Great work by the Arriva team today running Park & Ride services for the ever popular food festival in Saltburn.

FF1 from Guisborough
Stockton - 1449, 1458, 1459, 1486, 1488 (PVR 4 but an extra bus 1449 brought in to help maintain the schedule)

FF2 from Brotton
Whitby - 1567

FF3 from Redcar
Redcar - 1430, 1570 (1566? did the first trip and replaced by 1430)


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Does the 520 driver change throughout the day or is it the same one all day?

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/...T3MwDAkcjI

New service introduced to link key locations in Alnwick. 
Started yesterday. Runs until the end of the summer holidays. 
Funded by local businesses, it will be free for passengers.

Now that fares are being substantially subsidised, should Nexus now take steps to protect bus revenue by utilising Metro Inspectors to check ticket compliance on buses too?

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