes a bus can be removed for other reasons such as passengers taking ill, I was on a 7 that arrived in Durham around 10 minutes late once as a passenger had a fall getting on as bus. Complaining on this forum is not going to solve the mystery as to why this happened and the only chance of finding out what happened is to contact Arriva.

i think people are starting to over exaggerate their experiences of late buses... As i said before, it is harder to run a bus company than some people think.

(04 Apr 2015, 7:54 pm)Robert wrote i think people are starting to over exaggerate their experiences of late buses... As i said before, it is harder to run a bus company than some people think.

To some really late means 10 minutes!

Most of my examples of extreme lateness has been down to reasons out of operators control where they can only do so many things to keep close to the timetable as possible. I am only mentioning my experiences of extreme lateness to provide a case that sometimes things can go wrong.

Logging on

I have just logged into the site today & have read all of the comments regarding Arriva in Ashington.

I live in the area & regularly use the 35 & X21. I have few complaints about the service sure buses run late but generally speaking the service is OK. I am quite in favour of the "Sapphire" branding on the X21 & find the seats perfectly comfortable, my only gripe is the lack of leg room in certain parts of the buses especially the 57 reg. batch.

As all services which run into Newcastle suffer from the congestion there I understand why they can run late but generally I find that the X21 arrives around on time into Ashington. Another point which has not been covered is the ridiculous road layout around the bus station in Ashington. This causes problems for all services calling there & was the reason for stopping the 35 calling at the bus station on it's run to Morpeth. It used to have to negotiate 4 sets of traffic lights to get in & 3 of them again to leave now "only" has to contend with the first 4.

With regard to Good Friday I had to catch the 35 at 14:02 off Newbiggin into Ashington but as the bus on X21 which forms it was 15-20 minutes late arriving it was obviously late. The driver was determined to make up time as best he could & recovered about 5 mins into Ashington. I returned on the 15:04 which is formed of the same bus & this was only about 6 mins late into Ashington so the driver had made a good effort to recover time. I noticed that the next X21 at 14:42 off Ashington to Newbiggin was similarly running about 10-15 mins late but this is a regular event in the afternoon on Sundays/Bank Holidays due to congestion in & around Newcastle. I agree with Tyresmoke that these schedules need looking at.

Maybe you need to stand back & think before making comments in this Forum as a lot of the more derogatory comments appear to me to be down to the impetuousness of youth.

On the back of the subject currently being discussed in the GNE thread;

How old are Arriva's depots in the region? 

With the obvious exception of Ashington, which was rebuilt last year, the one's I've seen look quite old.

(05 Apr 2015, 3:18 pm)mb134 wrote On the back of the subject currently being discussed in the GNE thread;

How old are Arriva's depots in the region? 

With the obvious exception of Ashington, which was rebuilt last year, the one's I've seen look quite old.

Belmont isn't that old in the grand scheme of things. The old Waddington Street depot was an age like.

(05 Apr 2015, 3:19 pm)Andreos1 wrote Belmont isn't that old in the grand scheme of things. The old Waddington Street depot was an age like.

Belmont was built around 2012 iirc? I remember reading about how the people living near the Waddington Street depot were relieved with it's demise. Apparently it was hard to live around it, although I imagine this is the case with a lot of bus depots. 

(05 Apr 2015, 3:39 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Belmont was built around 2012 iirc? I remember reading about how the people living near the Waddington Street depot were relieved with it's demise. Apparently it was hard to live around it, although I imagine this is the case with a lot of bus depots. 

It was around that time. Trying to remember what the site was used for prior to ANE adapting it for buses.

(05 Apr 2015, 3:46 pm)Andreos1 wrote It was around that time. Trying to remember what the site was used for prior to ANE adapting it for buses.

It's a converted warehouse I believe.

I think that Arriva should've closed both Blyth and old Ashington Depot down and built a super depot in Cambios.

(05 Apr 2015, 3:47 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote It's a converted warehouse I believe.

I think Peter Cook Haulage had it at one point, but they went bust a few years before ANE moved in.
It is bugging me now.

(04 Apr 2015, 9:12 am)Tommy_1581 wrote No I'm not going to get you or Tom banned from the forum. I'm voicing my opinions here, the person is telling me that I slate Arriva, because my bus is constantly late, maybe Arriva should think about my pregnant mother who stood at Wansbeck Hospital for 40 minutes waiting for a bus ON A WEDNESDAY.

If Arriva treat their customers so badly, why would I want to travel with them?

Having a pregnant woman wait for 40 minutes is extremely dangerous, would you allow that? I'd think not, I'd have a bus sent straight away and would have carried the people for free and refunded their return ticket. 

As hard as your story is to believe surely a hospital is the best place to be waiting if you think it's "Dangerous"  to be stood around..  

As for reporting me to Arriva. At what point did I say I worked for arriva, that my opinions have anything to do with Arriva as a company and if Arrivas customer service is so shoddy what makes you think anything would have been done? 

I'm sure no bus driver wakes up in the morning and thinks to theirself:
- I want to have a p!ss in my bus!
- I want to wait in a layby for 40 minutes so I can be late!
- I hate the public, I don't have anything to do with them!
- I don't know what any of these buttons on my dash do, even the ones labelled 'Wifi' and 'Sockets'! Best leave them off!

Drivers aren't mystical creatures who know everything - they may simply not know how they've become x minutes late as each minute can add up easily for no apparent reason.
I'm also sure, no matter if someone is pregnant, elderly, disabled etc or not, a driver will do their best to make up time. However, probably to your surprise and dismay, there isn't the option to put a blue flashing light and sirens on to get through traffic.


Fair enough you giving your own opinion - but when you keep endlessly slating services that aren't the designated brand (imagine the extra delay and cancellations etc that would apply if absolutely no branded buses are allowed to stray elsewhere) and services that are 6 minutes late, coming from someone who can't even drive a car let alone a bus, it's embarrassing.
Oh and don't get me started on reporting someone, if they are an Arriva employee, to Arriva. You have no idea on the implications you could cause for absolutely nothing.

(05 Apr 2015, 8:17 pm)Multi21 wrote As hard as your story is to believe surely a hospital is the best place to be waiting if you think it's "Dangerous"  to be stood around..  

As for reporting me to Arriva. At what point did I say I worked for arriva, that my opinions have anything to do with Arriva as a company and if Arrivas customer service is so shoddy what makes you think anything would have been done? 

Same could be said if an ambulance or a police car went past at the same time that someone gets murdered at a bus stop?

As my mam doesn't know which bus to use, she recognises the 'Sapphire' brand and X21 to get her to the Elephant, however these buses were running in twos, hence waiting for 40 minutes. 

You said that you've done Ashington - Newcastle X21/22 runs before? Surely I should know how many people use the X21, as it goes straight past my bedroom window?

(06 Apr 2015, 8:32 am)Tommy_1581 wrote Same could be said if an ambulance or a police car went past at the same time that someone gets murdered at a bus stop?

How many people get murdered at a bus stop each year like?! And still the hospital bus stop would be the best place for that