(07 Oct 2022, 8:41 pm)nova347 wrote I was on a X1 from Peterlee, when I got on it said it was going to Newcastle as I expected as it wasn't on the Short-Term Cancellation list online. Leaving Houghton, the next stop announcement. "This is the X1 to Washington Galleries".

(08 Oct 2022, 6:18 pm)Unber43 wrote Newcastle for GNE what a joke, I know it was the traffic but two 47's not running a now, a X45, 3 21's, 2 X1's all NIS a 10A leaving 20 mins late, an X10 leaving 10 mins late

In the space of about 30 mins. Only three buses (heading through Gateshead/Metro) actually ran in that 30 mins.

Not to mention around 4pm the queue for the X21/21 was up to Stand C and the X1 queue at Stand B with 3 coming in together.

5pm X10 was absolutely rammed full of people who would be getting the train and footballs fans. Glad I got out of Eldon Square when it did.

Another Saturday another disgraceful performance from GNE.

(08 Oct 2022, 6:18 pm)Unber43 wrote Newcastle for GNE what a joke, I know it was the traffic but two 47's not running a now, a X45, 3 21's, 2 X1's all NIS a 10A leaving 20 mins late, an X10 leaving 10 mins late

In the space of about 30 mins. Only three buses (heading through Gateshead/Metro) actually ran in that 30 mins.

Not to mention around 4pm the queue for the X21/21 was up to Stand C and the X1 queue at Stand B with 3 coming in together.

5pm X10 was absolutely rammed full of people who would be getting the train and footballs fans. Glad I got out of Eldon Square when it did.

Another Saturday another disgraceful performance from GNE.

(08 Oct 2022, 7:01 pm)Thomas12 wrote What do you expect? Buses can’t fly over traffic. 

there’s a rail strike and match day traffic, can’t expect buses to run on time in all honesty.

(08 Oct 2022, 6:18 pm)Unber43 wrote Newcastle for GNE what a joke, I know it was the traffic but two 47's not running a now, a X45, 3 21's, 2 X1's all NIS a 10A leaving 20 mins late, an X10 leaving 10 mins late

In the space of about 30 mins. Only three buses (heading through Gateshead/Metro) actually ran in that 30 mins.

Not to mention around 4pm the queue for the X21/21 was up to Stand C and the X1 queue at Stand B with 3 coming in together.

5pm X10 was absolutely rammed full of people who would be getting the train and footballs fans. Glad I got out of Eldon Square when it did.

Another Saturday another disgraceful performance from GNE.

(08 Oct 2022, 7:01 pm)Thomas12 wrote What do you expect? Buses can’t fly over traffic. 

there’s a rail strike and match day traffic, can’t expect buses to run on time in all honesty.

(08 Oct 2022, 7:04 pm)Ambassador wrote Sorry but it’s planning, you know there’s a rail strike. 

adjust accordingly and adapt, GNE management is simply willfully incompetent

(08 Oct 2022, 7:24 pm)Storx wrote It's pointless people like just moaning for the sake of it lately about disruptions, it was the same last week. They'd winge if they cancelled half the services to have a more stable timetable aswell which is the alternative since they can't use robots to drive buses.

Ironic as they're probably the people who get on buses, abuse the driver, when they can't do anything, and they quit leading to more delays.

This should be aimed at the government if anyone as it's massively their fault.

(08 Oct 2022, 10:50 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote I really struggle to see how anyone could expect buses to be running anything like to time with the absolute mess of traffic chaos seemingly everywhere today.  Seems the combination of a Newcastle home match, Junior GNR, Network Rail Strike and the usual misery of endless roadworks all being allowed to happen at the same time buggered the roads up a bit.  All the planning in the world at Bensham, the Wheatsheaf or wherever can't do much about horrific traffic queues and stupidly timed traffic signals.  One of the many queues I was stuck in today was on CME/Tyne Bridge and saw 3 X1s heading into Toon within 5 mins of each other.  I did wonder why one or more hadn't been regulated at Gateshead, but then of course people would only moan that the queue at Eldon Square was too long for the one that turned up.  Sometimes they just cannot win.

(08 Oct 2022, 10:50 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote I really struggle to see how anyone could expect buses to be running anything like to time with the absolute mess of traffic chaos seemingly everywhere today.  Seems the combination of a Newcastle home match, Junior GNR, Network Rail Strike and the usual misery of endless roadworks all being allowed to happen at the same time buggered the roads up a bit.  All the planning in the world at Bensham, the Wheatsheaf or wherever can't do much about horrific traffic queues and stupidly timed traffic signals.  One of the many queues I was stuck in today was on CME/Tyne Bridge and saw 3 X1s heading into Toon within 5 mins of each other.  I did wonder why one or more hadn't been regulated at Gateshead, but then of course people would only moan that the queue at Eldon Square was too long for the one that turned up.  Sometimes they just cannot win.

(08 Oct 2022, 11:13 pm)Ambassador wrote I think, from my end, we’d see sympathy if this was an issue limited to this Saturday and all the issues it brings. Even pre covid on some routes, there was zero common sense. I’d Love if this was a one off…

However…it’s not, it’s every Saturday, in most cases it’s every weekday. It’s a lack of communication which is a huge issue. The inbound standing fully 21 I was on sat for ten minutes at Gateshead as there was no driver…absolutely no communication from the 10 gne drivers around stand N (not necc their role but from a  leisure customer point of view…) I’m all but a leisure traveller these days and I’m fortunate that I can afford an Uber home, as I did tonight as the service is intolerably late and unreliable.

(09 Oct 2022, 9:07 am)Andreos1 wrote Eldest Constantopolous has abandoned the bus completely when heading to the match. 

He'd not do that if the delays and issues were a one-off.

After two nightmare Saturdays months apart, Ma and Pa Constantopolous have vowed never to go near a bus on a Saturday. Despite them having free travel.

(09 Oct 2022, 9:18 am)Unber43 wrote Better Than Ever

(09 Oct 2022, 10:12 am)Dan wrote Imaginative as ever.


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(08 Oct 2022, 7:01 pm)Thomas12 wrote What do you expect? Buses can’t fly over traffic. 

there’s a rail strike and match day traffic, can’t expect buses to run on time in all honesty.

(10 Oct 2022, 11:43 am)Adrian wrote No, but they can timetable an achievable service that meets demand around it.

Rail strike is just another lazy excuse for a poor service. We'll be back here next week and looking for something else to blame. Maybe they'll suggest less people need to use buses to stop them being full?

(10 Oct 2022, 11:56 am)Dan wrote An achievable service in this case requires a lot of extra resource. I’d assume it’s difficult to plan for what level of additional layover and/or running time is required to offset additional demand, as it’s slightly unknown (although these rail strikes are becoming more common).

All this at a time when operators are struggling for staff. So the achievable timetable may actually mean the service becomes even less achievable to cover. Is that better or worse for the customer?

If commercial teams were able to plan a new set of schedules for rail strike days, and there wasn’t any staffing issues, I wonder how well it would go down with staff that their rota has to change to accommodate a timetable change for one day? I suspect if you asked most bus drivers, the thing that they would find most challenging about the job at the moment is the pace of change and inability to plan their life outside of work. Imagine this would therefore go down like a lead balloon with driving staff and could potentially result in even more drivers leaving the business.

Firm believer in doing what’s right by the customer - but there’s more at play than lazy commercial teams not getting their fingers out. You can repeat all of the above for match days, Fridays, short-term roadworks, etc.


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(10 Oct 2022, 2:18 pm)Ambassador wrote It appears a month after its closure - High Street West has finally reopened to traffic.

You'd have thought the anti-car bus lane loving bunch of meglomaniacs at Gateshead would have been out there with the pruners straight away

(10 Oct 2022, 2:35 pm)Adrian wrote Not suggesting there'd be new schedules for rail strike days, but let's look at football specifically. We know Saturdays are busy and we know when there's matches on by the fixtures list published in July/August. Yet there's nothing put in place to deal with the bottlenecking on busy corridors on a normal Saturday with Football. It was always extremely busy with Saturday football, even 20 years ago, where we had a lot more options in terms of buses. We've got just as many people with a lot less options now, so when an X1 or couple of 21s inevitably go missing, it creates a problem for the rest of the day.

I'd be surprised if anyone doesn't want to do right by the customer, and I disagree with the comment on here that often suggest otherwise, but at some point we need to stop trying to force square pegs into round holes. There's events throughout the calendar year, football being a prime example, where we need a better solution.

(10 Oct 2022, 2:52 pm)omnicity4659 wrote A month is pretty much the average journey time to get from the Civic Centre to B&Q to buy the pruners because of all these bus lanes.

(10 Oct 2022, 2:35 pm)Adrian wrote My comment on achievable service was around traffic levels, not 'force majeure' events (such as rail strikes), as the legal boffins like to call them. As I say, in my opinion it's a lazy excuse, similar to last week's "traffic congestion/protest march/football traffic at All areas" tweet.

Although I take your point on staffing issues, at this stage, I'm not entirely sure what the difference to customers is of a less-frequent timetable that doesn't deliver vs a more-frequent timetable that doesn't deliver? The results seem to be the same, i.e. customers are stood around for ages, waiting for a bus that is unlikely to turn up or sails past full. Of course, less buses on the road and less drivers required is also a cost saving to an operator.

Not suggesting there'd be new schedules for rail strike days, but let's look at football specifically. We know Saturdays are busy and we know when there's matches on by the fixtures list published in July/August. Yet there's nothing put in place to deal with the bottlenecking on busy corridors on a normal Saturday with Football. It was always extremely busy with Saturday football, even 20 years ago, where we had a lot more options in terms of buses. We've got just as many people with a lot less options now, so when an X1 or couple of 21s inevitably go missing, it creates a problem for the rest of the day.

I'd be surprised if anyone doesn't want to do right by the customer, and I disagree with the comment on here that often suggest otherwise, but at some point we need to stop trying to force square pegs into round holes. There's events throughout the calendar year, football being a prime example, where we need a better solution.

(10 Oct 2022, 2:18 pm)Ambassador wrote It appears a month after its closure - High Street West has finally reopened to traffic.

You'd have thought the anti-car bus lane loving bunch of meglomaniacs at Gateshead would have been out there with the pruners straight away