In this day an age, how is it possible that tenders for once a morning workers buses evidently don't specify tracking as a required feature?

Bonkers.

I seriously doubt it has anything to do with lowering the entry cost to a minimum, but I suppose it's at least possible, but it would still be cost effective and simple common sense for Nexus to then provide trackers for the timespan of the tender.

If my observation is just a one off issue, I suppose that's still indicative of public public incompetence, since the unnerving experience of waiting even once for an evidently untrackable bus for such an important journey (my first day at a new job), I searched out alternative (commercially provided!) services for the next day and beyond. 

And then going forward, with the employer being sympathetic to the hell of relying on buses to get to work at all these days, with strikes looming, they let me, a person they barely know, use a company vehicle for commuting going forward, since me being late for work for even a half hour, would cost them dear. A level of pragmatism that is practically unheard of in the public sector.

Thereby as it happens, merely adding to the congestion afflicting that very service!

Scrimping pennies to lose pounds.

As you will know, Go-Ahead plc has just been taken over by a consortium of Kinetic, Australia and Globalvia, Spain.

We can just await developments with interest.  For example, this article quotes that They also see opportunities for Go-Ahead to "increase its footprint in the regional UK bus market"

So, could they buy out additional operators or subsidiaries of other groups?  Time will tell.

Go-Ahead sale to Kinetic and Globalvia completes - routeone (route-one.net)

This was a tiny mention as a far off prospect in the BSIP,  and has been mentioned again as a long term goal in the aftermath of the postponement of Black Street pedestrian.

If Waitrose is anything to go by, Marks and Spencer are sure to close their Eldon Square store soon, so I think the time is right to partner with Eldon Square to draw up plans for a single bus station that occupies the current footprint of the store, corkscrew car park and the two current bus stations.

This could surely accommodate all Newcastle services, cross town and terminators, using Percy Street, Great North Road and Durant Road as the access routes.

Serving Central Station would have to be a secondary concern, as it arguably already is now.

It's not ideal, but developing retail and parking over the top of this larger apron is the common way these days of funding such large projects.

Layover parking would perhaps have to be moved elsewhere, but that's not exactly an insurmountable problem.

Such a project surely fits the present priorities of reducing car usage (especially private commuter parking and city centre residential parking), increasing bus use (one station over the Metro being ideal for a future franchise), and it definitely allows the pedestrianisation and cycling up of Blacket Street and more besides. It may even suit a further change in use of Eldon Square from retail to leisure and residential, perhaps even start-up space in partnership with the university.

Stick a solar wind turbine farm on the roof for opportunity charging and heating, you will perhaps even have the Greens ready to support it.

Far off into the future, it will be an ideal hub for driverless personal transport pods (and the HyperLoop station on the East Coast Main Tunnel).

East Yorkshire Will Cut Services "Temporarily" as they face a driver shortage.

Service 54: Buses will run to a revised frequency of up to every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, no changes to the evening frequency. See the Service 54 timetable here.
Service 56: Buses will run to a revised frequency of up to every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, providing a combined 15-minute frequency with service 57 to and from Longhill/Asda. On Sundays buses will run up to every hour during the day, providing a combined 30-minute frequency with service 57. A revised evening timetable will be in operation. See the Service 56 timetable here.
Service 57: Buses will run to a revised frequency of up to every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, providing a combined 15-minute frequency with service 56 to and from Longhill/Asda. On Sundays buses will run up to every hour during the day, providing a combined 30-minute frequency with service 56 to and from Longhill/Asda. A revised evening timetable will be in operation. See the Service 57 timetable here.
Service 66: Buses will run to a revised frequency of up to every 20 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, with minor changes to early morning and early evening journeys. On Sundays buses will run every hour. See the Service 66 timetable here.
Service 104: Buses will run to a revised frequency of up to every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, with minor changes to early morning and early evening journeys. See the Service 104 timetable here.
Service 105: On Sundays buses will run every hour during the day. There will be no changes to the Monday – Friday, or Saturday timetable. See the Service 105 timetable here.
Service 154: Buses will run to a revised frequency of up to every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, with minor changes to early morning and early evening journeys. See the Service 154 timetable here.

https://www.eastyorkshirebuses.co.uk/tem...23-october

Can’t understand why gne still have these.  They were essentially mothballed when covid hit and have been used as taxis and shuttles with a few odd exceptions since.  The diesel Yutongs seemed to have replaced them.  Surely they still have a good resale value with the spec they have, and are relatively low mileage, assuming the nox/Adblu issues ever got properly fixed.

Do you not think the Centrelink should be used more, really I think the X45 (hopefully at every 20 mins) and the 47 should use it all the time going to Newcastle, as its so much faster than being stuck on the Redheugh bridge. 

Not sure if the 10/10A/10B would use it as they need some service through Askew Road to Newcastle/Metrocentre and maybe the 6 too.

Drivers at Arriva's Jesmond depot voted for indefinite strike action from 21st October, in opposition of the company's plans to close the depot. The strike action has since been called off, after a revised pay deal was offered.
https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-event...ond-depot/

According to the Newcastle Chronicle, Unite said that the bus company put forward a "substantially improved offer" after extensive negotiations. Drivers voted to accept the offer which included daily relocation payments and one-off payments in months following the depot's closure. Unite regional officer, Dave Telford, said: "After extensive negotiations, Arriva offered the employees affected a substantially improved offer which consisted of daily relocation payments and a series of one-off payments over the coming months. Following a ballot, this offer was accepted and the dispute has concluded."

The services from Jesmond depot that were planned to be disrupted were:

• X30 (16:33) Newcastle to Bebside not known if this journey will operate
  
• 43 Morpeth/Cramlington to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 44/45 Dinnington to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 46/46A Featherstone Grove to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 47 General Hospital to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 51 Whitley Bay to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 51A Holystone Park to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 52 Ashington/Cramlington to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 53 North Shields to Cramlington will be suspended
  
• 54 Whitley Bay to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• 55 Forest Hall to Newcastle will be suspended
  
• S105 Brunton Lane to St Cuthberts RC Lower School will be suspended
  
• 306 Whitley Bay/Tynemouth to Newcastle will operate with disruption
  
• 308 (Sun/Bank Hol) Blyth to Newcastle will operate with disruption
  
• 553 Battle Hill to Freeman Hospital/Regent Centre will be suspended
  
• 555 Quorum Park to Four Lane Ends will be suspended
  
• S652 (pm) Killingworth East Bailey to Northumberland Park West Allotment will be suspended
  
• S654 Northumberland Park West Allotment to Killingworth East Bailey will be suspended
  
• S656 Killingworth East Bailey to Northumberland Park West Allotment will be suspended
  
• 685 Carlisle/Hexham to Newcastle Arriva journeys will operate with disruption
  
• S693 Wideopen to Seaton Burn North Gosforth Academy will be suspended
  
• S699 Seaton Burn North Gosforth Academy to Wideopen will be suspended
  

Updated on 21st October 2022

Are Dupes still a thing?, just got the 12:59 310 from Prudhoe Street, North Shields (operated by 6105), and directly behind it was 6168

Passed a stranded mmc single decker working the outbound 36 in fenham this morning, deep dent in the offside front where a damaged car alongside it looked to have hit it. No sign of injuries or emergency workers, replacement bus had already arrived, but looked to be blocking a junction.

i saw 27724 i think it was out and about the other the day in blackett street and i noticed it has a different seating arrangement to other E300s i have seen where the 3 front seats are along the side of the bus, is this just that bus, the NK11 batch or most E300s produced after a certain year?