Not sure if its just me but the GNE thread has disappeared and I can't find it by going through previous posts either

Recently Premier Bus & Coach baught an Optare Solo but does anyone know where from as it would help me loads.

Luke

Was having a chat earlier about brands or items that were around when we were younger, but are no where to be seen now. So in a bid to get other parts of the forum a bit more active, I thought I'd stick a post on here Apologies in advance if this is not the place.

Few things I thought of were -







Anyone got any others?

Feel free to post any service suggestions for the Metro

Read an article in the Sunday Mirror yesterday about further possible cuts to the BSOG which will be tied into the next budget announcement.

Also, not sure if anyone has ever seen this next website.
It contains details of operators who have used the grant to subsidise the cost of claiming smartcard, automatic vehicle locations or low carbon emission buses.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...incentives

Just getting to grips with the new Flickr design.

Obviously more orientated towards photos now but I think its become a bit too graphic heavy.

You have to click on each photo or hover now to see how many comments or the details of each photo which is a pain.

They've redesigned the App for Android as well which has slowed it down badly and made it difficult to navigate

As many of you will know, our site has recently undergone a downtime of 48 hours. Preceding this downtime, a significant proportion of our members experienced problems with the North East Buses website (as established in this thread).

Previously, our website used a free web host provider. It came to the point where, after seven months or so, we had actually accumulated so many files on our server, that things were no longer working as they should have been. Downtime was also a lot more frequent than it should have been. As such, the administration team decided that the time had come for us to upgrade to a premium hosting plan with a different hosting provider.

The transfer of our domain from one hosting provider to another unfortunately took 48 hours, and in this time, the site had to be offline both to normal members and administrators also.

A great deal of inconvenience was inevitably caused, but we're now back.
To compensate for the great deal of recent downtime (including the downtime which was planned), we would like to inform all of our members that we still have a lot of plans which we hope to roll out to you all in the coming weeks. A project which many of you will be interested in, is the conversion of the "Bygone Era". To save storage space and to make things easier to access, we are still converting all of our files into the new .pdf format rather than individual image files in multiple parts. Though we needn't "scrimp" on storage space anymore, we still firmly believe that the presentation of the "Bygone Era" is a top priority. In addition to the revamp of the Bygone Era, we are now also able to upload the remaining files we have received from our members. On last count, I was told that there were 6000 or so to be watermarked, converted, uploaded and captioned on here. A great deal of effort will go into the project, as I'm sure you will understand. The result will be brilliant and I ensure you it will be worth the wait.
We still have a lot more plans for future, but the main focus for the moment is to get back on track, and to ensure that very little downtime is caused in the future with our new hosting provider. Details will follow of future updates, but for now, they're secret

I'd like to thank all of our members for the patience that they had during the offline time, and it is my pleasure to welcome you all back. I apologise once more for the inconvenience caused, but I can guarantee it was worth the wait (as you'll find out over the coming weeks)!
A few "bugs" may still exist on the site following the transfer, and the appearance of a few things may change every now and again while we try to replicate some of the styling we lost during the transfer. Unfortunately, all avatars that were previously uploaded to our server were lost during the transfer, and as such, members who previously had an avatar are required to re-upload their avatars if they would wish to do so. If you spot any further mistakes, bugs or odd-balls, feel free to PM one of the administration team or reply to this thread below, and they would be delighted to amend the error.

Many thanks once more, and welcome back to North East Buses.
Dan, on behalf of site management.

Grand Central launch fifth Sunderland to London service -

GRAND Central’s bid to run five daily return trains between Sunderland and London is back on track and providing a jobs boost for the city.

After months of negotiations, travellers will finally have the choice of five services departing for the capital every day of the week, starting this Sunday.

Seven new employees have been recruited locally to staff the service and in an added boost to Sunderland’s economy, Grand Central are set to open a new office in the city at the end of the month.

Their new Sunniside home will boast meeting rooms, a training suite and a mess room.

Plans to add an extra service to the four existing daily returns were revealed exclusively by the Echo last year and in October, the Office of Rail Regulation approved the operators bid.

A fifth train has been running on Saturdays since December but Network Rail could not find a slot from Monday to Friday, meaning the service has been terminating at Hartlepool.

Grand Central bosses spoke of their determination to see the new service extended, describing Sunderland as key to their business model.

Managing director Richard McClean said: “We are delighted that from this Sunday we can give passengers in Sunderland the choice of five services to and from London each day.

“We have been working closely with Network Rail since December to extend this service to serve the people of Sunderland seven days a week. I’m delighted we can now offer this to our loyal passengers.”

The new service will leave Sunderland at 2.06pm on weekday afternoons, arriving at London Kings Cross at 6.11pm.

Meanwhile, a train will head north from London at 11.21am Monday to Friday.

Gary Hutchinson, chairman of the Sunderland committee of the North East Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the news.

“I think it’s great to see the service extending, proving the demand is there and anything that improves connectivity with the capital is a good thing.

“It is also great to see them locating their new office in Sunderland and hiring Sunderland people as part of this expansion and I hope we see more of the same.

“I hope people will support the new service and repay the confidence Grand Central have shown in Sunderland.”

Leader of Sunderland City Council, Paul Watson, added: “We welcome the introduction of this additional direct return rail service from Sunderland to London, which is good news for Sunderland.

“Thanks to the hard work of Grand Central in improving regional and national rail links, Sunderland is now a better connected city. This is vital to our economic future, and the railway system has a massive part to play in that future.

“We want Sunderland to be recognised for its strengths as a business and visitor destination, this addition to the service fits in with this vision.”

Source - http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/busin...-1-5683104

The new timetable effective from tomorrow (19 May) can be found online at Grand Central Rail - http://www.grandcentralrail.com/

A plain white Astromega with tinted windows heading North on the A1 around Doncaster and a TFL Gemini heading South - both on trade plates

Departures:
TOM1314
TCX6536
EZY6427
KLM952
BA1321
BE461
AF1559
LS583
EZE4641
EZE4030
TCX6108
TOM1364
EZY547
TCX6002
EZY565
EZE4621
EZY6407
EZE4028
BE422
BE142
KLM954
BA1325
LS515
EZE4801
EZY6401
EZE4032
BE702
RYR173
KLM958
AF1059
BA1327
EZY6419
KLM960
EK36
TOM1376
EZE4036
BE465
EZE4625
TOM1378
LS569
LS523
BA1333
RYR9346
BE146
EZE4627
EZY6447
EZY6453
AF1159
KLM964
EZE4095
EZE4038
EW3457
BE467
BA1335
BE428
EZE4094
QA544
TCX6014
EZY555
EZY569
BE148
RYR175

Arrivals:
TBC