(04 Feb 2017, 11:41 pm)Jamie M wrote I don't understand this B5LH nonsense will hills - the angels do hill sections along the X21 every evening and sundays with no problems at all!
Not directing this at you, but if there was such an issue with hybrids or non-B9 vehicles being on more "demanding" parts of routes, why would a depot allocate such vehicles?

This is an arguement that people always bring up about hybrids on the northerns, and I'm always short of finding the logic behind the argument.

Maybe I'm being ignorant of some important fact, but when a depot could be allocating streetlites or solars or whatever else is lurking (to a route with throughfares or whateve), it would pick the hybrid if there was fundamental problems with the terrain for the vehicle.

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(05 Feb 2017, 12:21 pm)Michael wrote Has the last remaining B10's been withdrawn from Riverside with the entry of more "The 49" Streetlites?

(05 Feb 2017, 12:24 pm)S813 FVK wrote Unlikely, the citaros that will most likely contribute to their replacement (perhaps not direct) will be away for refurbishment.

(05 Feb 2017, 12:21 pm)Michael wrote Has the last remaining B10's been withdrawn from Riverside with the entry of more "The 49" Streetlites?

(05 Feb 2017, 12:35 pm)Dan wrote No - just 4900, which is out of tax.

4898, 4899 and 4922 all remain in service at present.

Go North East: 4900 / V990ETN by Daniel Graham, on Flickr

(05 Feb 2017, 4:50 pm)Jamie M wrote Bit close to that car, mind!
They look tiny, reminds me of Stanley Taxi's tiny SRs.

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(05 Feb 2017, 5:24 pm)Andreos1 wrote That was the first thing I thought! 


Can anyone confirm the capacity of these Solo's?

(05 Feb 2017, 6:19 pm)Ambassador wrote Wonder if there's any mileage in Quorum funding the branding on one of these for the 554 contract

(05 Feb 2017, 6:36 pm)Michael wrote Whats allocated to the 554?, does the bus not come from another route?, if it does, then there would be no point in branding it.

(05 Feb 2017, 6:19 pm)Ambassador wrote Wonder if there's any mileage in Quorum funding the branding on one of these for the 554 contract

(05 Feb 2017, 7:06 pm)Andreos1 wrote 554? Give your head a shake man. These are for the 21

(05 Feb 2017, 7:06 pm)Andreos1 wrote 554? Give your head a shake man. These are for the 21

(05 Feb 2017, 10:06 pm)gneasy91 wrote Some of the brands today look really dull and plain the inside of the bus hardly anything no inside branding the posters at front and thats it

(05 Feb 2017, 10:22 pm)Jamie M wrote Not being funny or anything, but what else do you expect a bus to have inside for passengers, other than chairs and windows?

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(05 Feb 2017, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote When GNE went big with their branding back in 2006, the branding was arguably a bit more wholehearted. The brand was continued internally, including themed coving panels and safety notices - which have since been dropped.

The best execution of a bus brand I think I've seen is Trent's 'Spondon Flyer'. Much more than just a livery, internally the seats are individually numbered and have a BOAC 'Speedbird' style logo embroided , mimicking a plane cabin. The coving adverts interwork flight/holiday themes throughout and the timetables describe 'Flight times'. Even the destination display en route states 'Come fly with me to......Spondon'. 

Catching a 'flyer' becomes an immersive experience for the passenger, the brand sticks in the mind and builds loyalty. It is useful of course that the brand has an appropriate meaning - it's a express bus to Spondon after all. 

There was a point were GNE seemed to be branding for the sake of branding. There's little point if it doesn't mean anything - I'm thinking 'Kingfisher', 'See it Do it' 'Showstopper'. I'd rather a strong corporate identity for peripheral routes and some strong, well executed, brands for core routes such as 'Angel', 'TTX' & 'Prince Bishops'.

(05 Feb 2017, 10:56 pm)Jamie M wrote Kingfisher was to do with Watergate Park area and the rejuvanation of said birds I believe.
Seeitdoit - http://www.seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/, it's an organisation.

I do get your point, but most brands have some purpose, somewhere.

Personally I see details such as seat numbering as superficial gimmicks. It's not premium - it's just trying to be. Of course you get wifi and that stuff, but the design I feel is completely irrelevant because it all looks the same when it comes to it. E-leather and floor lighting or cloth seats and generic plastic.

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(05 Feb 2017, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote When GNE went big with their branding back in 2006, the branding was arguably a bit more wholehearted. The brand was continued internally, including themed coving panels and safety notices - which have since been dropped.

The best execution of a bus brand I think I've seen is Trent's 'Spondon Flyer'. Much more than just a livery, internally the seats are individually numbered and have a BOAC 'Speedbird' style logo embroided , mimicking a plane cabin. The coving adverts interwork flight/holiday themes throughout and the timetables describe 'Flight times'. Even the destination display en route states 'Come fly with me to......Spondon'. 

Catching a 'flyer' becomes an immersive experience for the passenger, the brand sticks in the mind and builds loyalty. It is useful of course that the brand has an appropriate meaning - it's a express bus to Spondon after all. 

There was a point were GNE seemed to be branding for the sake of branding. There's little point if it doesn't mean anything - I'm thinking 'Kingfisher', 'See it Do it' 'Showstopper'. I'd rather a strong corporate identity for peripheral routes and some strong, well executed, brands for core routes such as 'Angel', 'TTX' & 'Prince Bishops'.

(05 Feb 2017, 11:34 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote I agree re: pointless brands but SIDIS and Showstopper do/did have relevance (Showstopper being related to the Empire which I think was at one point on the route, and more importantly funded the branding!).

Poorer attempts for me were 'the NINE' and whatever the other brand was that was essentially silver numbers stuck on a tatty purple solar.  Silver arrows, green arrow, blue arrow are all a bit meaningless (I know silver arrows were designed off red arrows, but still).  Whey Aye Five O is just awful, as is Simplicity (though both do have some loose meaning related to the route - or did until the Five-0 was translated to 5).  Coast & Country as has been discussed previously would work if only it went to the coast.  Ten is dull but works, and I always thought Fab56 was weak - but clearly its effective as its one of the few originals to survive barely changed.  And don't get me started on indigo.

Other than those though, the remaining brands are pretty strong.  It's a shame if Blaydon Racers is being abandoned as a brand as it does have a lot of local meaning and works well for a bus service.

(05 Feb 2017, 11:18 pm)James101 wrote I don't think any branding necessary improves the passenger experience, or adds any sense of 'premium'. Branding should be there to build commercial awareness. Imagine someone was getting the bus for the first time from Newcastle to Chester-le-Street and they've been told there's an Arriva bus and an Angel bus. There's dozens of mysterious looking Arriva buses around Newcastle but the green bus with a massive image of the Angel on the side is clearly the one they need. If once on board, the new passenger is surrounded by reminders they are on the Angel they'll remember that's the bus to Newcastle. From then, they'll always use the Angel and never contemplate getting the X12. It's the same as ASDA using green and Tesco using blue for signs and uniforms in their stores - to implant the brand in the customer's mind.

(05 Feb 2017, 11:47 pm)Jamie M wrote The bus networks here are incredibly monipolised, generally. Branding isn't essential because there isn't the need for the edge over the competing parties as they simply don't exist. Look at Stanley depot for example. Everything is pretty simple, even those B9s are untouched inside. The only routes that challenges anything to do with Stanley are the 713 and the EDwhatever to Medomsley (just). Neither carry more than about 10 people (the ED only runs once, too), so businesswise there is no need to invest in the finer aspects of a bus. If you put GNE logos all over the Stanley Omnidekkas, is a single person going to start using service X71 over anything else? No - simply because there is nothing else. Same with the Toonlinks/RKs/Ventures.

If those buses (the brick-like solos) are to be completing contract work, then the chances of there being any competition is slim. Is there another bus administrated by a different company that operates similarly to the 333? Is there a different company that operates the same links from Airport and the surrounding area?

Given the buses size, you should be able to guess that competition is not a factor that is involved in the decision to allocate.

(05 Feb 2017, 11:52 pm)S813 FVK wrote I wouldn't say that the ED1 provides any form of competition with GNE - 1 journey in each direction on schooldays with the purpose of transporting students to Houghall Campus. It doesn't go via Durham Bus Station/Millburngate either, it heads straight down Framwellgate Peth and across the bridge to New Elvet. Not ideal for anybody going into the city and passengers for New College usually let it past and wait for the 16 that runs minutes behind it.

Redgarding the 333 etc, Nexus state the capacity etc - the operator gets paid to operate the service regardless of how much competition is.

(05 Feb 2017, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote When GNE went big with their branding back in 2006, the branding was arguably a bit more wholehearted. The brand was continued internally, including themed coving panels and safety notices - which have since been dropped.

The best execution of a bus brand I think I've seen is Trent's 'Spondon Flyer'. Much more than just a livery, internally the seats are individually numbered and have a BOAC 'Speedbird' style logo embroided , mimicking a plane cabin. The coving adverts interwork flight/holiday themes throughout and the timetables describe 'Flight times'. Even the destination display en route states 'Come fly with me to......Spondon'. 

Catching a 'flyer' becomes an immersive experience for the passenger, the brand sticks in the mind and builds loyalty. It is useful of course that the brand has an appropriate meaning - it's a express bus to Spondon after all. 

There was a point were GNE seemed to be branding for the sake of branding. There's little point if it doesn't mean anything - I'm thinking 'Kingfisher', 'See it Do it' 'Showstopper'. I'd rather a strong corporate identity for peripheral routes and some strong, well executed, brands for core routes such as 'Angel', 'TTX' & 'Prince Bishops'.

(06 Feb 2017, 5:01 pm)EL1TE wrote 5409 has been loaned to Chester-Le-Street:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98641142@N08/32594614122/