(26 Feb 2020, 12:53 pm)streetdeckfan wrote My point was that those people who you say should be encouraged to use the bus are probably not the sort of person that will be going to the train station.
The average person probably wants to go back home once they've been out, and as such will more than likely want a return ticket if they're just travelling along one route, or a day ticket if they have to change buses. 

To me anyway, it's the difference between buying a single bottle of water and buying a 6 pack for only a little bit more. The single ticket is there to take advantage of those who only need a one off trip, the very fact that they're buying that single ticket and not a day ticket tells them that they're not a regular passenger.
Plus, you have to take in to account that the costs that would normally be spread out with a day/return ticket are only being used once. You have the card processing fee if they're paying by card (usually about 2%), paper, driver's time (selecting ticket, counting change etc.). Sure, it's not a lot, but it all adds up.

I'd actually be quite interested in seeing the average amount of times a day ticket is used, my guess is probably 3 (with most people using it 4 times ie. two buses out, two buses in, with a slightly less amount of people using it essentially as a return ticket)

(26 Feb 2020, 1:06 pm)Storx wrote It's a weird one the 19, if I'm right it was the first bus to be branded in the newer styles (full branding). I might be wrong there, if so what was it? Yet nowadays it's just nothing really.

Bit off topic here but totally forgot about it until you mentioned it and it's still imo the nicest livery GNE has ever had as it was basic yet modern before they went stupid and overboard. Same with the original Cobalt Clipper.

These for those who can't remember:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagecoachuk/10853794106 - Route 19
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ten6083/30188664468 - Cobalt Clipper

Pretty much the 22, 309, 310, X39, X6, 22X and the lot have killed it tho as you can get most places direct now without changing.


The problem is the 19 is it's £3.10 for a single and £5.30 for a return from Seaton Delaval to Northumberland Park. Once you then add on the metro on top of that at your talking £8.50 - £10.60 a day depending on where your going. Even with passes you can't get it down that much possibly down to the £7.40 mark. (It's upto £150 a month).

Until realistic multi operator tickets exist for the whole of the N. East your never going to sort traffic problems out, putting bike lanes in Gosforth isn't going to solve the issues with people driving from SE Northumberland and with prices like that it's not realistic to use public transport. That's nearly 2 hours a day of some peoples wages.

(26 Feb 2020, 1:07 pm)Rob44 wrote Seen as we are on about day tickets.... are they transferable?  On the ones ive had ive not notice anything to say that you cant pass it on to someone else after your done with it?

8. Tickets are not transferable and may be used only by the person for whom the ticket was purchased (and named on the key smartcard if being used for). If a ticket is transferred, it will be confiscated and both the person to whom it was issued and the person to whom it was transferred or attempted to be transferred, will be liable to prosecution.

(26 Feb 2020, 1:09 pm)Andreos1 wrote Why shouldn't those people be encouraged to use the bus? 
Why should it just be certain types of people? 

It's cheaper to cadge a lift (clogging up the roads when doing so and probably delaying buses) to the station. 
It's probably easier for some to do that judging by the number of cars clogging up roads around Durham and Newcastle stations. 

Whether they're making the return trip or not the same day, they're making the conscious decision to not use the bus.
Is it because using the bus  isn't convenient or is it because getting a lift is cheaper?

Each person getting a lift to the station is a potential bus passenger. To ignore them, would be folly.

Looking at the stats for central station. 
2018/19
8.914 million
– Interchange
  0.376 million

Let's say 1% of those passengers were dropped off/collected by car.
You're telling me, that those sorts of numbers wouldn't make a difference to the timekeeping, success or failure of a service and they're probably not the sort of passengers a bus operator would encourage to use the bus?

(26 Feb 2020, 1:07 pm)Rob44 wrote Seen as we are on about day tickets.... are they transferable?  On the ones ive had ive not notice anything to say that you cant pass it on to someone else after your done with it?

(26 Feb 2020, 1:06 pm)Storx wrote It's a weird one the 19, if I'm right it was the first bus to be branded in the newer styles (full branding). I might be wrong there, if so what was it? Yet nowadays it's just nothing really.

Bit off topic here but totally forgot about it until you mentioned it and it's still imo the nicest livery GNE has ever had as it was basic yet modern before they went stupid and overboard. Same with the original Cobalt Clipper.

These for those who can't remember:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagecoachuk/10853794106 - Route 19
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ten6083/30188664468 - Cobalt Clipper

Pretty much the 22, 309, 310, X39, X6, 22X and the lot have killed it tho as you can get most places direct now without changing.


The problem is the 19 is it's £3.10 for a single and £5.30 for a return from Seaton Delaval to Northumberland Park. Once you then add on the metro on top of that at your talking £8.50 - £10.60 a day depending on where your going. Even with passes you can't get it down that much possibly down to the £7.40 mark. (It's upto £150 a month).

Until realistic multi operator tickets exist for the whole of the N. East your never going to sort traffic problems out, putting bike lanes in Gosforth isn't going to solve the issues with people driving from SE Northumberland and with prices like that it's not realistic to use public transport. That's nearly 2 hours a day of some peoples wages.

(26 Feb 2020, 1:17 pm)streetdeckfan wrote That Route 19 livery looks an awful lot better than some of their current ones! That would have looked quite good if they'd done that for The 49


Technically no according to the ticket terms and conditions, but realistically they have no way of checking unless they check the CCTV




For those types of people (catching the train especially), the cost of a single ticket is probably a drop in the ocean compared to what they've already paid. Not that that's an excuse, but it's the truth! 
I personally don't think the ticket prices are that unreasonable, sure they're not a £1.50 flat fare, but they're also not heavily subsidised either!
If you compare to a taxi, it's probably still cheaper (unless you're in a group, but then you're still having multiple people in a vehicle)

(01 Mar 2020, 7:05 pm)ASX_Terranova wrote Has there ever been a direct bus between Lanchester & Chester-Le-Street?

(01 Mar 2020, 7:05 pm)ASX_Terranova wrote Has there ever been a direct bus between Lanchester & Chester-Le-Street?

(02 Mar 2020, 8:04 am)GuyParkRoyal wrote Yes there was a 752 service between Chester le Street and Lanchester via Burnhope. I think it ended around 2005/6 when DCC stopped funding it due to low passenger numbers.

(02 Mar 2020, 4:08 pm)Malarkey wrote The only way it would work in the present day would be by merging the 8/30 together baring in mind at the moment it is a case of swapping buses at Stanley and the potential of a short waiting time for either service thus giving Lanchester a direct link to Sunderland.

Another idea would be to merge the 30/X31 together to give them a direct link to Newcastle again rather than changing buses at Consett/Stanley or Durham.

Could perhaps do both mergers and have them run once an hour to both Newcastle and Sunderland.

Further to the above you could also merge the peak X32 with the 30 and again have it run hourly throughout the day rather than just peak times.

(02 Mar 2020, 5:14 pm)Andreos1 wrote Plus it encourages people to buy a day ticket, over a return.

(02 Mar 2020, 4:08 pm)Malarkey wrote The only way it would work in the present day would be by merging the 8/30 together baring in mind at the moment it is a case of swapping buses at Stanley and the potential of a short waiting time for either service thus giving Lanchester a direct link to Sunderland.

Another idea would be to merge the 30/X31 together to give them a direct link to Newcastle again rather than changing buses at Consett/Stanley or Durham.

Could perhaps do both mergers and have them run once an hour to both Newcastle and Sunderland.

Further to the above you could also merge the peak X32 with the 30 and again have it run hourly throughout the day rather than just peak times.

(07 Mar 2020, 9:38 am)ASX_Terranova wrote These may be interesting ideas but I'm gonna post them anyway.
Some of them may be decent.

(07 Mar 2020, 1:22 pm)N1cholas wrote Lots of ideas there but how many services do you want going to the galleries, or do you just want the galleries to be a central hub where you can get a bus to just about anywhere in the north east

(15 Apr 2020, 9:48 pm)L469 YVK wrote Talking about the FB update and potential service levels going forward post C19 based on changing demand, they could reduce the Cobalt & Coast PVR by 2x vehicles to 14x and still maintain a 7-8 min frequency (a slight drop from every 6-7 mins).

- 309: Every 30 mins
- 310: Every 30 mins but via Cobalt and no longer serving High Farm
- 311: Increased to every 15 mins
- X39 either axed or if still needed, worked of 311 / Misc

Sample board would be as follows:
N.Shields 310 dep: 00:57
Ncl 310 arr: 01:49
Ncl 311 dep: 01:56
H.Park 311 arr: 02:22
H.Park 311 dep: 02:25
Ncl 311 arr:  02:56
Ncl 309 dep: 03:04
Blyth 309 arr: 04:10
Blyth 309 dep: 04:25
Ncl 309 arr: 05:34
Ncl 311 dep: 05:41
H.Park 311 arr: 06:07
H.Park 310 dep: 06:10
Ncl 311 arr: 06:41
Ncl 310 dep: 06:49
N.Shields 310 arr: 07:40

(15 Apr 2020, 9:48 pm)L469 YVK wrote Talking about the FB update and potential service levels going forward post C19 based on changing demand, they could reduce the Cobalt & Coast PVR by 2x vehicles to 14x and still maintain a 7-8 min frequency (a slight drop from every 6-7 mins).

- 309: Every 30 mins
- 310: Every 30 mins but via Cobalt and no longer serving High Farm
- 311: Increased to every 15 mins
- X39 either axed or if still needed, worked of 311 / Misc

Sample board would be as follows:
N.Shields 310 dep: 00:57
Ncl 310 arr: 01:49
Ncl 311 dep: 01:56
H.Park 311 arr: 02:22
H.Park 311 dep: 02:25
Ncl 311 arr:  02:56
Ncl 309 dep: 03:04
Blyth 309 arr: 04:10
Blyth 309 dep: 04:25
Ncl 309 arr: 05:34
Ncl 311 dep: 05:41
H.Park 311 arr: 06:07
H.Park 310 dep: 06:10
Ncl 311 arr: 06:41
Ncl 310 dep: 06:49
N.Shields 310 arr: 07:40

(16 Apr 2020, 10:37 am)Storx wrote If you do this you might aswell terminate the 309 at Cobalt and have a few peak runs to Blyth as no-one will use it and downgrade them all to mini buses. This isn't the first time you've totally ignored 3/4 of a bus route. The 309 is Newcastle -> Battle Hill -> Cobalt -> N Tyneside Hospital -> Whitley Bay -> Seaton Sluice -> South Beach -> Blyth. You've just gone and decimated the bit in bold from every 15 mins to 30 mins, where there's competition with Arriva who will be laughing. You do realise the 308 is one of Arriva NE's top performing routes right?

(16 Apr 2020, 4:27 pm)L469 YVK wrote You've got to remember that there will likely (although 100% certain) be a lot of changes to people's travel patterns post C19 for various reasons. Bus operators (not just GNE) will need to likely adapt to that and change their services to reflect the shift in travel patterns.

For starters, 3/4 of a route wouldn't be ignored. The frequency would be reduced to reflect demand and I can see Arriva even potentially doing the same (albeit every 20 minutes each). GNE for all we know might just decide to 'sweat it out' and wait for Arriva & Stagecoach to crack by cutting their frequencies and service levels (22, 22x, x6, 306, 308) and subsequently come out better off.

The timings BTW aren't an idea as such but more a thought of what could potentially be implemented by GNE in response to changing travel patterns. 

But as I've said above, all operators will likely need to adapt various routes in response to travel patterns potentially changing.

(16 Apr 2020, 4:27 pm)L469 YVK wrote You've got to remember that there will likely (although 100% certain) be a lot of changes to people's travel patterns post C19 for various reasons. Bus operators (not just GNE) will need to likely adapt to that and change their services to reflect the shift in travel patterns.

For starters, 3/4 of a route wouldn't be ignored. The frequency would be reduced to reflect demand and I can see Arriva even potentially doing the same (albeit every 20 minutes each). GNE for all we know might just decide to 'sweat it out' and wait for Arriva & Stagecoach to crack by cutting their frequencies and service levels (22, 22x, x6, 306, 308) and subsequently come out better off.

The timings BTW aren't an idea as such but more a thought of what could potentially be implemented by GNE in response to changing travel patterns. 

But as I've said above, all operators will likely need to adapt various routes in response to travel patterns potentially changing. 

(17 Apr 2020, 12:02 pm)Ambassador wrote The 26/27.

Currently it takes (accounting for traffic) around 45 minutes from Hebburn to Newcastle.

I know in the past an X27 was trialled (and failed) simply because when it's working - the Metro is the only logical option to commute or use for leisure into Newcastle and the Gateshead suburbs,

There are small improvements you could make. If you ran either the 26 or 27 direct from Hebburn Fire Station through Victoria Road East and rejoin the route as is at Station Road you'd shave a decent chunk of time off whilst still leaving Monkton Lane with the 9 or the alternative 26/7.

(17 Apr 2020, 12:27 pm)streetdeckfan wrote It's a logical choice assuming you have a ticket that allows you to travel on the Metro (which, granted, most people who live in that area would opt for)

I would personally prefer to take the bus rather than the Metro, even if it does take well over an hour. Things might change when they get the new trains

(17 Apr 2020, 12:27 pm)streetdeckfan wrote It's a logical choice assuming you have a ticket that allows you to travel on the Metro (which, granted, most people who live in that area would opt for)

I would personally prefer to take the bus rather than the Metro, even if it does take well over an hour. Things might change when they get the new trains

(17 Apr 2020, 12:53 pm)Ambassador wrote There speaks an enthusiast and not a realist. It's a logical choice regardless really.

People don't have the time or in the inclination to sit on a bus for 45 minutes when they could stand for 13 minutes and be in the city centre.

(17 Apr 2020, 4:01 pm)Andreos1 wrote Borne out of the discussion in the GNE latest thread and the will it/won't it 14/X22 conversation, I started to think about merging the two.

X22 as it is from Metrocentre to Plawsworth Red Lion - Sacriston Cross Roads - Fyndoune - current 13 route to Durham - Nevilles Cross - fast to Langley Park via A167/A691 and Witton Gilbert.
13 will no longer operate. 

14 - to continue current route and frequency. 

All connections maintained and new options opened up. 
I've not played about with timetables just yet.