Does the current uncertainty over the effect the election of a new North East Mayor will have on the provision of bus services in the area make the sale of Arriva Northumbria in the short term unlikely, or could a possible bidder see it as an opportunity worth a punt?

So this September the long awaited refurbishment of the Tyne Bridge begins and it's going to be really interesting to see how its managed. 

September through December shouldn't see a huge amount of disruption (at least during peak) but from January 2024 lane closures and serious disruption kicks in 

And with the potential for the High Level works to require intermittent closures...who'd be a planner?

In the world of ideal transport integration, folk would get off their bus at Heworth or Gateshead and enjoy free travel across to Newcastle but I doubt Metro has the capacity, will or reliability to be that option in its current guise. 

We've seen from the closure of the Central Motorway through to the current 1 lane operation impact operations.

Disruption looks entirely unavoidable but it'll be interesting to see what comes out of it in terms of planning. From my own personal stand point, on Colleagues 'office day' - we're either planning to abandon these, switch to monthly or allow colleagues to change their hours to avoid the worst of the disruption

I notice there is a tender out for services 351 and 359, due to start on 3rd September. I'm assuming the 351 is a direct replacement for the 51, and the 359 will be a Whitley Bay to Backworth service.

There is also a tender out for service 335 - not sure if this is because of a change to route, or GCT have been stripped of the contract (wouldn't be surprised as the reliability is awful)

So I got on the 21 at Gateshead today heading towards Newcastle and showed my £12,70 Explorer ticket to the driver for him to say "Its not valid on here. Its only valid on Arriva buses" I said no it's valid on here as well and he said no it isn't so I gave up trying to tell him

This annoys me to the fact why can't Arriva & GNE accept the T&W Day Rover & Explorer tickets as they both sell them. Its stated on the website "Valid on all Go North East, Arriva & Stagecoach buses". So why do they keep not letting you on. Now this is just probably a one off bus it does get annoying. However I wanted to ask why can't the T&W Day Rover & Explorer be scanned on each other buses if they accept them. Arriva & GNE accept each other tickets on the 306/7/8/9 as I bought a week tickets on the gne bus and it was scanned perfectly fine on them but Explorer & T&W Day Rover can't. I really hope something is done about this. Would save a lot of time and drivers stop being dic£s about it

Ignore the fact the fourm says T&A Day Rover

Not really a bus event. But if you followed the North East Bus Preservation Trust. You would have seen that local lad Rob took his 49 year old Leyland Leopard YSF 87S on a trip from Edinburgh to Rome. He made it and it just goes to show how strong that a old Bus can do better than the current bus. Just thought I'd post this as this has been a massive achievement for him. (You can close the thread or keep it open for others people to comment)

This is something that's bothered me a bit and I've never got round to making a thread for it. Why does Durham never get as much investment as other depos do? Their buses are dated and could use a bit of TLC

Could not find the thread anywhere but more ticket prices increase again https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/2023fareschange

I saw a picture of a prototype electric royal mail van and was just wondering if a minibus version would work given how suited the design of the cab is. 

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/royal-ma...st-arrival

I know we all have our jibes about NSA's and paintwork but it's really is the tip of the iceburg lately. It's almost everyone has just given up and this includes Nexus aswell who are out with the usual throwing Stadler under the train again (not that it would do much as none are running).

Almost everything is just broken:

• Buses being reduced left, right and centre.
  
• Councils celebrating money they already had which will recover above questionably.
  
• 3 private bus operators who are as innovate as a typewriter.
  
• 3 public rail operators (Northern Rail, Metro and TPE) who are cancelling trains left right and centre.
  
• No crisis planning, such as buses running into Newcastle today, to just be delayed and no planning.
  
• Buses being cancelled left, right and centre for the best part of 2 year now.
  
• Buses not fit for purpose, in particular Arriva's Solos and the Stagecoach's MAN 200's with no plan to get shot of them with daily breakdowns.
  
• Depot closures from both Arriva and GNE which have both resulted in serious issues which are still a problem at both (Riverside cancellations, Arriva routes being removed altogether).
  
• The same cronies in charge of high positions who have questionable ability, Gannon and Tobyn Hughes in particular - what exactly have these 2 achieved?
  
• Strikes at Stagecoach, very nearly strikes at Arriva and GNE.
  
• Nexus, as usual, wasting money on things like glass windows at Byker which were removed because of vandalism.
  
• Metro extremely unsafe in the evenings, overran by feral kids.
  

We must have the worst public transport in the country for an urban area, you look at places like Edinburgh and Manchester and the problems are nowhere near the issues up here lately and is it just me who has absolutely no hope that it'll change regardless to whether it's franchised or not as both options are as poor as each other because of who are in charge?

It's sad times but public transport is unusable, unless you have a fetish for delays, cancellations and wasting time.

North Yorkshire Council has announced that their YorBus demand responsive transport scheme will come to an end on Friday 30th June 2023.

https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/roads-park...-yorkshire

YorBus pilot scheme will end on 30 June 2023
YorBus, the pilot scheme to run a flexible, on-demand bus service connecting Ripon, Masham and Bedale is ending on 30 June 2023.
YorBus, the pilot scheme to run a flexible, on-demand bus service connecting Ripon, Masham and Bedale is ending on 30 June 2023.
The pilot was originally intended to run for a 12-month period from July 2021 to help us gather information about the costs and benefits of running a digital demand responsive bus service. Last year the scheme was extended for a further 12 months which allowed time to explore some other ways to deliver the service, such as a pre-booking facility.

Drivers and vehicles are being reallocated to their own in house scheduled bus service operations.