A thread for Metro Replacement for 2022. First two metro replacement are

12th & 13th February Airport to South Gosforth 

19th & 20th February Chichester to South Shields

No timetable has been posted yet so no idea who has them

Suggestion

New:
- 6x StreetDeck OM936 - X93/X94
- 10x StreetDeck OM936 - X15/X18

Cascades:
- 7401-04 - X20
- 7405 - X14
- 7406 - NE Float Spare
- 7514-17, 7522, 7529-33, 7553-54 - 43/44/45
- 7555-56 - X14

(14 Jan 2022, 1:15 pm)OrangeArrow49 wrote For Consett I'll be getting a GNE All Zones, but I don't know if Stanley Travel will be running the same duties next week and even if they are the X-lines bus might be the better option.

I might go to Whitley Bay instead, but I'm not sure which bus is the best or if the Metro is better. 308 is the quickest bus, Metro is quickest mode, GNE is the cheapest (£4, compared to Arriva £4.70 I think). Local buses in Whitley Bay are operated by Arriva rather than GNE though, for the most part. The Pulsars on the 306 look good, but 306 is the same journey time as GNE.

I don't want to derail this too much but Metro (via Four Lane Ends), Arriva, GNE is the best order to head towards Whitley Bay. The 685 should also have Pulsar's on. The 306 is a mix and is usually Enviro's more so nowadays. Anything from Jesmond is like rolling a dice lately what turns up. If you want to ride random buses just use the 52/53/54 at some point as literally anything could turn up from a baby Solo (not SR) to an Enviro 400.

The Gemini's on the 308 are nicer buses than the Pulsar's though imo.

I saw this on FB earlier so i thought it could be a good discount point about how bad Market Street and Pilgrim street is to drop of people, it looks go grim.

I hate getting the bus from Market Street or Pilgrim street, so much I will get off at Gateshead and get on. i absolutely hate those bus stops. 

E.g I want to go to Heworth I'll go from X1 to Newcastle - Gateshead then 27. 

Or if I want to go to Sunderland ill get the X1 to Dalton Park, then the 61 to Sunderland. (much more luxurious bus with charging) 

or Wardley Ill get the X1 to QE and get the 69/67 to Wardley. 

Nevertherless, it needs some regenerating no wonder people are not getting on buses when you get picked up from there. Ik there were plans for a 3rd bus station in Newcaslte, but why just another, are they just going to keep adding them or are they just going to make a massive one for all buses a proper interchange.

This may sound funny and a bit bizarre,but why do some of the older Versas smell dreadful?,,i know age is a factor,but i wouldnt class their age as old

super Streetdeck 6377 is currently on loan to Oxford Bus Company

Anyone else watch Rate My Takeaway on YouTube, I think it is so funny and poor soul, his chair broke on the most recent one and I could stop laughing

https://www.youtube.com/c/RateMyTakeaway/videos

Date is set for Sunday 21st August for the Aycliffe Bus Preservation Society rally at Shildon Railway Museum

Not sure if region wide, but just had message from GNE that Sunday services are being employed on Saturday. This is from Deptford but unsure if only a local arrangement

Opinions and predictions please!

Stagecoach: the first of the big three to show their hand with the planned merger with, or take over by (depends on your point of view) National Express. Will this development have any effect on local Stagecoach services?  One consequence of this will be the National Express contracts once ran by GNE.   Will these now be ran by Stagecoach?  What will happen to the Megabus services ran out of the northeast Stagecoach depots? The pandemic surely pushed NX into expanding their reach into local bus services, these at least had government support, whereas the coaching business didn’t get anything like that sort of help. 

Arriva: obvious that DB are desperate to divest themselves of Arriva UK Bus.  They’ve recently closed their company pension scheme, which to me is to make the company as a whole a more attractive proposition to any potential buyer. Was Trandevs acquisition of Yorkshire Tiger a precursor to a full or partial takeover of the business? Or are there other potential buyers on the horizon?

GNE: until recently probably seen as the most secure of the big 3. However, the pandemic has played havoc with any plans they had two years ago and it is almost a reset. There’s also the small problem that the Go Ahead Group currently has regarding their rail franchises, share trading has been suspended in the last couple of days. It was recently reported that the First Group, having sold operations in North America, we’re looking to refocus on their UK bus operations and that Go Ahead were on their radar, how likely is this?

It has been reported that the ‘levelling up’ agenda and the possibility of more investment in bus services and public transport (think BSIP) may make bus companies more attractive investments than they have been for many years, or is that just pie in the sky?